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L1-acquisition of epistemic modality in Czech
Schejbalová, Edita ; Šimík, Radek (advisor) ; Smolík, Filip (referee)
The thesis aims to investigate the interpretation and acquisition of the Czech modal verb muset in children, focusing on the developmental stages experienced. Muset is unique, conveying multiple (abstract) modal meanings, making its acquisition challenging for children. This thesis examines the deontic (obligation) and epistemic (level of certainty) meanings of muset using the picture-preference task developed by Cournane (2020; 2022). The research explores whether Czech children undergo similar acquisition phases to those observed in previous research on similar verbs in English and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS), with a preference for deontic interpretations around age 3 and an overcommitment to epistemic meanings around age 5. Additionally, the study analyzes the morphosyntactic conditions that facilitate epistemic interpretations in adults: tense of muset and aspect of its infinitive complement. Interviews were conducted during the task to gain deeper insights into participants' reasoning. The results reveal similar acquisition patterns in Czech, English, and BCS children, with a deontic preference at age 3 and overcommitment to epistemic interpretations at age 5. Adults' interpretations are influenced by past tense, while aspectual impact is minimal in Czech. The findings suggest potential...
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