TABLE 9.
Age group | Lexical items expressing dative content |
1 | 给1i, 给2ii, 给3iii, 帮 |
2 | 给1i, 给2ii, 给3iii, 帮, 喂, 陪, 让, 请 |
3 | 给1i, 给2ii, 给3iii, 帮, 喂, 陪, 让, 请, 送, 对, 给 |
i. 给1 serves as a verb (e.g., 给我一本书).
ii. 给2 serves as a preverbal preposition (e.g., 给他送一本书).
iii. 给3 serves as a post verbal preposition (e.g., 送给他一本书 or 送一本书给他) (Li and Thompson, 1981).