Table 1.
Morpheme | Late talkers (n = 34) | Typically developing (n = 20) |
---|---|---|
*Progressive –ing | 20 (59)a | 14 (70) |
*Personal pronouns | 34 (100) | 20 (100) |
Possessive personal pronouns | 9 (27) | 6 (30) |
*Plural –s | 22 (65) | 17 (85) |
*Preposition in | 24 (71) | 18 (90) |
Preposition on | 5 (15) | 4 (20) |
Possessive –'s | 1 (3) | 1 (5) |
Past tense –ed | 4 (12) | 2 (10) |
*Irregular past tense | 20 (59) | 12 (60) |
*Regular third person –s | 20 (59) | 15 (75) |
*Irregular third person | 31 (91) | 19 (95) |
*Article | 34 (100) | 20 (100) |
*Contractible copula be | 33 (97) | 20 (100) |
*Uncontractible copula be | 33 (97) | 20 (100) |
*Contractible auxiliary be | 22 (65) | 8 (40) |
Uncontractible auxiliary be | 2 (6) | 3 (15) |
*Modal | 29 (85) | 19 (95) |
Derivational | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
Irregular plural | 6 (18) | 3 (15) |
*Auxiliary do | 22 (65) | 13 (65) |
Auxiliary have | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
Adjectival | 3 (9) | 2 (10) |
*Negation | 26 (77) | 14 (70) |
Note. A morpheme was not analyzed for a child if fewer than four obligatory contexts were present. A morpheme was analyzed only if at least eight children in each group had at least four obligatory contexts. The 14 analyzed morphemes are marked with an asterisk.
No significant group differences by χ2 for any morpheme.