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Testing Prototypicality and Default Gender in Language Acquisition of Heritage and L1 Greek Preschoolers

Testing Prototypicality and Default Gender in Language Acquisition of Heritage and L1 Greek Preschoolers
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Author(s): Zoe Gavriilidou (Democritus University of Thrace, Greece)
Copyright: 2026
Pages: 30
Source title: Optimizing Bilingual Development in Typical and Atypical Children: Language Acquisition, Use, and Interventions
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Dimitra V. Katsarou (University of the Aegean, Greece)and Ifigeneia Dosi (Democritus University of Thrace, Greece)
DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3373-1752-6.ch005

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Abstract

Grammatical gender in Greek is influenced by both biological and morphological cues, making it a strong candidate for testing prototypicality theory and default gender hypotheses. Building on Gavriilidou and Efthymiou (2003), this study examines how heritage and L1 Greek preschoolers assign gender to nouns, testing the claim by Anastasiadis-Symeonidis and Chila-Markopoulou (2003) that Greek gender follows prototypical patterns. While heritage speakers show lower accuracy, both groups rely on prototypical cues. The heritage group's tendency to default to neuter suggests continuity in grammatical representation. These findings support the relevance of prototypicality theory and provide insight into the default status of neuter in Greek, contributing valuable data to heritage language research.

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