Abstract

Language development is a gradual process encompassing phonology, morphology, semantics, pragmatics, and syntax, which finally allows the child to express grammatical meaning. Morphological development, especially number marking, is essential for the morphosyntactic competence of Hindi-speaking children. This study examined the development pattern of plural markers in typical children speaking Hindi aged 3.0-4.11, 5.0-6.11, and 7.0-8.11 years (n = 60). The plurals were elicited using a structured procedure with 10 different plural items. The lowest score was 0 for incorrect responses, and the highest was 1 for correct responses. One-way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant age-related difference in the overall plural accuracy (p < .001), with progressive improvement across the groups. The youngest group (3.0-4.11 years) demonstrated emerging plural competence, while children aged 5.0-6.11 years revealed a substantial integration of grammatical rules, and children aged 7.0-8.11 years performed at a near-ceiling level. Overall, these findings provide a systematic developmental trajectory for plural acquisition in Hindi, showing early emergence, significant increase in overall accuracy in preschool, and high proficiency by middle childhood. The results compile normative data for each of the three age groups, providing information for the morphosyntactic assessment of Hindi-speaking children.

Keywords

Plural marker, Hindi-speaking children, Morphological development, Morphosyntax, Gender agreement, Number marking, Inflectional morphology,

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