Rethinking the Origins of Cross‐Language Effects: How Heard Verbs Influence Japanese‐ and English‐Speaking Children's Attention to the Details of Actions

Languages differ in how words carve up the world into categories, and these differences in lexical categories often influence how speakers interpret perceived events. Past research has shown that languages with a single and general word for one domain tend to cue attention more broadly than languages with multiple, more specific verbs. This supports the idea that the referential range of lexical categories-how broadly or narrowly a word applies-plays a major role in how heard words guide attention and shape interpretations of events. We tested the referential range hypothesis, measuring Japanese- and English-speaking children's (n = 236; 24-54 months) interpretations of action events in two conceptual domains: Containment (e.g., putting one object inside another) and Garment-Closing (e.g., fastening clothing). Japanese lexicalizes containment relations with multiple verbs, whereas English uses one general term. Conversely, English specifies ways of closing garments (e.g., buttoning, zipping, hooking); while Japanese uses a single general verb. Children watched an experimenter demonstrate an action and then selected objects to replicate that action. Across domains and languages, children were tested with Light (e.g., "do"), General (e.g., "close"), or Specific (e.g., "zip") verbs. The results show that the range of individual lexical categories is not a major determiner of children's interpretations. Verbs with both narrower and broader ranges of use all led to narrow interpretations by children in both languages, but language-appropriate, atypical specific verbs did not. The full pattern of results raises new hypotheses about cross-linguistic similarities in verb acquisition and how children learn and interpret verbs.