Child language exhibits patterns which are not found in adult language. The emergent patterns of child language raise the question of learnability because they require the constraints that do not seem to be motivated by the data available to children. It is assumed in OT that the constraints of which the grammar of language consists are universal. According to this assumption, emergent patterns in child language should be results of universal constraints. The goal of this paper is to test the assumption of universal constraints by investigating data from the child language of North Kyungsang Korean. I discuss two emergent patterns found in the child language of North Kyungsang Korean: the appearance of a heavy closed syllable and a falling tone. By showing that these emergent patterns coincide with the patterns that are commonly encountered cross-linguistically, I argue that emergent patterns of child language are results of universal markedness constraints.
1. Introduction
2. A Closed Syllable
3. A Falling Tone on Long Vowels
4. Conclusion