@inproceedings{ImaiSajiGrosseetal., author = {Imai, Mutsumi and Saji, Noburo and Große, Gerlind and Schulze, Cornelia and Asano, Michiko and Saalbach, Henrik}, title = {General mechanisms of color lexicon acquisition : insights from comparison of German and Japanese speaking children}, series = {Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society}, organization = {Cognitive Science Society}, pages = {3315 -- 3320}, abstract = {This research investigated how German-speaking children learn color words, both in terms of centroid mappings and boundary delineation, and how they construct the color lexicon as a connected system. The results were compared to those of Japanese children to draw insights on general mechanisms that underlie the acquisition of words in the color lexicon. For both languages, input frequency and category size contributed to the ease of learning. In contrast, in both language groups, naming (in)consistency in adults predicted the adult-like boundary delineation.}, subject = {Kindersprache}, language = {en} } @article{SajiSaalbachGrosseetal., author = {Saji, Noburo and Saalbach, Henrik and Große, Gerlind and Schulze, Cornelia and Imai, Mutsumi}, title = {Cross-linguistic comparison of color word learning in German and Japanese children shows universal and language-specific processes}, series = {Scientific reports}, volume = {15}, journal = {Scientific reports}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {Berlin}, issn = {2045-2322}, doi = {10.1038/s41598-025-23286-3}, pages = {12}, abstract = {This study examines how German- and Japanese-speaking children acquire the meanings of color words, focusing on two theoretically distinct processes: centroid mapping and boundary delineation. While previous cross-linguistic studies have typically addressed these aspects in isolation, this paper explicitly investigates both processes simultaneously, assessing language-specific and perceptual factors contributing to lexical acquisition. Using previously collected Japanese data (re-analyzed here for comparative purposes) and newly collected German data, we explore how input frequency, naming inconsistency, category size, and perceptual saliency influence these processes. Our findings show that centroid mapping in both languages is primarily shaped by input frequency, that is, children learn prototypical meanings by hearing the respective color words often. In contrast, boundary delineation is predicted by naming consistency in adult speakers, that is, children's differentiation of color categories is based on the consistency with which adults refer to the same color with the same word. The structural characteristics of each language's lexicon affect these qualitative aspects, highlighting an interplay between perceptual constraints and language-specific lexical structures. This comparative approach provides novel insights into lexical and conceptual development, contributing to broader theoretical debates on continuity and discontinuity in semantic acquisition and informing computational models of lexical development.}, subject = {Deutsch}, language = {en} }