Many ways to decline a noun: elicitation of children’s novel noun inflection in Estonian

abstract Aims This study investigated three- to five-year-olds’ ability generalise knowledge of case inflection novel nouns in Estonian, which has complex morphology and lacks a default declension pattern. We explored whether Estonian-speaking children use similar strategies adults, they preferred pattern or analogy phonological neighbours. Method taught nominative allative elicited partitive genitive forms based on pictures unfamiliar creatures. Participants included 66 (3;0–6;0) 21 adults. Because multiple grammatical patterns, children’s responses were compared with those adults for variability, accuracy, morphological neighbourhood density. Errors analysed reveal how differed from Conclusions Young make varied available but find generalisation difficult. Children’s showed much yet even three-year-olds used the same general patterns as Accuracy increased age not fully adult-like by five. Neighbourhood density age, indicating that over larger store examples underlies proficiency productive noun inflection. Children did more transparent, affixal available, preferring instead frequent, stem-changing patterns.