Verbs and prepositions pose significant challenges in second
language learning, as languages differ in how they map these
relational terms onto events. Second language learners must
put aside their language-specific lens to uncover how a new
language operates, perhaps having to rediscover semantic
distinctions typically ignored in the first language. The
current study examines how the acquisition of these novel
mappings are affected by characteristics of the learner and of
the language to be learned. English monolinguals and Dutch-
English bilinguals learned novel terms that corresponded to
containment and support relations of either English, Dutch, or
Japanese. Results show that English distinctions are learned
best across groups, potentially reflecting predispositions in
human cognition. No differences were found between
monolinguals and bilinguals in any language condition. The
characteristics of the language to be learned appear to play a
prominent role in the acquisition of novel semantic categories
