The Mind of the Child Part 18

In the forty-fifth week everything said to the child, in case it received his attention, was responded to with movements of lips and tongue, which gave the impression of being made at random and of serving rather for diversion.

Further, at this period the child begins during his long monologues to _whisper_. He produces sounds in abundance, varying in force, pitch, and _timbre_, as if he were speaking an unknown tongue; and some single syllables may gradually be more easily distinguished, although the corresponding positions of the mouth pa.s.s into one another, sometimes quite gradually, sometimes rapidly. The following special cases I was able to establish by means of numerous observations:

In crying _rrra_, there is a vibration on both sides of the edges of the tongue, which is bent to a half-cylinder with the ridge upward. In this way the child produces three kinds of _r_-sounds--the l.a.b.i.al, the uvular, and this bilateral-lingual.

New syllables of this period are _ta-h[(ee]_, _dann-tee_, _[(aa]-n[(ee]_, _nga_, _tai_, _ba_, _dall_, _at-tall_, _kamm_, _akkee_, _pra-jer_, _tra_, _[=a]-h[(ee]_. Among them _tra_ and _pra_ are noteworthy as the first combination of _t_ and _p_ with _r_. The surprising combinations _attall_ and _akkee_ and _praijer_, which made their appearance singly without any occasion that could be noticed, like others, are probably the first attempts to reproduce the child's own name (Axel Preyer) from memory. Of earlier sounds, syllables, and combinations of these, the following are especially frequent: _Mammam_, _apapa_, _orro_, _papa_, _tata_, _tatta_, _n[(aa]_, _rrra_, _pata_, _mmm_, _n[)a]_, _[=a]_, _a_, _[(au]_, _anna_, _attapa_, _dadada_, _ja_, _ja-ja_, _eja_, _jae_.

The last syllables are distinguished by the distinct _e_, which is now more frequent.

All the pains taken to represent a babbling monologue perfectly by letters were fruitless, because these distinct and oft-repeated syllables alternated with indistinct loud and soft ones. Still, on the whole, of the consonants the most frequent at this period are _b_, _p_, _t_, _d_, _m_, _n_, and the new _r_; _l_, _g_, _k_, not rare. Of vowels the _a_ has a decided preponderance. Both _u_ and _o_ are rare; _i_ very rare. Yet a vowel is not repeated, either by itself or in a syllable, more than five times in succession without an interval. Commonly it is twice or three times. I have also noticed that the mechanical repet.i.tion of the same syllable, e. g., _papapa_, occurs far more often than the alternation of a distinctly spoken syllable with, another distinctly spoken one, like _pata_. In the mean time it is certain that the child during his various movements of lips and tongue, along with contraction and expansion of the opening of the mouth, readily starts with surprise when he notices such a change of acoustic effect. It seems as if he were himself taking pleasure in practicing regularly all sorts of symmetrical and asymmetrical positions of the mouth, sometimes in silence, sometimes with loud voice, then again with soft voice. In the combinations of syllables, moreover, palpable accentuation somewhat like this, _appapapa atatata_, is by no means frequent. The surprisingly often repeated _dadada_ has generally no accent.

With regard to the question whether in this period, especially important for the development of the apparatus of speech, any articulate utterance of sound stands in firm a.s.sociation with an idea, I have observed the child under the most varied circ.u.mstances possible without disturbing him; but I have ascertained only one such case with certainty. The _atta_, _hodda_, _hatta_, _hata_, showed itself to be a.s.sociated with the perception that something disappeared, for it was uttered when some one left the room, when the light was extinguished, and the like; also, to be sure, sometimes when such remarkable changes were not discoverable. Thus, the eleventh month ends without any other indubitable firm _a.s.sociation of articulation and idea_.

In the next four weeks, up to the _end of the first year_ of life, there was no progress in this respect to record; but, from this time on, an eager desire--e. g., for a biscuit seen, but out of reach--was regularly announced by _a-na_, _a-nananana_, uttered loudly and with an expression of indescribable longing.

The attempts at imitation, too, are somewhat more successful, especially the attention is more strained. When, e. g., in the fifty-first week, I sang something for the child, he gazed fixedly more than a minute, with immovable countenance, without winking, at my mouth, and then moved his own tongue. Correct repet.i.tion of a syllable p.r.o.nounced to him is, however, very rare. When I laugh, and the child observes it, he laughs likewise, and then crows, with strong abdominal pressure. This same loud expression of joy is exhibited when the child unexpectedly sees his parents at a distance. This peculiar pressure, with strong expiration, is in general a.s.sociated with feelings of pleasure. The child almost seems to delight in the discovery of his own abdominal pressure, when he produces by means of it the very high crowing sounds with the vowel _i_ or a genuine grunt.

Of articulate sounds, syllables, and combinations, made without suggestion from others in the twelfth month, I have caught the following particularly with accuracy: _haja_, _jajajajaja_, _aja_, _njaja_, _nan-hopp_, _ha-a_, _pa-a_, _d[=e]war_, _han-na_, _momma_, _allda_, _allda_, _apa-u-a_, _gaga_, _ka_, _ladn_. Besides, the earlier _atta_ variously modified; no longer _dada_.

More important than such almost meaningless sound-formations, among which, by the way, appears for the first time _w_ is the now awakened _ability to discriminate between words heard_. The child turns around when his name is spoken in a loud voice; he does this, it is true, at other loud sounds also, but then with a different expression. When he hears a new tone, a new noise, he is surprised, opens his eyes wide, and holds his mouth open, without moving.

By frequent repet.i.tion of the words, "Give the hand," with the holding out of the hand, I have brought the child, in the fifty-second week, to the point of obeying this command of himself--a sure proof that he distinguishes words heard. Another child did the same thing in the seventh month. In this we can not fail to see the beginning of communication by means of ordinary language, but this remained a one-sided affair till past the third half-year, the child being simply receptive. During this whole period, moreover, from birth on, special sounds, particularly "sch (Eng., _sh_), ss, st, pst," just the ones not produced by the child, had a remarkable effect of a quieting character.

If the child heard them when he was screaming, he became quiet, as when he heard singing or instrumental music.

In the _first weeks of the second year of life_, the child behaves just as awkwardly as ever in regard to saying anything that is said to him, but his attention has become more lively. When anything is said to him for him to say--e. g., _papa_, _mama_, _atta_, _tatta_--he looks at the speaker with eyes wide open and mouth half open, moves the tongue and the lips, often very slightly, often vigorously, but can not at the same time make his voice heard, or else he says, frequently with an effort of abdominal pressure, _atta_. Earlier, even in the forty-fifth week, he had behaved in much the same way, but to the word "papa," p.r.o.nounced to him, he had responded _rrra_. Once only, I remember, _papa_ was repeated correctly, in a faint tone, on the three hundred and sixty-ninth day, almost as by one in a dream. With this exception, no word could be repeated on command, notwithstanding the fact that the faculty of imitation was already active in another department. The syllables most frequently uttered at this stage were _nja_, _njan_, _dada_, _atta_, _mama_, _papa_, _atta_, _na-na-na_, _hatta_, _meen[)e]-meen[)e]-meen[)e]_, _momm_, _momma_, _ao-u_.

Of these syllables, _na-na_ regularly denotes a desire, and the arms are stretched out in connection with it; _mama_ is referred to the mother perhaps in the fifty-fourth week, on account of the pleasure she shows at the utterance of these syllables, but they are also repeated mechanically without any reference to her; _atta_ is uttered now and then at going away, but at other times also. His joy--e. g., at recognizing his mother at a distance--the child expresses by crowing sounds, which have become stronger and higher than they were, but which, can not be clearly designated; the nearest approach to a representation of them is _[)a]hij[)a]_. Affirmation and negation may already be recognized by the tone of voice alone. The signification of the cooing and the grunting sounds remains the same. The former indicates desire of food; the latter the need of relieving the bowels. As if to exercise the vocal cords, extraordinarily high tones are now produced, which may be regarded as signs of pleasure in his own power. An imperfect language has thus already been formed imperceptibly, although no single object is as yet designated by a sound a.s.signed to it _alone_. The articulation has made progress, for on the three hundred and sixty-eighth day appeared the first distinct _s_, in the syllable _ssi_; quite incidentally, to be sure.

The most important advance consists in the now awakened _understanding of spoken words_. The ability to learn, or the capability of being trained, has emerged almost as if it had come in a night.

For it did not require frequent repet.i.tion of the question, "How tall is the child?" along with holding up his arms, in order to make him execute this movement every time that he heard the words, "Wie gross?" ("How tall?") or "ooss," nay, even merely "oo." It was easy, too, to induce him to take an ivory ring, lying before him attached to a thread, into his hand, and reach it to me prettily when I held out my hand and said, "Where is the ring?" and, after it had been grasped, said, "Give." In the same way, the child holds the biscuit, which he is carrying to his mouth, to the lips of the person who says pleasantly to him, "Give"; and he has learned to move his head sidewise hither and thither when he hears "No, no." If we say to him, when he wants food or an object he has seen, "Bitte, bitte" (say "Please"), he puts his hands together in a begging att.i.tude, a thing which seemed at first somewhat hard for him to learn. Finally, he had at this time been taught to respond to the question, "Where is the little rogue?" by touching the side of his head with his hand (a movement he had often made of himself before).

From this it appears beyond a doubt that now (rather late in comparison with other children) the a.s.sociation of words heard with certain movements is established, inasmuch as upon acoustic impressions--at least upon combined impressions of hearing and of sight, which are repeated in like fashion--like movements follow, and indeed follow invariably with the expression of great satisfaction on the countenance.

Yet this connection between the sensorium and the motorium is not yet stable, for there follows not seldom upon a command distinctly uttered, and without doubt correctly understood, the wrong movement--paramimy.

Upon the question, "How tall?" the hands are put together for "Please,"

and the like. Once when I said, "How tall?" the child raised his arms a moment, then struck himself on the temples, and thereupon put his hands together, as if "rogue," and then "please," had been said to him. All three movements followed with the utmost swiftness, while the expression of face was that of a person confused, with wavering look. Evidently the child had _forgotten_ which movement belonged with the "tall," and performed all the three tricks he had learned, _confounding_ them one with another. This confounding of arm-raising, head-shaking, giving of the ring, putting the hands together, touching the head, is frequent. It is also to be noticed that some one of these five tricks is almost invariably performed by the child when some new command is given to him that he does not understand, as he perceives that something is required of him--the first conscious act of _obedience_, as yet imperfect.

In the fourteenth month there was no great increase in the number of independent utterances of sound that can be represented by syllables of the German language. Surprising visual impressions, like the brilliant Christmas-tree, and the observation of new objects, drew from the pleasurably excited child, without his having touched anything, almost the same sounds that he at other times made when in discontented mood, _[)u]a_, _m[)u]a_, only softer; _momo_ and _mama_, and also _papa_ are frequent expressions of pleasure. When the child is taken away, he often says _ta-ta_ loudly, also, _atta_ in a whisper. There can no longer be a doubt that in these syllables is now expressed simply the idea of "going." The l.a.b.i.al _brrr_, the so-called "coachman's _R_," was practiced by the child, of his own accord, with special eagerness, and indeed was soon p.r.o.nounced so cleverly that educated adults can not produce it in such purity and especially with so prolonged an utterance.

The only new word is _dakku_ and _daggn_, which is often uttered pleasantly with astonishing rapidity, in moments of enjoyment, e. g., when the child is eating food that tastes good. But it is also uttered so often without any a.s.signable occasion, that a definite meaning can hardly be attributed to it, unless it be that of satisfaction. For it is never heard when the least thing of a disagreeable sort has happened to the child. The probability is obvious that we have here a case of imitation of the "Thanks" (Danke) which he has not seldom heard. But the modifications _taggn_, _attagn_, _attatn_, pa.s.s over into the word, undoubtedly the original favorite, _ta_, _ata_.

Among all the indistinct and distinct sounds of the babbling monologues, no inspiratory ones appeared at this time either; but such did make their appearance now and then, in a pa.s.sive manner, in swallowing and in the coughing that followed.

I spent much time in trying to get the child to repeat vowels and syllables p.r.o.nounced to him, but always without special success. When I said plainly to him "pa-pa-pa," he answered loudly _ta-ta_, or with manifest effort and a vigorous straining, _t-ta_, _k-ta_, _at-ta_, _hatta_, and the same when "ma-ma" was said for him by any one, no matter whom. He also moved lips and tongue often, as if trying to get the sound in various ways; as if the _will_ of the child, as he attentively observed the mouth of the speaker, were present, but not the ability to reproduce the sound-impression. Evidently he is taking pains to repeat what he has heard; and he laughs at the unsuccessful effort, if others laugh over it. The earliest success is with the repet.i.tion of the vowels "a-u-o," but this is irregular and inaccurate.

In contrast with these halting performances stands the precise, _parrot-like repet.i.tion_ of such syllables as the child had uttered of his own accord, and which I had immediately after p.r.o.nounced to him.

Thus _atta_, _ta_, _atta_, were often easily and correctly repeated, but, strangely enough, frequently in a whisper. The _a-[)e]_, _a-o_, _a-[)e]_, accompanied by oscillatory movements of the hand, when imitated directly by me was also produced again; in like manner, regularly, the _dakkn_, but this course did not succeed in the case of other primitive syllables or words, even under the most favorable circ.u.mstances: here it is to be borne in mind that the last-named utterances were precisely the most frequent at this period. When he was requested with emphasis to say _papa_, _mama_, _tata_, he would bring out one of the tricks he had been taught in the previous month; among others, that of moving the head to one side and the other as if in negation; but this it could not be, for this significance of the gesture was wholly unknown to him at that time. Rather had the child received the impression from my voice that he was to do something that he was bidden, and he did what was easy to him just at the moment, "mechanically," without knowing which of the movements that he had learned was required (cf. p. 116).

In regard to the _understanding of words heard_, several points of progress are to be noted; above all a change of place in consequence of the question, "Where is your clothes-press?" The child, standing erect, being held by the hand, at these words turns his head and his gaze toward the clothes-press, draws the person holding him through the large room by the hand, although he can not walk a step alone, and then opens the press without a.s.sistance. Here, at the beginning of the fourteenth month, is the _idea of a definite stationary object a.s.sociated with a sound heard_, and so strongly that it is able to produce an independent act of locomotion, the first one; for, although before this the clothes-press had often been named and shown, the going to it is still the child's own performance.

It is now a matter of common occurrence that other words heard have also a definite relation to objects seen. The questions, "Where is papa?

mamma? the light?" are invariably answered correctly, after brief deliberation, by turning the head (at the word "light," occasionally since the ninth month) and the gaze in the proper direction, and by lifting the right arm, often also the left, to point, the fingers of the outstretched hand being at the same time generally spread out. In the previous month, only the a.s.sociation of the word _mama_ with the appearance of the mother was established. The following are now added to the movements executed upon hearing certain words. The child likes to beat with his hands upon the table at which he is sitting. I said to him, "Play the piano," and made the movement after him. Afterward, when I merely said the word "piano" to the child (who was at the time quiet), without moving my hands, he _considered_ for a few seconds, and then beat again with his hands on the table. Thus the recollection of the sound was sufficient to bring out the movement. Further, the child had accustomed himself, of his own accord, to give a regular _snort_, contracting the nostrils, pursing up the mouth, and breathing out through the nose. If now any one spoke to him of the "nose," this snorting was sure to be made. The word put the centro-motors into a state of excitement. The same is true of the command "Give!" since the child reaches out the object he is holding or is about to take hold of, in case any one puts out the hand or the lips to him. Some weeks ago this took place only with the ring and biscuit; now the word "give" has the same effect with any object capable of being grasped, but it operates almost like a reflex stimulus, "mechanically," without its being even once the case that the act of giving is a purely voluntary act or even occasioned by sympathy.

In these already learned co-ordinated movements made upon hearing the words "Please, How tall? rogue! no! piano! ring! give!" all of which are now executed with shorter intervals of deliberation as if by a well-trained animal, there is in general absolutely no deeper understanding present than that to this and the other sound-impression belong this and the other movement. By means of daily repet.i.tion of both, the time required for the production of the movement after the excitement of the auditory nerve becomes less and less, the doubt as to which movement follows this or that sound withdrawing more and more. At last the responsive movements followed without any remarkable strain of attention. They became habitual.

Now and then, however, the movements are still confounded. Upon "no!

no!" follows the touching of the head; upon "please," the shaking of the head; upon "rogue," the putting of the hands together, etc. These errors become frequent when a new impression diverts the attention. They become more and more rare through repet.i.tion of the right movements made for the child to see and through guiding the limbs of the child. A further evidence of the increased ability to learn toward the end of the month is the fact that the hands are raised in the att.i.tude of begging not only at the command "Please," but also at the question, "How does the good child behave?" Thus, the experience is beginning to become a conscious one that, in order to obtain anything, the begging att.i.tude is useful.

The fifteenth month brought no new definite independent utterances of sound with the exception of _wa_. Sensations and emotions, however, are indicated more and more definitely and variously by sounds that are inarticulate and sometimes unintelligible. Thus, astonishment is expressed by _h[=a]-[=a] [)e][=a]-[)e]_; joy by vigorous crowing in very high tones and more prolonged than before; further, very strong desire by repeated _hao_, _ha-[)e]_; pain, impatience, by screaming in vowels which pa.s.s over into one another.

The only word that is unquestionably used of the child's own motion to indicate a cla.s.s of perceptions is still _atta_, _ha-atta_, which during the following month also is uttered softly, for the most part, on going out, and which signifies "away" or "gone" (weg), and still continues to be used also as it was in the eleventh month, when a light is dimmed (by a lamp-shade). Beyond this no syllable can be named that marked the dawn of mental independence, none that testified to the voluntary use of articulate sounds for the purpose of announcing perceptions. For the _brrr_, the frequent _dakkn_, _mamam_, _momo_, and _papap_, are without significance in the monologues. Even the saying of _atta_, with turning of the head toward the person going away, has acquired the meaning of "away" (fort) only through being repeatedly said to the child upon his being carried out; but no one said the word when the lamp was extinguished. Here has been in existence for some time not only the formation of the concept, but also the designation of the concept by syllables. The similarity in the very different phenomena of going away and of the dimming of the light, viz., the disappearance of a visual impression, was not only discovered, but was named by the child entirely independently in the eleventh month, and has kept its name up to the present time. He has many impressions; he perceives, he unites qualities to make concepts. This he has been doing for a long time without words; but only in this _one_ instance does the child express one of his concepts in language after a particular instance had been thus named for him, and then the word he uses is one not belonging to his later language, but one that belongs to all children the world over.

In regard to the repeating of syllables p.r.o.nounced to him a marked advance is noticeable. The child can not, indeed, by any means repeat _na_ and _pa_ and _o_ or _e_ and _be_. He answers _a_, _ta_, _ta-a-o-o-a_, and practices all sorts of tongue-and lip-exercises. But the other syllables uttered by him, especially _anna_, _ta_, _dakkn_, _a_, he says in response to any one who speaks them distinctly to him, and he gives them easily and correctly in parrot fashion. If a new word is said to him, e. g., "kalt" (cold), which he can not repeat, he becomes vexed, turns away his head, and screams, too, sometimes. I have been able to introduce into his vocabulary only one new word. In the sixty-third week he seized a biscuit that had been dipped in hot water, let it fall, drew down the corners of his mouth, and began to cry. Then I said "heiss" (hot), whereupon the child, speedily quieted, repeated _ha_ and _ha-s_ (with a just discernible _s_). Three days later the same experiment was made. After this the _has_, _ha.s.ses_, with distinct _s_, was often heard without any occasion. Some days later I wanted him to say "hand." The child observed my mouth closely, took manifest pains, but produced only _ha-ss_, then very distinctly _ha.s.s_ with sharp _ss_, and _ha-ith_, _hadith_, with the English _th_; at another time distinctly _ha-its_. Thus, at a time when _ts_ = _z_ can not be repeated, there exists the possibility of p.r.o.nouncing _z_. When I said to him "warm," _a.s.s_ was p.r.o.nounced with an effort and distinctly, although the syllable _wa_ belonged to the child's stock of words. This was evidently a recollection of the previous attempts to repeat "heiss"

and "hand."

Corresponding to this inability to say words after another's utterance of them is an articulation as yet very imperfect. Still, there is indication of progress in the distinctness of the _s_, the frequent English _th_ with the thrusting out of the tip of the tongue between the incisors, the _w_, which now first appears often, as well as in the _smacking_ first heard in the sixty-fifth week (in contented mood). The tongue is, when the child is awake, more than other muscles that in the adult are subject to cerebral volition, almost always in motion even when the child is silent. It is in various ways partly contracted, extended, bent. The lateral bending of the edges of the tongue downward and the turning back of the tip of the tongue (from left to right) so that the lower surface lies upward, are not easily imitated by adults.

The mobility of my child's tongue is at any rate much greater than that of my tongue, notwithstanding the fact that, in consequence of varied practice from an early period in rapid speaking, the most difficult performances in rapid speaking are still easily executed by mine. The tongue is unquestionably the child's favorite plaything. One might almost speak of a lingual delirium in his case, as in that of the insane, when he pours forth all sorts of disconnected utterances, articulate and inarticulate, in confusion; and yet I often saw his tongue affected with fibrillar contractions as if the mastery of the hypoglossus were not as yet complete. Quite similar fibrillar movements seem to be made by the tongue in bulbar paralysis, and in the case of dogs and guinea-pigs whose hypoglossus has been severed.

To the number of words heard that already produce a definite movement are added the following new ones. The child is asked, "Where is the moon? the clock? the eye? the nose?" and he raises an arm, spreads the fingers, and looks in the proper direction. If I speak of "coughing," he coughs; of "blowing," he blows; of "kicking," he stretches out his legs; of "light," he blows into the air, or, if there is a lamp in sight, toward that, looking at it meantime--a reminiscence of the blowing out of matches and candles often seen by him. It requires great pains to get from him the affirmative nod of the head at the spoken "ja, ja." Not till the sixty-fourth week was this achieved by means of frequent repet.i.tion and forcible direction, and the movement was but awkwardly executed even later--months after. On hearing the "no, no," the negative shake of the head now appeared almost invariably, and this was executed as by adults without the least uncertainty.

The holding out of his hand at hearing "Give the hand," occurs almost invariably, but is not to be regarded as a special case of understanding of the syllable "give," for the word "hand" alone produces the same result.

All these accomplishments, attained by regular training, do not afford the least evidence of an understanding of what is commanded when the sound-impression is converted into motor impulse. It is rather a matter of the establishment of the recollection of the customary a.s.sociation of both during the interval of deliberation. The words and muscular contractions that belong together are less often confounded, and the physiological part of the process takes less time, but its duration is noticeably prolonged when the child is not quite well. He deliberates for as much as twelve seconds when the question is asked him, "Where is the rogue?" and then responds with the proper gesture (p. 115).

The sixteenth month brought few new articulate utterances of sound, none a.s.sociated with a definite meaning; on the other hand, there was a marked progress in repeating what was said to the child, and especially in the understanding of words heard.

Among the sounds of his own making are heard--along with the _ha!_ _ha-o!_ _ha-[)e]!_ _h[)e]-[)e]!_ that even in the following months often expresses desire, but often also is quite without meaning--more seldom _hi_, _go-go_, _go_, _f-pa_ (the _f_ for the first time), _[(au]_, and more frequently _ta_, _dokkn_, _ta-ha_, _a-bwa-bwa_, _b[)u][=a]-b[)u]-[=a]_, and, as if by accident, once among all sorts of indefinable syllables, _dagon_. Further, the child--as was the case in the previous month--likes to take a newspaper or a book in his hands and hold the print before his face, babbling _a-[)e]_, _a-[)e]_, _a-[)e]_, evidently in imitation of the reading aloud which he has often observed.

By giving the command, "Read!" it was easy to get this performance repeated. Besides this, it is a delight to the child to utter a syllable--e. g., _bwa_ or _ma_--over and over, some six times in succession, without stopping. As in the previous month, there are still the whispered _atto_ and _hatto_, at the hiding of the face or of the light, at the shutting of a fan, or the emptying of a soup-plate, together with the _dakkn_, with the combinations of syllables made out of _ta_, _pa_, _ma_, _na_, _at_, _ap_, _am_, _an_, and with _momo_. The _papa_ and _mama_ do not, however, express an exclusive relation to the parents. Only to the questions, "Where is papa?" "Where is mamma?" he points toward them, raising his hand with the fingers spread. Pain is announced by loud and prolonged screaming; joy by short, high-pitched, piercing crowing, in which the vowel _i_ appears.

Of isolated vowels, _a_ only was correctly repeated on command. Of syllables, besides those of the previous month, _mo_ and _ma_; and here the child's excessive gayety over the success of the experiment is worthy of remark. He made the discovery that his parrot-like repet.i.tion was a fresh source of pleasure, yet he could not for several weeks repeat again the doubled syllables, but kept to the simple ones, or responded with all sorts of dissimilar ones, like _attob_, or said nothing. The syllable _ma_ was very often given back as _homa_ and _h.o.m.o_; _pa_ was never given back, but, as had been the case previously, only _ta_ and _ta_ were the responses, made with great effort and attention, and the visible purpose of repeating correctly. To the word "danke," p.r.o.nounced for him with urgency innumerable times, the response is _dakkn_, given regularly and promptly, and this in the following months also. If all persuasion failed, and the child were then left to himself without any direction of his attention, then not infrequently new imitations of sounds would be given correctly--e. g., when I said "bo"--but these, again, would no longer succeed when called for. Indeed, such attempts often broke down utterly at once. Thus the child once heard a hen making a piteous outcry, without seeing the creature, and he tried in vain to imitate the sound, but once only, and not again. On the other hand, he often succeeds in repeating correctly movements of the tongue made for him to see, as the thrusting out of the tongue between the lips, by reason of the extraordinary mobility of his tongue and lips; he even tries to smack in imitation. The more frequent partial contractions of the tongue, without attempts at speaking, are especially surprising. On one side, toward the middle of the tongue, rises a longitudinal swelling; then the edges are brought together, so that the tongue almost forms a closed tube; again, it is turned completely back in front. Such flexibility as this hardly belongs to the tongue of any adult. Besides, the lips are often protruded a good deal, even when this is not required in framing vocables.

The gain in the understanding of words heard is recognizable in this, that when the child hears the appropriate word, he takes hold, with thumb and forefinger, in a most graceful manner, of nose, mouth, beard, forehead, chin, eye, ear, or touches them with the thumb. But in doing this he often confounds ear and eye, chin and forehead, even nose and ear. "O" serves in place of "Ohr" (ear); "Au" in place of "Auge" (eye).

In both cases the child soon discovered that these organs are in pairs, and he would seize with the right hand the lobe of my left and of my right ear alternately after I had asked "Ear?" How easily in such cases a new sound-impression causes confusion is shown by the following fact: After I had at one time pointed out one ear, and had said, "Other ear,"

I succeeded, by means of repet.i.tion, in getting him to point out this other one also correctly every time. Now, then, the thing was to apply what had been learned to the eye. When one eye had been pointed out, I asked, "Where is the other eye?" The child grasped at an ear, with the sight of which the sound "other" was now a.s.sociated. Not till long after (in the twentieth month) did he learn to apply this sound of himself to different parts of the body. On the other hand, he understands perfectly the significance of the commands, "Bring, fetch, give----"; he brings, fetches, gives desired objects, in which case, indeed, the gesture and look of the speaker are decisive; for, if these are only distinctly apprehended, it does not make much difference which word is said, or whether nothing is said.

In the seventeenth month, although no disturbance of the development took place, there was no perceptible advance in the utterance of thoughts by sounds, or in the imitation of syllables p.r.o.nounced by others, or in articulation, but there was a considerable increase of the acoustic power of discrimination in words heard and of the memory of sounds.

Of syllables original with the child, these are new: _Bibi_, _na-na-na_--the first has come from the frequent hearing of "bitte"; the last is an utterance of joy at meeting and an expression of the desire to be lifted up. Otherwise, longing, abhorrence, pleasure and pain, hunger and satiety, are indicated by pitch, accent, _timbre_, intensity of the vocal sounds, more decidedly than by syllables. A peculiar complaining sound signifies that he does not understand; another one, that he does not wish. In place of _atta_, at the change of location of an object perceived, comes often a _t-to_ and _hot-to_, with the lips much protruded. But, when the child himself wishes to leave the room, then he takes a hat, and says _atta_, casting a longing look at his nurse, or repeatedly taking hold of the door.

Of voluntary attempts to imitate sounds, the most noteworthy were the efforts to give the noise heard on the winding of a time-piece, and to repeat tones sung.

The a.s.sociations of words heard with seen, tangible objects on the one hand, and, on the other hand, with definite co-ordinated muscular movements, have become considerably more numerous. Thus the following are already correctly distinguished, being very rarely confounded: Uhr (clock), Ohr (ear); Schuh (shoe), Stuhl (chair), Schulter (shoulder), Fuss (foot); Stirn (forehead), Kinn (chin); Nase (nose), blasen (blow); Bart (beard), Haar (hair); heiss (hot), Fleisch (meat).

In addition to the above, eye, arm, hand, head, cheek, mouth, table, light, cupboard, flowers, are rightly pointed out.

The child so often obeys the orders he hears--"run," "kick," "lie down," "cough," "blow," "bring," "give," "come," "kiss"--that when he occasionally does not obey, the disobedience must be ascribed no longer, as before, to deficient understanding, but to caprice, or, as may be discerned beyond a doubt from the expression of his countenance, to a genuine roguishness. Thus the spoken consonants are at last surely recognized in their differences of sound.

In the eighteenth month this ability of the ear to discriminate, and with it the understanding of spoken words, increases. "Finger, gla.s.s, door, sofa, thermometer, stove, carpet, watering-pot, biscuit," are rightly pointed out, even when the objects, which were at first touched, or merely pointed at, along with loud and repeated utterance of those words, are no longer present, but objects like them are present. Say "Finger," and the child takes hold of his own fingers only; "Ofen"

(stove), then he invariably at first looks upward ("oben"). Besides the earlier commands, the following are correctly obeyed: "Find, pick up, take it, lay it down." Hand him a flower, saying, "Smell," and he often carries it to his nose without opening his mouth.

The repeating of syllables spoken for him is still rare; "mamma" is responded to by _ta_. The voluntary repeating of syllables heard by chance is likewise rare; in particular, "jaja" is now repeated with precision.