The Mind of the Child Part 26

In the seventeenth month came in place of these sounds the babbled syllables _mam_, _mam_, _mad-am_, _a-dam_, _das_; in the case of other children, syllables different from these. Children often say several syllables in quick succession, "then suddenly stop as if they were thinking of something new--actually strain, as if they must exert themselves to bring their organs to utterance, until at last a new sound issues, and then this is repeated like the clack of a mill." Along with this appears the frequent doubling of syllables, as in _papa_, _mama_.

The boy, at twenty months, told his father the following, with pretty long pauses and animated gestures: _atten--beene--t.i.tten--bach--eine--puff--anna_, i. e., "Wir waren im Garten, haben Beeren und Kirschen gegessen, und in den Bach Steine geworfen; dann kam Anna" (we were in the garden, ate berries and cherries, and threw stones into the brook; then Anna came).

The observations of Sigismund are remarkable for their objectivity, their clearness of exposition, and their accuracy, and they agree with mine, as may easily be seen, in many respects perfectly. Unfortunately, this excellent observer (long since deceased) did not finish his work.

The first part only has appeared. Moreover, the statements as to the date of the first imitations (see pp. 83, 108, 109, 118, 121) are not wholly in accord with one another.

I. E. Lobisch, likewise a physician, in his "Entwickelungsgeschichte der Seele des Kindes" ("History of the Development of the Mind of the Child," Vienna, 1851, p. 68), says: "Naturally the first sound formed in the mouth, which is more or less open, while the other organs of speech are inactive, is the sound resembling _a_, which approximates sometimes more, sometimes less, nearly to the _e_ and the _o_.[D]

"Of the consonants the first are those formed by closing and opening the lips: _m_, _b_, _p_; these are at first indistinct and not decidedly differentiated till later; then the _m_ naturally goes not only before the _a_ but also after it; _b_ and _p_ for a long time merely commence a syllable, and rarely close one until other consonants also have been formed. A child soon says _pa_, but certainly does not say _ab_ until he can already p.r.o.nounce other consonants also (p. 79).

"The order in which the sounds are produced by the child is the following: Of the vowels, first _a_, _e_, _o_, _u_, of course not well distinguished from _a_ at the beginning; the last vowel is _i_. Of the consonants, _m_ is the first, and it pa.s.ses by way of the _w_ into _b_ and _p_. But here we may express our astonishment that so many writers on the subject of the order of succession of the consonants in the development of speech have a.s.signed so late a date to the formation of the _w_; Schwarz puts it even after _t_, and before _r_ and _s_. Then come _d_, _t_; then _l_ and _n_; _n_ is easily combined with _d_ when it precedes _d_; next _f_ and the gutturals _h_, _ch_, _g_, _k_, the _g_ and _k_ often confounded with _d_ and _t_. _S_ and _r_ are regarded as nearly simultaneous in their appearance; the gutturals as coming later, the latest of them being _ch_. Still, there is a difference in this respect in different children. For many produce a sound resembling _r_ among the first consonant sounds; so too _a_, _o_, _u_; the diphthongs proper do not come till the last."

These statements of Lobisch, going, as they do, far beyond pure observation, can not all be regarded as having general validity. For most German children, at least, even those first adduced can scarcely claim to be well founded.

H. Taine (in the supplement to his book on "Intelligence," which appeared in a German translation in 1880) noted, as expressions used by a French child in the fifteenth month, _papa_, _maman_, _tete_ (nurse, evidently a word taken from the word _teter_, "to nurse or suck at the breast"), _oua-oua_ (dog, in all probability a word said for the child to repeat), _koko_ (c.o.c.k, no doubt from _coq-coq_, which had been said for the child), _dada_ (horse, carriage, indicating other objects also, no doubt; a demonstrative word, as it is with many German children).

_Tem_ was uttered without meaning for two weeks; then it signified "give, take, look, pay attention." I suspect that we have here a mutilation of the strongly accentuated _tiens_, which had probably been often heard. As early as the fourteenth month, _ham_ signified "I want to eat" (_hamm_, then _am_, might have had its origin in the echo of _faim, as-tu faim?_ (are you hungry?)). At the age of three and a half months this child formed only vowels, according to the account; at twelve months she twittered and uttered first _m-m_, then _kraaau_, _papa_, with varying intonation, but spoke no word with a recognizable meaning. In the tenth month there was an understanding of some questions. For the child, when asked "Where is grandpapa?" smiled at the portrait of the grandfather, but not at the one of the grandmother, which was not so good a likeness. In the eleventh month, at the question "Where is mamma?" the child would turn toward her mother, and in like manner toward the father at the question, "papa"?

A second child observed by Taine made utterances that had intellectual significance in the seventh week, for the first time. Up to the age of five months _ah_, _gue_, _gre_ (French) were heard; in the seventh month, also _ata_, _ada_.

In his reflections, attached to these and a few other observations of his own, Taine rightly emphasizes the great power of generalization and the peculiarity the very young child had of a.s.sociating with words it had heard other notions than those common with us; but he ascribes too much to the child's inventive genius. The child guesses more than it discovers, and the very cases adduced (_hamm_, _tem_), on which he lays great weight, may be traced, as I remarked above parenthetically, to something heard by the child; this fact he seems to have himself quite overlooked. It is true, that in the acquirement of speech _one_ word may have several different meanings in succession, as is especially the case with the word _bebe_ (corresponding to the English word _baby_), almost universal with French children; it is not true that a child without imitation of sounds invents a word with a fixed meaning, and that, with no help or suggestion from members of the family, it employs its imperfectly uttered syllables (Lallsylben) consistently for designating its ideas.

Among the notes of Wyma concerning an English child ("The Mental Development of the Infant of To-day," in the "Journal of Psychological Medicine and Mental Pathology," vii, Part I, pp. 62-69, London, April, 1881), the following, relating to the acquisition of speech, are to be mentioned:

At five months the child began to use a kind of language, consisting of six words, to indicate a desire or intention. _Ning_ signified desire for milk, and was employed for that up to the age of two years. (The word may possibly have been derived from the word _milk_,[E] frequently heard.) At nine months the child made use of the words _pretty things_ for animals; at ten months it formed many small sentences.

The child practiced itself in speaking, even without direct imitation of words just spoken, for at the age of two years it began to say over a number of nursery rhymes that n.o.body in the house knew, and that could not have been learned from other children, because the child had no intercourse with such. At a later period the child declared that the rhymes had been learned from a former nurse, whom it had not seen for nearly three months. Thus the articulation was perfecting itself for weeks before it was understood. The exercises of the child sounded like careless reading aloud.

The book of Prof. Ludwig Strumpell, of Leipsic, "Psychologische Padagogik" (Leipsic, 1880, 368 pages), contains an appendix, "Notizen uber die geistige Entwickelung eines weiblichen Kindes wahrend der ersten zwei Lebensjahre" ("Notes on the Mental Development of a Female Child during the First Two Years of Life"); in this are many observations that relate to the learning of speech. These are from the years 1846 and 1847.

In the tenth week, _ah! ah!_ was an utterance of joy; in the thirteenth, the child sings, all alone; in the nineteenth comes the guttural utterance, _grrr_, but no consonant is a.s.signed to this period. In the first half-year are heard distinctly, in the order given, _ei_, _aga_, _eigei_, _ja_, _ede_, _dede_, _eds_, _edss_, _emme_, _meme_, _nene_, _nein_. In the eighth month, there is unmistakable understanding of what is said; e. g., "Where is the tick-tack?" In the ninth, _am_, _amme_, _ap_, _pap_, are said; she sings vowels that are sung for her. In the eleventh month, imitation of sounds is frequent, _kiss_, _kiss_; at sight of the tea-kettle, _ssi_, _ssi_; she knows all the people in the house; calls the birds by the strange name _tibu_. Echolalia. In the fourteenth month, needles are called _tick_ (_stich_ = p.r.i.c.k or st.i.tch).

To the question, "Where is Emmy?" the child points, correctly, to herself; says distinctly, _Kopf_ (head), _Buch_ (book), _roth_ (red), _Tante_ (aunt), _gut_ (good), _Mann_ (man), _Baum_ (tree); calls the eye (Auge) _ok_, Pruscinsky _prrti_, the dog _uf, uf_. In the seventeenth month, simple sentences are spoken; she speaks to herself. In the nineteenth month, she calls herself by her name, and counts _twei_, _drei_, _umpf_, _exe_, _ibene_, _atte_, _neune_ (zwei, drei, funf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun--2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9); in the twenty-second month, she talks a good deal to herself, and makes very rapid progress in the correct use of words and the formation of sentences.

From the diary kept by Frau von Strumpell concerning this daughter and a sister of this one, and kindly placed at my disposal in the original, I take the following notes: In the eighth month, _mamma_, in the tenth, _papa_, without meaning. In the eleventh month, the child's understanding of what is said to her is surprising, and so is her imitation. To "Guten Tag" (good-day) she responds, _tata_; to "Adieu,"

_adaa_. A book, which the child likes to turn the leaves of, she calls _ade_ (for a b c). The first certain a.s.sociation of a sound learned with a concept seems to be that of the _ee_, which has often been said to her, with wet, or with what is forbidden. _Amme am_ _om_, "Amme komm"

(nurse come) (both imitative), is most frequently repeated, _papa_ seldom. The _r_ guttural, or rattled, is imperfectly imitated. In the thirteenth month, the little girl says, _tippa tappa_, when she wants to be carried, and responds _te te_ to "steh! steh" (stop)! She now calls the book _a-be-te_ (for a b c). Pigeons she calls _kurru_; men, in the picture-book, _mann mann_. When some one asked, "Where is the brush?"

the child made the motion of brushing. To the questions, "Where is your ear, your tooth, nose, hand, your fingers, mamma's ear, papa's nose?"

etc., she points correctly to the object. On her mother's coming into the room, _mamam_; her father's, _papap_. When the nurse is gone, _amme om, amme am_. The mother asked some one, "Do you hear?" and the child looked at her and took hold of her own ears. To the question, "How do we eat?" she makes the motion of eating. She says _nein_ when she means to refuse. "Dank" (thank) is p.r.o.nounced _dakkn_. "Bitte" (I beg, or please) is correctly p.r.o.nounced. She understands the meaning of spoon, dress, mirror, mouth, plate, drink, and many other words, and likes to hear stories, especially when they contain the words already known to her. In the fifteenth month "Mathilde" is given by her as _tilda_ and _tida_. At sight of a faded bouquet she said _blom_ (for Blume, flower). She says everything that is said to her, though imperfectly; produces the most varied articulate sounds; says _ta, papa, ta_ when she hands anything to a person; calls the foot (Fuss) _pss_, lisping and thrusting out the tongue. She often says _omama_ and _opapa_. In the seventeenth month, Ring is called _ning_, Wagen (carriage), _uagen_, Sophie, _dsofi_, Olga, _olla_ krank (ill), _kank_, Pflaume (plum), _pluma_, satt (satisfied, as to hunger), _datt_, Hande-waschen (washing the hands), _ander-uaschen_, Schuh and Tuch (shoe and cloth), _tu_, Strumpf (stocking), _tumpf_, Hut (hat), _ut_, Suppe (soup), _duppe_. _Mama k.u.m bild dat bank_, is for "Mama komm, ich habe das Bilderbuch, erzahle mir dazu etwas, dort setz'

Dich zu mir" (M., come, I have the picture-book; tell me something in it; sit there by me). In the eighteenth month, "Where is Omama?" is answered with _im garten_; "How are Omama and Opapa?" with _sund_ (for gesund, well); "What is Omama doing?" with _naht_ (she is sewing). The black Apollo is called _pollo wurz_ (schwarz, black).

The sister of this child, in the tenth month, applied the word _mama_ to her mother, _pap pap_ and _papap_ to her father, but was less sure in this; _tj[=e]-t[=e]_ were favorite syllables. When asked, "Where is Tick-tack?" she looks at the clock on the wall. A piercing scream is an utterance of joy. In the fifteenth month, _Apapa_ is her word for grandfather, and is roguishly used for grandmother. She says _aben_ for "haben" (have), _tatta_ for "Tante" (aunt), _apa_ (for _uppa_) means "I want to go up." Her imitation of what is said is very imperfect, but her understanding of it is surprising. In the nineteenth month she makes much use of her hands in gesture instead of speaking. _Kuker_ is her word for "Zucker" (sugar), _bildebu_ for "Bilderbuch" (picture-book).

But she habitually calls a book _omama_ or _opapa_ (from the letters of her grandparents). Clara is p.r.o.nounced _clala_, Christine, _t.i.tine_. In the twentieth month, her mother, after telling her a story, asked, "Who, pray, is this, I?" and the child replied, "_Mamma"_ "And who is that, you?" "_Bertha, Bertha_" (the child's name) was the answer. At this period she said, _Bertha will_; also _paren_ (for fahren, drive), _pallen_ (fallen, fall), _bot_, (Brot, bread), _atig_ (artig, good, well-behaved), _mal_ (noch einmal, once more), _muna_ (Mund, mouth), _aujen_ (Augen, eyes), _ol_ (Ohr, ear), _tirn_ (Stirn, forehead), _wanne_ (w.a.n.ge, cheek, and Wanne, bath-tub), _aua_ (August), _dute_ (gute) _mama_, _pasche_ (Equipage), _wasar tinken_ (Wa.s.ser trinken, drink water) _dabel_ (Gabel, fork), _lussel_ (Schlussel, key), _is nits_ (ist nichts, is nothing), _mula_ (Milch, milk), _a.s.s_ (heiss, hot).

Another remarkable observation is the following from the fifteenth month. It reminds one of the behavior of hypnotized adults. On her grandmother's birthday the child said some rhymes that she did not easily remember (there were six short verses, thirty-four words). One night soon after the birthday festival the little girl said off the verses, "almost for the first time without any stumbling, in her sleep."

From this we see how much more quickly in regard to articulation and independent use of words both these girls (the first of whom weighed only six pounds at birth) learned to speak than did Sigismund's boy, my own boy, and others.

Darwin observed (_A Biographical Sketch of an Infant_ in "Mind, a Quarterly Review of Psychology and Philosophy," July, 1877, pp. 285-294) in a son of his, on the forty-seventh day of his life, a formation of sounds without meaning. The child took pleasure in it. The sounds soon became manifold. In the sixth month he uttered the sound _da_ without any meaning; but in the fifth he probably began to try to imitate sounds. In the tenth month the imitation of sounds was unmistakable. In the twelfth he could readily imitate all sorts of actions, such as shaking his head and saying "Ah." He also understood intonations, gestures, several words, and short sentences. When exactly seven months old, the child a.s.sociated his nurse with her name, so that when it was called out he would look round for her. In the thirteenth month the boy used gestures to explain his wishes; for instance, he picked up a bit of paper and gave it to his father, pointing to the fire, as he had often seen and liked to see paper burned. At exactly the age of a year he called food _mum_, which also signified "Give me food," and he used this word instead of beginning to cry as formerly. This word with affixes signified particular things to eat; thus _shu-mum_ signified sugar, and a little later licorice was called _black-shu-mum_. When asking for food by the word _mum_ he gave to it a very strongly marked tone of longing (Darwin says an "interrogatory sound," which should mean the same thing). It is remarkable that my child also, and in the tenth week for the first time, said _momm_ when he was hungry, and that a child observed by Fritz Schultze (Dresden) said _mam-mam_. Probably the syllable has its origin from the primitive syllable _ma_ and from hearing the word "mamma" when placed at the breast of the mother.

Of the facts communicated by the physiologist Vierordt concerning the language of the child ("Deutsche Revue" of January, 1879, Berlin, pp.

29-46) should be mentioned this, that a babe in its second month expressed pleasure by the vowel _a_, the opposite feeling by _a_. This is true of many other children also. In the third and fourth months the following syllables were recognizable: _mam_, _amma_, _fu_, _pfu_, _ess_, _ang_, _angka_, _acha_, _erra_, _hab_. A lisping babe said, countless times, _hab_, _hob_, _ha_. These syllables coincide in part with those given by other observers. The _pf_ and _ss_ only have not been heard by me at this age, and I doubt whether _f_, for which teeth are needed, was produced with purity so early. In the second and third years a child p.r.o.nounced the following words: _beb_ (for bos, naughty); _bebe_ (Besen, _beesann_, broom); _webbe_ (Wa.s.ser, _watja_, water); _wewe_ (Lowe, _lowee_, lion); _ewebau_ (Elephant, _elafant_); _webenau_ (Fledermaus, _lebamaunz_, bat); _babaube_ (Blasebalg, _ba-abats_, bellows); _ade_ (Hase, hare); _emele_ (Schemel, footstool); _giG.o.d_ (Schildkrote, tortoise).

These examples ill.u.s.trate very well the mogilalia and paralalia that exist in every child, but with differences in each individual.

Sigmatism and parasigmatism and paralambdacism are strongly marked.

At the same time the influence of dialect is perceptible (Tubingen).

The p.r.o.nunciations given in parentheses in the above instances were regularly used by my boy in his twenty-sixth month when he saw the pictures of the objects named in his picture-book. (In Jena.) One would not suppose beforehand that _watja_ and _webbe_ have the same meaning. From the ten examples may be seen, further, that _f_, _l_, _r_, _s_, _t_ present more difficulties of articulation than _b_, _w_, _m_, _g_, and _d_; but neither must this be made a general conclusion. The _w_ (on account of the teeth) regularly comes later than the _b_, _m_, and _r_.

In the third year Vierordt noted down the following narration. I put in brackets the words omitted by the child:

_id. mama ... papa gage_ [Es] ist [eine] mama [und ein] papa gewesen _unn die habe wai didi gabt_ und diese haben zwei Kinder gehabt, _unn, didi ... waud._ und [die] Kinder [sind in den] Wald [gegangen]

_unn habe ohd duh_ und haben Holz geholt; _na ... an e gugeeide guju_ dann [sind sie] an ein Zuckerhauschen gegangen _unn habe gag_ und haben gegessen; _no ad die egg gag_ dann hat die Hexe gesagt: _nag nag neidi_ "Nucker, Nucker Neisle _wie. immi. eidi_ wer [krabbelt] mir am Hausle?"

_no habe die didi gag_ dann haben die Kinder gesagt: _die wid, de immi immi wid_ ["Der Wind, der Wind, das himmlische Kind"] Der Wind, der himmlische, himmlische Wind.

(There were once a mama and a papa, and they had two children.

And the children went into the woods and fetched wood. Then they came to a little sugar house and ate. Then the witch said: "Nucker, Nucker Neisle, who is crawling in my little house?"

Then the children said: "The wind, the wind, the heavenly child"--The wind, the heavenly, heavenly wind.)

I told the same story to my boy for the first time when he was two years and eighteen days old. He repeated, with an effort:

_Ess ets aine mama unn ain papa edam (wesen)._ _unn (unt) diesa abn wais (twai) kinna (tinder) ghatf (dehappt)._ _unn die kinna sint (dsint) in den walt tegang (gangen)._ _unn-daben (habn) holz (olz) geh[=o]l (ohlt)._ _dann sint (dsint) sie an ain utsom-handom (zuke-haussn) zezan (gangn)._ _unn (unt) habn (abn) ge ... (dessen)._ _dann hatt die hetse (hekksee) dsa (tsakt)._ _nanuck (nuke nuke) nana nainle (naisle)._ _wer ... (drabbelt) mir am haultje (ausle)._ _dann baben (habn) die ... (tinder) ze-a (dsagt)._ _der wi[)e]ds (wind) ... (der fint)._ _ds[=e]r wenn daz (das) himmela (immlis) khint (tint)._

Where the periods are, his attempts were all vain. At any rate, he would say _pta-pta_ as he usually did in fruitless efforts at imitating sounds. Just two months after these first attempts, the same child recited for me the narrative, using the expressions in the parentheses; this indicated a distinct progress in articulation. A year after the first attempt, he easily repeated the whole, with only a single error.

He still said _himmela_, and then _himmliss_, for "himmlische."

A third boy (Dusseldorf) repeated the narrative much better, as early as his twenty-fifth month. He made only the following errors, which were noted by his mother, and kindly communicated by her to me:

_gewesa_ for gewesen _gehat_ " gehabt _gehat_ } _gehakt_ } " gesagt _gegannen_ " gegangen _hamen_ " haben _hind hie_ " sind sie _kabbell_ " krabbelt _himmli-he_ " himmlische _fai_ " zwei _kinner_ " kinder _wlad_ " Wald _hol-l-l-t_ " Holz _uckerhaussen_ " Zuckerhauschen _hekes_ " Hexe _neissel_ " neisle _haussel_ " Hausle

The _ss_ between two vowels was imperfect, reminding one of the English "th" and the German "sch" and "s." The child could not at this time be brought to learn by heart.

We see, from these three versions, how unequal the capacity for articulation is in its development, and how varied it is in regard to the omission of difficult consonants and the subst.i.tution of others in place of them, as well as in regard to transposition, e. g., in _wand_, _walt_, _wlad_ (Wald), _wenn_, _wid_, _wi[)e]ds_, _fint_ (Wind)--and this even in the same individual.

As no one thus far has inst.i.tuted comparisons of this sort, one more example may be given. The verses taught by Sigismund to his child (for whom I use the sign S) of twenty-one months, were often repeated by my boy (A), of twenty-five months, to me, and by the boy from Dusseldorf (D), in his twenty-fifth month, to his mother:

S. A D.

[_______________________]

21st month. 25th month. 27th month. 25th month.

Guter tute tuten tuter guter Mond bohnd monn mond Mund Du gehst du tehz du gehts du dehst du gehs so stille so tinne so tilte so tille ho tille durch die duch die durch die durch die durch die Abendwolken aten-bonten aben-woltn abendwolkn abehtwolken him in in in hin gehst so tehz so gehts so dehst so gehs so traurig tautech (atich) treuja trauig terauhig und ich und ich unn ich und ich und ich fuhle bune felam fuhle fuhle da.s.s ich da.s.s ich dess ich da.s.s ich da.s.s ich ohne Ruhe one ule ohno ruhge ohne ruhe ohni ruhe bin bin bin bin bin Guter tute hotten tuter guter Mond bohnd mohn mond mond du darfst du atz du dafp du darfst du darf es wissen es bitten es witsen es wissen es wissen weil du so bein du so leil du so weil du so weil du ho verschwiegen bieten wereidsam verwiegen werwiegen bist bitz bits bist bits warum amum wa-um warum wahum meine meine meine meinhe meine Thranen tanen tanen thranen tanen fliessen bieten flietjam fliessen fliessen und mein und mein und mein und mein und mein Herz so atz so hetz so erst so hetz ho traurig ist atich iz treutjam its trauig ist taudig ist Errors 24 26 13 18

The errors are very unlike, and are characteristic for each child. The fact that in the case of A the errors diminished by half within two months is to be explained by frequency of recitation. I may add that the inclination to recite was so often lacking that a good deal of pains was required to bring the child to it.

From the vocabulary of the second year of the child's life, according to the observations of Sigismund and myself, the following words of frequent use are also worthy of notice:

[ Vater Mutter Anna Milch Kuh Pferd | (father) (mother) (milk) (cow) (horse) S. | _atte_ _amme_ _anne_ _minne_ _muh_ _hotto_ | _atte_ _amme_ _dodo_ | _tate_ _ammam_ _pad_ | _fatte_ _mamme_ [ _matte_

{_va-ata_ _mama_ _anna_ _mimi_ _mumuh_ _otto_ P. {_papa_ _mukuh_ _pfowed_ { _fowid_

Vogel Mund Nase Ohr Haare Finger Da (bird) (mouth) (nose) (ear) (hair) (there) S. _piep-piep_ _mund_ _ase_ _ohn_ _ale_ _finne_ _da_ P. _piep_, _pipiep_ _mum_ _nane_ _o-a_ _ha-i_ {finge _da_ {wi-er

Adieu Guten Tag Fort Ja Nein (good-day) (away) (yes) (no) S. _ade_ _tag_ _fot_ _ja_ _nein_ P. _adjee_ _tatach_ _wott_ _ja_; _jaja_ _neinein_