The child was drinking milk, carrying the cup to his mouth with both
hands. The milk was too warm for him, and he set the cup down quickly
and said, loudly and decidedly, looking at me with eyes wide open and
with earnestness, _heiss_ (hot). This single word was to signify "The
drink is too hot!" In the same week, at the end of the ninety-ninth, the
child of his own accord went to the heated stove, took a position before
it, looked attentively at it, and suddenly said with decision, _hot_
(_heiss_)! Again, a whole proposition in a syllable. In the sixty-third
week for the first time the child had reproduced the word "hot"
pronounced to him. Eight and a half months were required for the step
from the imitative _hot_ to the independent _hot_ as expressive of his
judgment. He progressed more rapidly with the word "Wasser," which was
reproduced as _watja_, and was called out longingly by the thirsty child
a few weeks afterward. He already distinguishes water and milk in his
own fashion as _watja_ and _mimi_. Yet _mimmi_, _moemoe_, and _m[=a]m[=a]_
still signify food in general, and are called out often before
meal-times by the impatient and hungry child. The primitive word _atta_
is likewise frequently uttered incidentally when anything disappears
from the child's field of vision or when he is himself carried away. The
other sound-utterances of this period proceeding from the child's own
impulse are interesting only as exercises of the apparatus of
articulation. Thus, the child not seldom cries aloud _oi_ or _eu_
(_aeu_); further, unusually loud, _ana_, and for himself in play, _ida_,
_didl_, _dadl_, _dldo-dlda_, and in singing tone _opojoe_, _apojopojum
aui_, _heissa_. With special pleasure the child, when talking to
himself, said _papa_, _mama_, _maemae_, _mimi_, _momo_, of his own accord,
but not "mumu"; on the other hand, _e-mama-ma-memama_, _mi_, _ma_, _moe_,
_ma_. His grandparents he now regularly designates by _e-papa_ and
_e-mama_. He knows very well who is meant when he is asked, "Where is
grandmamma? Grandpapa?" And several days after leaving them, when asked
the question, e. g., on the railway-train, he points out of the window
with a troubled look. The understanding of words heard is, again, in
general more easy. The child for the most part obeys at once when I say,
"drink, eat, shut, open, pick it up, turn around, sit, run!" Only the
order "come!" is not so promptly executed, not, however, on account of
lack of understanding, but from willfulness. That the word-memory is
becoming firm is indicated particularly by the circumstance that now the
separate parts of the face and body are pointed out, even after pretty
long intervals, quickly and upon request, on his own person and that of
others. When I asked about his beard, the child (after having already
pointed to my beard), in visible embarrassment, pointed with his
forefinger to the place on his face corresponding to that where he saw
the beard on mine, and moved his thumb and forefinger several times as
if he were holding a hair of the beard between them and pulling at it,
as he had had opportunity to do with mine. Here, accordingly, memory and
imagination came in as supplementary to satisfy the demand made by the
acoustic image.
The greatest progress is to be recorded in this month in regard to the
reproduction of syllables and words. A perfecting of the process is
apparent in the fact that when anything is said for him to repeat, his
head is not turned away in unwillingness so often as before, in case the
new word said to him is too difficult, nor are all sorts of incoherent,
complicated sounds (_paterateratte_) given forth directly upon the first
failure of the attempt at imitation. Thus, the following words were at
this period, without systematic exercises, incidentally picked up (give,
as before, the German pronunciation to the letters):
Spoken to him. Reproduced.
Ohr, _Oa(r)_.
Tisch, _Tiss_.
Haus, _Hausesess_.
Hemd, _Hem_.
Peitsche, _Paitsch_, _Paitse_.
Wasser, _Wass_, _Watja_.
Hand, _Hann_.
Heiss, _Haiss_.
Auge, _Autschge_.
Butter, _Buotoe_.
Eimer, _Aima_.
Bitte, _Bete_, _Bite_.
Blatt, _Batn_.
Tuch, _Tuhs_.
Papier, _Patn_, _Pai_.
Fort, _Wott_.
Vater, _Fa-ata_.
Grete, _Deete_.
Karl, _Kara_.
Alle, _Alla_.
Alle, _Alla_.
Mund, _Munn_.
Finger, _Finge_.
Pferd, _Pfowed_, _Fowid_.
Gute Nacht, _Nag-ch Na_.
Guten Tag, _Tatach_.
Morgen, _Moigjen_.
Axel, _Akkes_, _Aje_, _Eja_.
The four words, _Paitsch_ or _Paitse_, _Bite_, _Watja_, and _Haiss_, are
uttered now and then by the child without being said to him, and their
use has regard to the meaning contained in them. His whip and his pail
he learned to name quickly and correctly. His own name, Axel, on the
contrary, he designates by the favorite interjections _Aje_, _Eja_. On
the whole, variety of articulation is on the increase as compared with
the previous month, but the ability to put syllables together into words
is still but little developed. Thus, e. g., the child reproduces quite
correctly "je," and "ja," and "na." But if any one says to him "Jena" or
"Jana," the answer runs regularly _nena_ or _nana_, and only
exceptionally, as if by chance, _jena_. Further, he repeats correctly
the syllables "bi" and "te" when they are given to him, and then also
_bi-te_; afterward, giving up the correct imitation, he says _beti_, but
can not reproduce _ti-be_ or _tebi_. "Bett, Karre, Kuk," are correctly
repeated.
Finally, echolalia, not observed of late, appears again. If the child
hears some one speak, he often repeats the last syllable of the sentence
just finished, if the accent were on it--e. g., "What said the man?"
_man_; or "Who is there?" _there?_ "Nun?" (now) _nou_ (_n[=oo]_). Once
the name "Willy" was called. Immediately the child likewise called
_[)u]il[=e]_, with the accent on the last syllable, and repeated the
call during an hour several dozens of times; nay, even several days
later he entertained himself with the stereotyped repetition. Had not
his first echo-play produced great merriment, doubtless this monotonous
repetition would not have been kept up. In regard to the preference of
one or another word the behavior of those about the child is not merely
influential, but is alone decisive. I observed here, as I had done
earlier, that urgent exhortations to repeat a new word have generally a
much worse result than is obtained by leaving the child to himself. The
correct, or at any rate the best, repetitions were those made when the
child was not spoken to. Even adults can imitate others in their manner
of speaking, their dialect, even their voice, much better when not
called upon to do it, but left entirely to their own inclination. The
wish or command of others generates an embarrassment which disturbs the
course of the motor processes. I resolved, consequently, to abandon in
the following month all attempts to induce the child to reproduce
sounds, but to observe so much the more closely what he might say of his
own accord.
In the last month of the second year of his life this leaving of him to
himself proved fruitful in results to this extent--that voluntary
sound-imitations gained considerably in frequency and accuracy.
Particularly, genuine echolalia manifested itself more at this period in
the repeating of the last syllables of sentences heard, the meaning of
which remained unintelligible to the child; and of single words, the
sense of which became gradually clear to him by means of accompanying
gestures. Thus, the word "Herein!" (Come in!) was repeated as an empty
sound, and then _arein_, _harrein_, _haarein_, were shouted strenuously
toward the door, when the child wanted to be let in; _ab_ (off) was
uttered when a neck-ribbon was to be loosened. _Moigen_ signified "Guten
Morgen!" _na_, "Gute Nacht!" To the question, "Was thun wir morgen?"
(What shall we do to-morrow?) comes the echo-answer _moigen_. In
general, by far the greater part of the word-imitations are much
distorted, to strangers often quite unintelligible. _Ima_ and _Imam_
mean "Emma," _dakkngaggngaggn_ again means "danke," and _betti_ still
continues to signify "bitte." Only with the utmost pains, after the
separate syllables have been frequently pronounced, appear _dang[=ee]_
and _bitt[=ee]_. An apple (Apfel) is regularly named _apfel[=ee]l[=ee]_
(from Apfelgelee); a biscuit (Zwieback), _wita_, then _wijak_; butter,
on the contrary, is often correctly named. Instead of "Jawohl," the
child almost invariably says _wolja_; for "Licht" _list_ and _lists_;
for "Wasser," _watja_ still as before; for "pfui" he repeats, when he
has been awkward, _[=u]i_, and often adds a _pott_ or _putt_ in place of
"caput." "Gut" is still pronounced _[=u]t_ or _tut_, and "fort," _okk_
or _ott_. All the defects illustrated by these examples are owing rather
to the lack of flexibility in the apparatus of articulation--even
stammering, _tit-t-t-t_, in attempting to repeat "Tisch," appears--than
to imperfect ability to apprehend sounds. For the deficiency of
articulation shows itself plainly when a new word is properly used, but
pronounced sometimes correctly and sometimes incorrectly. Thus, the
"tsch" hitherto not often achieved (twentieth month), and the simple
"sch" in _witschi_ and _wesch_, both signifying "Zwetschen," are
imperfect, although both sounds were long ago well understood as
commands to be silent, and Zwetschen (plums) have been long known to the
child. Further, the inability to reproduce anything is still expressed
now and then by _raterateratera_; the failure to understand, rather by a
peculiar dazed expression of countenance, with an inquiring look.
With regard to the independent application of all the words repeated, in
part correctly, in part with distortions, a multiplicity of meanings is
especially noteworthy in the separate expressions used by the child. The
primitive word _atta_, used with uncommon frequency, has now among
others the following significations: "I want to go; he is gone; she is
not here; not yet here; no longer here; there is nothing in it; there is
no one there; it is empty; it is nowhere; out there; go out." To the
question "Where have you been?" the child answers, on coming home,
_atta_, and when he has drunk all there was in the glass, he likewise
says _atta_. The concept common to all the interpretations adduced,
"gone," seems to be the most comprehensive of all that are at the
child's disposal. If we choose to regard a word like this _atta_ as
having the force of a whole sentence, we may note many such primitive
sentences in this month. Thus, _mann_ means, on one occasion, "A man has
come," then almost every masculine figure is named _mann_; _auff_,
accompanied with the offering of a key, signifies the wish for the
opening of a box, and is cried with animation after vain attempts to
open a watch. The concepts "male being" and "open" are thus not only
clear, but are already named with the right words. The distinguishing of
men from women appears for months past very strikingly in this, that the
former only are greeted by reaching out the hand. The manifold meaning
of a single word used as a sentence is shown particularly in the cry of
_papa_, with gestures and looks corresponding to the different meanings
of it. This one word, when called out to his father, means (1) "Come
play with me"; (2) "Please lift me up"; (3) "Please give me that"; (4)
"Help me get up on the chair"; (5) "I can't," etc.
The greatest progress, however, is indicated by the _combination of two
words_ into a sentence. The first sentence of this sort, spoken on the
seven hundred and seventh day of his life at the sight of the house that
was his home, was _haim_, _mimi_, i. e., "I would like to go home and
drink milk." The second was _papa_, _mimi_, and others were similar.
Contrasted with these first efforts at the framing of sentences, the
earlier meaningless monologues play only a subordinate part; they
become, as if they were the remains of the period of infancy, gradually
rudimentary: thus, _pipapapai_, _breit_, _barai_. A more important fact
for the recognition of progress in speaking is that the words are often
_confounded_, e. g., _watja_ and _buotoe_ (for _butter_). In gestures
also and in all sorts of performances there are bad cases of confusion
almost every day; e. g., the child tries to put on his shoes, holding
them with the heel-end to his toes, and takes hold of the can out of
which he pours the milk into his cup by the lip instead of the handle.
He often affirms in place of denying. His joy is, however, regularly
expressed by loud laughing and very high tones; his grief by an
extraordinarily deep depression of the angles of the mouth and by
weeping. Quickly as this expression of countenance may pass over into a
cheerful one--often on a sudden, in consequence of some new
impression--no confusion of _these_ two _mimetic_ movements takes place.
In the first month of the third year of life the progress is
extraordinary, and it is only in regard to the articulatory mechanism
that no important new actions are to be recorded. The child does not
pronounce a perfect "u," or only by chance. Generally the lips are not
enough protruded, so that "u" becomes "ou"; "Uhr" and "Ohr" often sound
almost the same. The "i" also is frequently mixed with other
vowel-sounds, particularly with "e." Probably the corners of the mouth
are not drawn back sufficiently. With these exceptions the vowels of the
German language now offer hardly any difficulties. Of the consonants,
the "sch" and "cht" are often imperfect or wanting. "Waschtisch" is
regularly pronounced _waztiz_, and "Gute Nacht" _gna_.
The sound-imitations of every kind are more manifold, eager, and
skillful than ever before. Once the child even made a serious attempt to
reproduce ten words spoken in close succession, but did not succeed. The
attempt proves all the same that the word-imitation is now far beyond
the lower echo-speech; yet he likes to repeat the last words and
syllables of sentences heard by him even in the following months. Here
belongs his saying _so_ when any object is brought to the place
appointed for it. When the reproduction is defective, the child shows
himself to be now much more amenable to correction. He has become more
teachable. At the beginning of the month he used to say, when he wanted
to sit, _ette_ then _etse_, afterward _itse_; but he does not yet in the
present month say "setzen" or "sitzen." Hitherto he could repeat
correctly at the utmost two words said for him. Now he repeats three,
and once even four, imperfectly: _papa_, _beene_, _delle_, means "Papa,
Birne, Teller," and is uttered glibly; but "Papa, Birne, Teller, bitte,"
or "Papa, Butter, bitte," is not yet repeated correctly, but _pata_,
_butte_, _betti_, and the like; only very seldom, in spite of almost
daily trial, _papa_, _beene_, _delle_, _bittee_.
Evidence of the progress of the memory, the understanding, and the
articulation, is furnished in the answers the child gave when I asked
him, as I touched various objects, "What is that?" He replied:
_Autse_, for Auge (eye).
_Nana_, " Nase (nose).
_Ba_, " Backe (back).
_Baat_, " Bart (beard).
_Oe, Oa_, " Ohr (ear).
_Opf_, " Kopf (head).
_Tenn_, " Kinn (chin).
_Taene_, " Zaehne (teeth).
_Hai_, " Haar (hair).
_Ulter_, " Schulter (shoulder).
_Aam_, " Arm (arm).
_Ann_, " Hand (hand).
_Wier_, " Finger (finger).
_Daima_, " Daumen (thumb).
_Anu_, " Handschuh (glove).
_Bain_, " Bein (leg).
But not one word has the child himself invented. When a new expression
appears it may be surely traced to what has been heard, as _uppe_,
_oppee_, _appee_, _appei_, to "Suppe." The name alone by which he calls
on his nurse, _wola_, seemed hard to explain. If any one says, "Call
Mary," the child invariably calls _wola_. It is probable, as he used to
call it _wolja_, that the appellation has its origin in the often-heard
"ja wohl."
The correct use of single words, picked up, one might say, at random,
increases in a surprising manner. Here belong _baden_, _reiputtse_, for
"Reissuppe," _la-ock_ for "Schlafrock," _boter_ for "Butter,"
_Butterbrod_, _Uhr_, _Buch_, _Billerbooch_ for "Bilderbuch." In what
fashion such words now incorporated into the child's vocabulary are
employed is shown by the following examples: _Tul_ (for "Stuhl")
means--(1) "I should like to be lifted up on the chair; (2) My chair is
gone; (3) I want this chair brought to the table; (4) This chair doesn't
stand right." If the chair or other familiar object is broken, then it
is still styled _putt_ (for "caput," gone to smash); and if the child
has himself broken anything he scolds his own hand, and says _oi_ or
_oui_, in place of "pfui" (fie)! He wants to write to his grandmother,
and asks for _Papier_, a _daitipf_ (for "Bleistift," pencil), and says
_raiwe_ (for "schreiben," write).
That misunderstandings occur in such beginnings of speech seems a matter
of course. All that I observed, however, were from the child's
standpoint rational. Some one says, "Schlag das Buch auf" (Open the
book, but meaning literally "Strike upon the book"), and the child
strikes upon the book with his hands without opening it. He does the
same when one says, "Schlag auf das Buch" (Strike upon the book). Or we
say, "Will you come? one, two!" and the child, without being able to
count, answers, "Three, four." He has merely had the sequence 1, 2, 3,
4, said over to him frequently. But, on the whole, his _understanding_
of words heard, particularly of commands, has considerably advanced; and
how far the reasoning faculty has developed is now easily seen in his
independent designations for concepts. For example, since his delight at
gifts of all sorts on his birthday, he says _burtsa_ (for Geburtstag,
birthday) when he is delighted by anything whatever. Another instance of
childish induction was the following: The child's hand being slightly
hurt, he was told to blow on his hand and it would be better. He did
blow on his hand. In the afternoon he hit his head against something,
and he began at once to blow of his own accord, supposing that the
blowing would have a soothing effect, even when it did not reach the
injured part.
In the forming of sentences considerable progress is to be recorded. Yet
only once has the child joined more than four words in a sentence, and
rarely three. His sentences consisting of two words, which express a
fact of the present or of the immediate past, are often, perhaps
generally, quite unintelligible to strangers. Thus, _danna kuha_
signifies "Aunt has given me cake"; _Kaffee nain_, "There is no coffee
here"; and _mama etsee_ or _etse_ is intelligible only by means of the
accompanying gesture as the expression of the wish, "Mamma, sit by me."
_Helle pumme_ signifies the wish to help (_helfen_) in pumping, and is
uttered at the sight of persons pumping water.
The following sentence consisting of five words is particularly
characteristic of this period, because it exhibits the first attempt to
relate a personal experience. The child dropped his milk-cup and related
_mimi atta teppa papa oi_, which meant "Milch fort [auf den] Teppich,
Papa [sagte] pfui." (Milk gone [on] carpet, Papa [said] "Fie!") The
words adopted by the child have often a very different meaning from that
which they have in the language of adults, being not entirely
misunderstood but peculiarly interpreted by the imitator. Thus,
pronouns, which are not for a long time yet understood in their true
sense, signify objects themselves or their qualities. _Dein bett_ means
"the large bed."
In the twenty-sixth month a large picture-book, with good colored
pictures, was shown to the child by me every day. Then he himself would
point out the separate objects represented, and those unknown to him
were named to him, and then the words were repeated by him. Thus were
obtained the following results:
Said to him. His imitation.
Blasebalg (bellows), _ba-a-bats_, _blasabalitz_.
Saugflasche (nursing-bottle), _augflaze_.
Kanone (cannon), _nanone_.
Koffer (trunk), _towwer_, _toffer_, _pfoffa_,
_poffa_, _toff-wa_.
Fuchs (fox), _fuhts_.
Kaffeekanne (coffee-urn), _taffeetanne_, _pfafee-tanne_.
Frosch (frog), _frotz_.
Klingel (bell), _linli_ (learned as _ingeling_
and _linlin_).
Besen (broom), _b[=e]sann_, _beedsen_,
_beedsenn_.
Stiefel (boot), _tiefel_, _stibbell_, _tihbell_,
_tibl_.
Nest (nest), _netz_.
Storch (stork), _toich_.
Giesskanne (watering-pot), _tietstanne_, _ihtstanne_,
_ziesstanne_.
Fisch (fish), _fiz_.
Zuckerhut (sugar-loaf), _ukkahut_.
Vogel (bird), _wodal_.
Kuchen (cake), _tuche_, _tuch[=e]n_ (hitherto
_kuha_).
Licht (light), _lihts_, _lits_.
Schlitten (sled), _lita_, _litta_.
Tisch (table), _tiss_.
Nuss (nut), _nuhuss_, _nuss_.
Kaffeetopf (coffee-pot), _poffee-topf_.
Hund (dog), _und_.
Brief (letter), _dief_.
Elephant, _elafant_.
Fledermaus (bat), _lebamaunz_, _fleedermauz_.
Kamm (comb), _damm_, _lamm_, _namm_.
Schwalbe (swallow), _baubee_.
Staar (starling), _tahr_.
Of his own accord the child pointed out with certainty in the
picture-book--
_haem_, _hae-em_, _hemm_ for Helm (helmet).
_hoerz_ " Hirsch (stag).
_tawell_ " Tafel (table).
_lompee_, _lamp['=e]_ " Lampe (lamp).
_lotz_ " Schloss (castle).
_benne_ " Birne (pear).
_torb_ " Korb (basket).
_onne-erm_ " Sonnenschirm (parasol).
_flatse_ " Flasche (bottle).
_wetsa_ " Zwetschen (plums).
_clawelier_ " Clavier (piano).
_littl_, _litzl_, _luetzl_ " Schluessel (key).
_loewee_ " Loewe (lion).
_ofa_ " Ofen (stove).
_[=u][)a]_ " Uhr (watch).
_tint_, _kint_ " Kind (child).
_naninchae_ " Kaninchen (rabbit).
_manne_ " Pfanne (pan).
_tomml_, _tromml_ " Trommel (drum).
_tuhl_ " Stuhl (chair).
With these words, the meaning of which the child knows well, though he
does not yet pronounce them perfectly, are to be ranked many more which
have not been taught him, but which he has himself appropriated Thus,
_tola_ for Kohlen (coals), _dals_ for Salz (salt). Other words
spontaneously appropriated are, however, already pronounced correctly
and correctly used, as _Papier_ (paper), _Holz_ (wood), _Hut_ (hat),
_Wagen_ (carriage), _Teppich_ (carpet), _Deckel_ (cover), _Milch_,
_Teller_ (often _tell[)e]_), _Frau_, _Mann_, _Maeuse_. These cases form
the minority, and are striking in the midst of the manifold mutilations
which now constitute the child's speech. Of these mutilations some are,
even to his nearest relatives who are in company with the child every
day, unintelligible or only with great pains to be unriddled. Thus, the
child calls himself _Attall_ instead of Axel; says also _rraeus Atsl_ for
"heraus Axel," i. e., "Axel wants to go out." He still says _bita_ for
"bitte," and often _mima_ or _mami_ for Marie; _apf_ for "Apfel." The
numerous mutilations of the words the child undertakes to speak are not
all to be traced to defect of articulation. The "sch" is already
perfectly developed in _Handschuh_; and yet in other words, as appears
from the above examples, it is either simply left out or has its place
supplied by _z_ and _ss_. Further, it sounds almost like wantonness when
frequently the surd consonant is put in place of the sonant one or _vice
versa_; when, e. g., _puch_ (for Buch) _puecherr_ is said on the one
hand, and _wort_ instead of "fort" on the other. Here belongs likewise
the peculiar staccato manner of uttering the syllables, e. g.,
_pil-ter-puch_ (Bilder-buch--picture-book). At other times is heard a
hasty _billerbuch_ or _pillerpuch_.
The babbling monologues have become infrequent and more of a play with
words and the syllables of them, e. g., in the frequently repeated
_papa-[)u]-a-[)u]a_.
On the other hand, independent thoughts expressed by words are more and
more multiplied. Here is an example: The child had been extraordinarily
pleased by the Christmas-tree. The candles on it had been lighted for
three evenings. On the third evening, when only one of its many lights
was burning, the child could not leave it, but kept taking a position
before it and saying with earnest tone, _gunna-itz-boum_, i. e., "Gute
nacht, Christbaum!" The most of his sentences still consist of two
words, one of which is often a verb in the infinitive. Thus, _helle
mama_, _helle mami_, i. e., "helfen (help) Mama, Marie!" and _bibak
tommen_, i. e., "der Zwieback soll kommen" (let the biscuit come); or
_tsee machen_ (make _c_)--on the piano the keys _c_, _d_, _e_, had often
been touched separately by the little fingers accidentally, and the
applause when in response to the question, "Where is _c_?" the right key
was touched, excited the wish for repetition; _roth_, _druen machen_
(make red or green)--the child was instructed by me in the naming of
colors; and _dekkn pilen_, i. e., "Verstecken spielen" (play hide and
seek). In quite short narratives, too, the verbs appear in the
infinitive only. Such accounts of every-day occurrences--important to
the child, however, through their novelty--are in general falling into
the background as compared with the expression of his wishes in words as
in the last-mentioned cases. Both kinds of initiatory attempts at
speaking testify more and more plainly to awakening intellect, for, in
order to use a noun together with a verb in such a way as to correspond
to a wish or to a fact experienced, there must be added to the imitation
of words heard and to the memory of them something which adapts the
sense of them to the outward experiences at the time and the peculiar
circumstances, and associates them with one another. This something is
the intellect. In proportion as it grows, the capacity for being taught
tricks decreases and the child is already ashamed to answer by means of
his former gestures the old questions, "Where is the little rogue?" "How
tall?" etc.
But how far from the intellect of the older child is that of the child
now two years and two months old appears from this fact, that the latter
has not the remotest notion of number. He repeats mechanically, many
times over, the words said for him, _one_, _two_, _three_, _four_,
_five_; but when objects of the same sort are put before him in groups,
he confounds all the numbers with one another in spite of countless
attempts to bring the number 2 into firm connection with the sound two,
etc. Nor does he as yet understand the meaning of the frequently
repeated "danke" (thanks), for, when the child has poured out milk for
himself, he puts down the pitcher and says _dankee_.
One more remark is to be made about the names of animals. These names
are multiplying in this period, which is an important one in regard to
the genesis of mind. Ask, "What is the animal called?" and the answer
runs, _mumu_, _kikeriki_, _bauwau_, _piep-piep_, and others. No trace of
onomatopoetic attempts can be discovered here. The child has received
the names pronounced to him by his nurse and has retained them; just so
_hotto_ for "Pferd" (horse), like _lingeling_ for "Klingel" (bell). None
the less every healthy child has a strong inclination to onomatopeia.
The cases already reported prove the fact satisfactorily. The echolalia
that still appears now and then really belongs to this. Inasmuch as in
general in every onomatopoetic attempt we have to do with a
sound-imitation or the reproducing of the oscillations of the tympanum
as nearly as possible by means of the vocal cords, all attempts of the
speechless child to speak are ultimately of onomatopoetic character in
the earliest period; but from the present time on sound-imitation
retires before the reasoning activity, which is now shooting forth
vigorously in the childish brain.
In the twenty-seventh month the activity of thought manifests itself
already in various ways. The independent ideas, indeed, move in a
narrowly limited sphere, but their increasing number testifies to the
development of the intellect. Some examples may be given:
The child sees a tall tree felled, and he says as it lies upon the
ground, _pick up_! Seeing a hole in a dressing-gown, he says,
_nae[)e]n_ (sew)! In his play he sometimes says to himself, _dib
acht_ (take care)! To the question, "Did it taste good?" the child
answers while still eating, _mekk noch_ (schmeckt noch), "It _does_
taste good," thus distinguishing the past in the question from the
present. The development of observation and _comparison_ is
indicated by the circumstance that salt is also called _sand_. On
the other hand, the feeling of gratitude is as yet quite
undeveloped. The child, as in the previous month, says _dankee_ to
himself when, e. g., he has opened his wardrobe-door alone. The word
is thus as yet unintelligible to him, or it is used in the sense of
"so" or "succeeded." His frequent expressions of pity are striking.
When dolls are cut out of paper, the child weeps violently in the
most pitiful manner, for fear that in the cutting a head (_Topf_)
may be taken off. This behavior calls to mind the cries of _arme
wiebak_ (armer Zwieback--poor biscuit)! when a biscuit is divided,
and _arme holz_ (poor wood)! when a stick of wood is thrown into the
stove. Nobody has taught the child anything of that sort.
The independent observations which he expresses correctly but very
briefly in a form akin to the style of the telegraphic dispatch are
now numerous, e. g.:
_Tain milch_: There is no milk here.
_Lammee aus_, _lampee aus_: The flame, the lamp, is gone out.
_Dass la-okk_: That is the dressing-gown (Schlafrock).
_Diss nicht la-okk_: This is not the dressing-gown.
His wishes the child expresses by means of _verbs_ in the infinitive or
of substantives alone. Thus, _papa auf-tehen_ (papa, get up),
_frue-tuekken_ (breakfast), _aus-taigen_ (get out), _nicht blasen_ (not
blow--in building card-houses), _pieldose aufziehn_ (wind up the
music-box), and _biback_ (I should like a biscuit). Into these sentences
of one, two, and three words there come, however, single adverbs not
before used and indefinite pronouns, like _[=e][=e]n_ and _[)e]_ in
_tann [=e][=e]n nicht_ or _tann[)e] nicht_, for "kann _er_ nicht" or
"kann _es_ nicht." _Butter drauf_ (butter on it), _Mama auch tommen_
(mamma come, too), _noch mehr_ (more), _blos Wasser_ (only water),
_hier_ (here), are the child's own imperatives. _Schon wieder_ (again)
he does indeed say of his own accord on fitting occasions; but here he
is probably repeating mechanically what he has heard. In all, the
forming of a word that had not been heard as such, or that had not come
from what had been heard through mutilation, has been surely proved in
only a single instance. The child, viz., expressed the wish (on his
seven hundred and ninety-sixth day) to have an apple pared or cut up, by
means of the word _messen_. He knows a knife (Messer) and names it
rightly, and while he works at the apple with a fork or a spoon or
anything he can get hold of, or merely points at it with his hand, he
says repeatedly _messen_! Only after instruction did he say _Messer
neiden_ (mit dem Messer schneiden--cut with the knife). Here for the
first time a wholly new word is formed. The concept and the word "knife"
("Messer") and the concept, "work with the knife," were present, but the
word "schneiden" (cut) for the last was wanting, as also was "schaelen"
(pare). Hence, both in one were named _messen_ (for "messern," it may
be). The two expressions that used to be heard many times daily, the
name _wola_ for the nurse Mima (Mary) and _atta_, have now almost
disappeared. _Atta wesen_ for "draussen gewesen" (been out) is still
used, it is true, but only seldom. In place of it come now _weg_,
_fort_, _aus_, and _allall_, in the sense of "empty," "finished." The
too comprehensive, too indefinite concept _atta_ has broken up into more
limited and more definite ones. It has become, as it were,
differentiated, as in the embryo the separate tissues are differentiated
out of the previously apparently homogeneous tissue.
In the period of rapid development now attained, the child daily
surprises us afresh by his independent applications of words just heard,
although many are not correctly applied, as _tochen haiss_ (boiling
hot), said not only of the milk, but also of the fire.
When words clearly comprehended are used in a different sense from that
in which adults use them--_incorrectly_ used, the latter would
say--there is, however, no _illogical_ employment of them on the part of
the child. For it is always the fact, as in the last example, that the
concept associated with the word is taken in a more extended sense. The
very young child infers a law from a few, even from two observations,
which present some agreement only in one respect, and that perhaps a
quite subordinate respect. He makes inductions without deliberation. He
has heard milk called "boiling hot," he feels its warmth, and then feels
the warmth of the stove, consequently the stove also is "boiling hot";
and so in other cases. This logical activity, the _inductive_ process,
now prevails. The once favorite monologues, pure, meaningless exercises
of articulation, of voice and of hearing, are, on the contrary, falling
off. The frequent repetition of the same syllable, also of the same
sentence (_lampee aus_), still survives particularly in animated
expressions of wish, _erst essen_ (first eat), _viel milch_ (much milk),
_mag-e-nicht_ (don't like it). Desire for food and for playthings makes
the child loquacious, much more than dislike does, the latter being more
easily manifested by means of going away, turning around, turning away.
The child can even beg on behalf of his carved figures of animals and
men. Pointing out a puppet, he says _tint ain tikche apfl!_ Fuer das kind
_ein_ Stueckchen Apfel! (A bit of apple for the child.)
Notwithstanding these manifold signs of a use of words that is beginning
to be independent, the sound and word imitation continues to exist in
enlarged measure. Echolalia has never, perhaps, been more marked, the
final words of sentences heard being repeated with the regularity of a
machine. If I say, "Leg die Feder hin" (Lay the pen down)! there sounds
in response a _feder hin_. All sorts of tones and noises are imitated
with varying success; even the whistle of the locomotive, an object in
which a passionate interest is displayed; the voices of animals; so
also German, French, Italian, and English words. The French nasal "n"
(in _bon_, _orange_), however--even in the following months--as well as
the English "th," in _there_ (in spite of the existence of the right
formation in the fifteenth month), is not attained. The child still
laughs regularly when others laugh, and on his part excites merriment
through exact reproduction of separate fragments of a dialogue that he
does not understand, and that does not concern him; e. g., _da hastn_
(da hast Du ihn) (there you have him), or _aha sist[)e]_ (siehst Du) (do
you see)? or _um Gottes willen_ (for God's sake), the accent in these
cases being also imitated with precision. But in his independent use of
words the accentuation varies in irregular fashion. Such an arbitrary
variation is _bitte_ and _bi-t[)e]_. _Beti_ no longer appears.
As a noteworthy deficiency at this period is to be mentioned the feeble
memory for often-prescribed answers to certain questions. To the
question of a stranger, "What is your name?" the child for the first
time gave of his own accord the answer _Attsell_ (Axel), on the eight
hundred and tenth day of his life. On the other hand, improper answers
that have been seriously censured remain fixed in his recollection. The
impression is stronger here. The weakness of memory is still shown most
plainly when we try to make intelligible to the child the numerals one
to five. It is a failure. The sensuous impression that _one_ ball makes
is so different from that which two balls make, the given words _one_
and _two_ sound so differently, that we can not help wondering how one
and two, and likewise three, four, five, are confounded with one
another.
A _question_ has not yet been uttered by the child. The frequent _ist
das_ signifies merely "das ist," or it is the echo of the oft-heard
question, "Was ist das?" and is uttered without the tone of
interrogation. The articles are not used at all yet; at any rate, if
used, they are merely imitated without understanding.
The defects of articulation are now less striking, but only very slowly
does the correct and distinct pronunciation take the place of the
erroneous and indistinct. We still have regularly:
_buecher-rank_ for Buecherschrank (book-case).
_frai takkee_ " Fraeulein Starke (Miss Starke).
_[=e]r[)e]_, _tseer_ " Schere (shears).
_raib[)e]_, _raiben_ " Schreiben (u. Zeichnen) (write or draw).
_nur_ " Schnur (string).
_neiderin_ " Schneiderin (tailoress).
_dsoen_ (also _schoen_) " schoen (pretty).
_lafen_ " schlafen (sleep).
_pucken_ " spucken (spit).
_dsehen_ (also _sehen_) " sehen (see).
The sounds "sch" and "sch" in the "st" as well as in the "sp"
("schneiden, Spiel") are often omitted without any substitute
(_naid[)a]_, _taign_, _piel_); more seldom their place is supplied
by "s," as in _swer_ = "schwer" for "muede." Yet _ks_, _ts_ are often
given with purity in _bex_, _bux_, _Axl_. The last word is often
pronounced _Ats[)e]l_ and _Atsli_ (heard by him as "Axeli"), very
rarely _Akkl_; in "Aufziehen" the "z" is almost always correctly
reproduced. Further, we still have
_locotiwe_ for Locomotive.
_nepf_ " Knoepfe (buttons).
_ann-nepf_ " anknoepfen.
_nits_ " nichts (nothing).
"Milch" is now permanently named correctly; no longer _mimi_, _mich_;
Wasser, _wassa_, no longer _watja_. But "gefaehrlich" is called
_faehrlich_; "getrunken," _trunken_.
The twenty-eighth month is characterized by a rapid increase of
activity in the formation of ideas, on the one hand, and by
considerably greater certainty in the use of words, on the other.
Ambition is developed and makes itself known by a frequent _lainee_
(_allein_, alone). The child wants to undertake all sorts of things
without help. He asks for various objects interesting to him, with
the words _Ding haben_ (have the thing). That the faculty of
observation and of combination is becoming perfected, is indicated
by the following: The child sees an ox at the slaughter-house and
says _mumu_ (moo-moo); I add "todt" (dead); thereupon comes the
response _mumu todt_, and after a pause the child says, of his own
accord, _lachtett_ (_geschlachtet_, slaughtered); then _Blut heraus_
(blood out). The beginning of self-control is perceived in this,
that the child often recollects, of himself, the strict commands he
has received to refrain from this and that. Thus, he had been
accustomed to strike members of the family in fun, and this had been
forbidden him. Now, when the inclination seizes him still to strike,
he says emphatically _nicht lagen_ (_schlagen_,--not strike), _Axel
brav_ (good). In general the child names himself only by his name,
which he also tells to strangers without being asked. His parents,
and these alone, are mostly named _Papa_ and _Mama_, but often also
by their names.
The following is a proof of independent thinking while the understanding
of language is still imperfect: At breakfast I say, "Axel is
breakfasting with papa, is he not (_nicht wahr_)?" He replies
earnestly, with genuine child-logic, _doch wahr_ (but he _is_)!
The earlier appellation _swer_ and _wer_ (schwer--heavy) for muede
(tired) is preserved. This transference, like the other one, _locotiwe
wassa trinkt_, when the engine is supplied with water, is the
intellectual peculium of the child. The number of such childish
conceptions has now become very large. On the other hand, the words
independently formed out of what has been heard are not numerous:
_beisst_ for gebissen (bitten),
_reit_ " geritten (ridden),
_esst_ " gegessen (eaten),
_wesen_ " gewesen (been),
_austrinkt_ " ausgetrunken (drunk up),
_tschulter_ " Schulter (shoulder),
must be considered as mutilations, not as new formations. The great
number of words correctly pronounced and used continues, on the other
hand, to increase. There are even decided attempts to use single
_prepositions_: _Nepfe_ (Knoepfe) _fuer Mama_ (buttons for mamma) may be
simple repetition, like _Axel mit Papa_; but as utterances of this kind
were not formerly repeated by him, though just as often made in his
hearing, the understanding of the "fuer" and "mit" must now be awakened.
From this time forth the understanding of several prepositions and the
correct use of them abide. In addition there come into this period the
first applications of the _article_. However often this part of speech
may have been reproduced from the speech of others, it has never been
said with understanding; but now in the expressions _um'n Hals_ and
_fuer'm Axel_ (around the neck and for (the) Axel) there lies the
beginning of right use of the article, and, indeed, also in the months
immediately succeeding, almost solely of the definite article.
But more significant psychogenetically than all progress of this kind in
the manipulation of language is the questioning that becomes active in
this month. Although I paid special attention to this point from the
beginning, I first heard the child ask a question of his own accord on
the eight hundred and forty-fifth day of his life. He asked, "Where is
Mima?" From that time on questions were more frequent; but in the time
immediately following this his question was always one relating to
something in space. The word "Where?" continued for a long time to be
his only interrogative. He has also for a long time understood the
"Where?" when he heard it. If, e. g., I asked, "Where is the nose?"
without giving any hint by look or otherwise, this question has for
months past been correctly answered by a movement of the child's arm to
his nose. It is true that my question, "What is that?" a much more
frequent one, is likewise answered correctly, although the word "What?"
has never been used by the child.
His cleverness in reproducing even foreign expressions is surprising.
The words pronounced for him by Italians (during a pretty long sojourn
on Lake Garda), e. g., _uno_, _due_, _tre_, are given back without the
least German accent. "Quattro," to be sure, became _wattro_, but _ancora
piccolo_ was absolutely pure. The imitation of the marching of soldiers,
with the frequent cry _batelon eins s[)u]ai_ (battalion, one, two),
already gives him the greatest pleasure. The imagination that is active
in it is to be discerned, however, rather in gestures than in words.
How lively the child's power of imagination is appears also in the fact
that flat figures rudely cut out of newspaper, to represent glasses and
cups, are carried to the mouth like real ones.
The _articulation_ has again become a little more perfected, but in many
respects it is still a good deal deficient; thus, in regard to the
"sch," he says:
_abneiden_ for abschneiden (cut off).
_hirn_ " Stirn (forehead).
_verbrochen_ " versprochen (promised).
_lagn_ " schlagen (strike).
_runtergeluckt_ " heruntergeschluckt (swallowed).
_einteign_ " einsteigen (get in).
On the other hand, _aus-teign_ (Aussteigen) (alight).
Other defects of articulation are shown by the following examples:
_topf_ for klopfen (knock).
_ueffte_ " lueften (take the air).
_leben_ " kleben (adhere).
_viloa, viloja,_ " Viola.
_dummi_ " Gummi (gum).
The _l mouille_ can not be at all successfully given at the beginning of
this month (_bat[)e]l[=o]n_ for "bataillon"), and the nasal sounds in
"orange" and "salon" offer insuperable difficulties (up to the second
half of the fourth year). At the end of this month, however, I heard a
_ganzee bataljohn_ (_j_ like English _y_). "Orange" continued to be,
after _oraanjee_ had been given up, _orohs[)e]_. The softening
(mouilliren--_nj_ = _n_) was inconvenient in this case.
Quite correctly named at this period were eye, nose, cheek, tongue,
mouth, ear, beard, hair, arm, thumb, finger.
Meaningless chatter has become much more rare. On the other hand, the
child is in the habit of making all sorts of remarks, especially in the
morning early after waking, for a quarter of an hour at a time and
longer without interruption, these remarks for the most part consisting
of a noun and verb and relating to objects immediately about him.
Monologues also are given in a singing voice, syllables without meaning,
often a regular singing, the child meantime running many times around
the table; besides, his strong voice is not seldom practiced in
producing high tones without any outward occasion; and, finally, it is
worthy of note that sometimes in sleep, evidently when the child has a
vivid dream, a scream is uttered. Talking in his sleep first appeared in
his fourth year.
The greatest advance in the twenty-ninth month consists in the
employment of the personal pronoun in place of his own name: _bitte
gib mir Brod_ (please give me bread) was the first sentence in which
it appeared. "Ich" (I) is not yet said, but if I ask "Who is 'me'?"
then the child names himself with his own name, as he does in
general. Through this employment, more and more frequent from this
time forth, of the pronoun instead of the proper name, is gradually
introduced the inflection of the verbs he has heard; but at this
time the imperative has its place generally supplied by the
infinitive: _P[)a]p[)a] s[=a]gn_ and _Ssooss sitzen_. Sentences
composed by himself, or heard and then used by him, like _das meckt_
(schmeckt) _sehr gut_ (that tastes very good), are rare; yet the
discrimination between regular and irregular verbs has already begun
to be made. To be sure, the question "Where have you been?" is
answered with _paziren gegeht_ (goed to walk), and _ausgezieht_ is
said for _ausgezogen_ (drawed out), also _geseht_ (seed) instead of
_gesehen_ (seen); but at the same time frequently _eingetigen_ and
_ausgetigen_, instead of _ein-_ and _aus-geteigt_. An interesting,
rare misformation was _grefessen_ for "gefressen." The verbs most
frequently used seem to be "haben" (have) and "kommen" (come), and
the forms "hat" and "kommt" are indeed correctly used sometimes, e. g.,
_viel Rauch kommt heraus_ (much smoke comes out), and _gleich
kommt Kaffee_ (the coffee is coming). While the infinitives "haben"
and "kommen" are uttered several times a day, the infinitive "sein"
(to be) is never heard; but of this auxiliary verb "ist" and "wesen"
are used, the latter for "gewesen." In every instance where the
child expresses a desire by means of a verb, he simply takes the
infinitive; e. g., he hears, as he sits in the room, the noise of
the railway-train at a distance, and he says, _Locotiwe sehen_.
Further, _numbering_ begins to be active to a noteworthy degree.
Although the numerals are already well known to the child, he still
confounds them on all occasions, and in view of the absolute failure of
the many attempts to teach the child the significance of the numbers 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, one might infer that he has not yet perceived the difference
between, e. g., 3 matches and 4 matches; yet counting is already taking
place, though in very unexpected fashion. The child began, viz., on the
eight hundred and seventy-eighth day, suddenly, of his own accord
entirely, to count with his nine-pins, putting them in a row, saying
with each one, _eins_ (one)! _eins!_ _eins!_ _eins!_ afterward saying
_eins!_ _noch eins_ (one more)! _noch eins!_ _noch eins!_ The process
of adding is thus performed without the naming of the sums.
The questioning that appeared in the previous month, the surest sign of
independent thought in the child, is somewhat more plainly manifest; but
"Where" alone serves as the interrogative word, and that in its proper
sense: Where is hat? "Which, who, why, when" are not spoken by the child
and doubtless not understood, for, although succession in time is in
many cases clear to him ("first eat," "then," "now"), yet in many other
cases he does not know how to express distinctions of time; just as in
comparing many and few, large and small objects, the quantity is wrongly
given. Thus he says correctly, when many counters are to be brought
together, _Zuviel_ (too many), but says _Zuviel_ wrongly for _Zuwenig_
(too little) when there is too little butter on his bread. In this case
the _Zuviel_ (too much) sounds almost like irony, which, of course, is
out of the question at his age. "Too much" and "too little" are
confounded in the same way as 5 and 2. Yet, in another respect the
memory has made a considerable gain. Expressions long since forgotten by
those about the child are suddenly without assignable occasion sometimes
uttered again with perfect distinctness, and the child even applies
fitly what he has observed. Thus, he brings matches when he sees that
some one wants to light a candle. I say to him, "Pick up the
bread-crumbs." Upon this the child comes forward, though very slowly,
cries out suddenly, _Get broom_, recollecting that he has seen the
carpet swept, goes and gets the broom, and sweeps the crumbs away. His
memory for the utterances of animals as they have been made for him is
very good. If I ask, e. g., "What does the duck say?" the answer is
_Kuak kuak_. He has gained also in certainty in naming the separate
parts of a drawing, especially of a locomotive, so that one chief
condition of speech, in the full sense of the word--memory--may be said
to be well developed.
Articulation, on the contrary, makes slow progress. "Hirsch" is called
_Hirss_, "Schwalbe" _Walbe_, "Flasche" _Flassee_. The following are
generally correctly pronounced: _Treppe_, _Fenster_, _Krug_, _Kraut_,
_Kuchen_, _Helm_, _Besen_, _Cigarre_, _Hut_, _Giesskanne_, _Dinte_,
_Buch_, _Birne_. For "barometer, thermometer," he says _mometer_, for
"Schrauben" _raubn_, for "fruehstuecken" (to breakfast) still often
_fri-ticken_.
In the _thirtieth month_ the independent activity of thought develops
more and more. When the child is playing by himself, e. g., he often
says to himself: _Eimerchen ausleeren_ (make pail empty); _Hackemesser_
(chopping-knife). Thus his small vocabulary serves him at any rate for
making clear his own ideas. Already his thinking is often a low
speaking, yet only in part. When language fails him, he first considers
well. An example: The child finds it very difficult to turn crosswise or
lengthwise one of the nine-pins which he wants to put into its box, and
when I say, "Round the other way!" he turns it around in such a way that
it comes to lie as it did at the beginning, wrongly. He also pushes the
broad side of the cover against the small end of the box. The child
evidently understands the expression "Round the other way"; but as the
expression is ambiguous (the head of the nine-pin may go to the left,
to the right, up, down, back, forward), we can understand that the pin
should be turned now one way and again another way, and even brought
back to its original position. Then appears the child's own deliberation
without words--without any speaking at all, low or loud--until after
frequently repeated packing and unpacking hardly any hesitation is
shown. Many utterances show how easily at this period objects that have
only a slight resemblance to one another or only a few qualities in
common are included in one concept. When a roasted apple is peeled, the
child sees the peel and says (thinking of his boiled milk, which he saw
several hours previous, but which is not now present), _Milch auch Haut_
(milk skin too). Similar is the expression _Kirche laeutet_ (church
rings) when the tower-clock strikes.
The child forms concepts which comprehend a few qualities in unity, and
indeed without designating the concept always by a particular word,
whereas the developed understanding more and more forms concepts with
many qualities and designates them by words. Hence the concepts of the
child have less content and more extent than those of adults. For this
reason they are less distinct also, and are often ephemeral, since they
break up into narrower, more distinct concepts; but they always testify
to activity of thought.
A greater intellectual advance, however, is manifested at this time in
the first intentional use of language in order to bring on a game of
hide-and-seek. A key falls to the floor. The child picks it up quickly,
holds it behind him, and to my question, "Where is the key?" answers
_nicht mehr da_ (no longer there). As I found in the following months
no falsehood, in the proper sense of the word, to record, but rather
that the least error, the most trivial exaggeration, was corrected at
once by the child himself, with peculiarly _naive_ seriousness, in a
little story, with pauses between the separate words, so, too, in the
present case the answer _nicht mehr da_ is no falsehood, but is to be
understood as meaning that the key is no longer to be seen. The
expression of the face was roguish at the time.
The sole interrogative word continues still to be "Where?" e. g., _Where
is ball?_ The demonstratives _da_ (there) and _dort_ (yonder) (_dort ist
nass_--wet) were more frequently spoken correctly in answer.
The "I" in place of his own name does not yet appear, because this word
does not occur frequently enough in conversation with the child. The bad
custom adults have of designating themselves in their talk with little
children, not as in ordinary conversation by the word "I," but by the
proper name, or as "aunt," "grandma," etc., postpones the time of saying
"I" on the part of children. _Me_ is pretty often used at this period,
for the reason that it is frequently heard at meal-times in "Give me!"
_Bitte, liebe Mama, gib mir mehr Suppe_ (Please, dear mamma, give me
more soup) is, to be sure, learned by heart; but such sentences are at
the proper time and in the proper place modified and even independently
applied. _Noch mehr_, _immer noch mehr_, _vielleicht_, _fast_ (more,
more yet, perhaps, almost), are also expressions often properly
employed, the last two, however, with uncertainty still. _Fast gefallen_
(almost fell) the child says when he has actually fallen down.
Although declension and conjugation are as yet absolutely lacking, a
transition has become established from the worst form of dysgrammatism
to the beginning of correct diction by means of the more frequent use of
the plural in nouns (_Rad_, _Raeder_), the more frequent employment of
the article (_foer d[)e] Papa_), the not very rare strong inflection
(_gegangen_ instead of the earlier _gegeht_; _genommen_ instead of the
earlier _genehmt_). To be sure, the infinitive still stands in the place
of the participle and the imperative in by far the great majority of
cases. The auxiliaries are often omitted or employed in strange
misformations, e. g., "Where have you been?" Answer, _paziren gewarent_
[something like _they wented 'alk_] (wir waren spazieren, spazieren
gewesen).
In _articulation_ no perceptible progress is to be recorded. The objects
known from the picture-book are indeed for the most part rightly named,
but new ones often have their names very much distorted--e. g.,
"Violine" is persistently called _wiloine_. The "sch" is occasionally
given correctly, but _s-truempfe_, _auf-s-tehen_ is the rule. The answer
that has been learned to the question, "How old are you?" "Seit November
zwei Jahre," is given _wember wai jahr_. The way in which the child
learns the correct pronunciation is in general twofold: 1. Through
frequent hearing of the correct words, since no one speaks as he himself
does; thus, e. g., _genommen_ took the place of _genehmt_ without
instruction. 2. Through having the words frequently pronounced on
purpose for him to imitate with the utmost attention. Thus, e. g., the
child up to this time always said _Locotiwe_ and _Locopotiwe_. I
exhorted him a few times earnestly to say "Locomotive." The result was
_Loco-loco-loco-mo-tiwe_, and then _Locomotiwe_, with exact copying of
the accent with which I spoke. Singing also is imitated.
His memory for words that denote objects is very good; but when
expressions designating something not very apparent to the senses are to
be learned, he easily fails. Thus, the left and the right foot or arm,
the left and the right cheek or hand, are very often correctly named,
but often falsely. The difference between left and right can not be
exactly described, explained, or made imaginable to the child.
In the _thirty-first month_ two new questions make their appearance: The
child asks, _Welches Papier nehmen?_ (What paper take?) after he has
obtained permission to make marks with the pencil, i. e., to _raiben_
(write and draw), and _Was kost die Trommel?_ (What does the drum cost?)
Now the indefinite article appears oftener; it is distinctly audible in
_Halt n biss-chen Wasser!_ More surprising are individual new
formations, which disappear, however, soon after their rise; thus, the
comparative of "hoch." The child says with perfect distinctness _hocher
bauen_ (build higher) in playing with wooden blocks; he thus forms of
himself the most natural comparative, like the participle _gegebt_ for
"gegeben." In place of "Uhr-schluessel" (watch-key) he says _Sluessl-Uhr_
(key-watch), thus placing the principal thing first.
He makes use of the strange expression _heitgestern_ in place of "heute"
(to-day), and in place of "gestern" (yesterday). The two latter taken
singly are confounded with each other for a long time yet.
Sentence-forming is still very imperfect: _is smoke_ means "that is
smoke" and "there is smoke"; and _kommt Locomotiwe_ stands for "da kommt
eine oder die Locomotive" (There comes a, or the, engine). At sight of
the bath-tub, however, the child says six times in quick succession _Da
kommt kalt Wasser rein, Marie_ (Cold water is to go in here, Mary). He
frequently makes remarks on matters of fact, e. g., _warm out there_. If
he has broken a flower-pot, a bandbox, a glass, he says regularly, of
his own accord, _Frederick glue again_, and he reports faithfully every
little fault to his parents. But when a plaything or an object
interesting to him vexes him, he says, peevishly, _stupid thing_, e. g.,
to the carpet, which he can not lift; and he does not linger long over
one play. His occupation must be changed very often.
The imitations are now again becoming less frequent than in the past
months, and expressions not understood are repeated rather for the
amusement of the family than unconsciously; thus, _Ach Gott_ (Oh God!)
and _wirklich grossartig_ (truly grand). Yet the child sometimes sings
in his sleep, several seconds at a time, evidently dreaming.
The pronunciation of the "sch," even in the favorite succession of
words, _Ganzes Batalljohn marss_ (for "marsch") _eins_, _zwei_, is
imperfect, and although no person of those about him pronounces the
"st" in "Stall, stehen" otherwise than as "scht," the child keeps
persistently to _S-tall_, _s-tehen_. The pronunciation "scht" began
in the last six months of the fourth year of his life, and in the
forty-sixth month it completely crowded out the "st," which seems
the more remarkable as the child was taken care of by a Mecklenburg
woman from the beginning of the fourth year.
In the _thirty-second month_ the "I" began to displace his own name.
_Mir_ (_gib mir_) and _mich_ (_bitte heb mich herauf_, please lift me
up) had already appeared in the twenty-ninth to the thirty-first month;
_ich komme gleich_, _Geld moecht ich haben_ (I am coming directly, I
should like money), are new acquirements. If he is asked "Who is _I_?"
the answer is, _der Axel_. But he still speaks in the third person
frequently; e. g., the child says, speaking of himself, _da ist er
wieder_ (here he is again), _Axel auch haben_ (Axel have, too), and
_mag-[)e] nicht_, thus designating himself at this period in fourfold
fashion, by _I_, _he_, _Axel_, and by the omission of all pronouns and
names. Although _bitte setz mich auf den Stuhl_ (Please put me on the
chair) is learned from hearing it said for him, yet the correct
application of the sentence, which he makes of himself daily from this
time on, must be regarded as an important advance. The same is true of
the forming of clauses, which is now beginning to take place, as in
_Weiss nicht, wo es ist_ (Don't know where it is). New also is the
separation of the particle in compound verbs, as in _faellt immer um_
(keeps tumbling over).
Longer and longer names and sentences are spoken with perfect
distinctness, but the influence of the dialect of the neighborhood is
occasionally perceptible. His nurse is the one who talks most with him.
She is from the Schwarzwald, and from her comes the omission of the "n"
at the end of words, as in _Kaennche_, _trocke_. Besides, the confounding
of the surd, "p," with the sonant, "b" (_putter_), is so frequent that
it may well be taken from the Thuringian dialect, like the confounding
of "eu" and "ei" (_heit_). The only German sounds that still present
great difficulties are "sch" and "chts" (in "nichts").
The memory of the child has indeed improved, but it has become somewhat
fastidious. Only that which seems interesting and intelligible to the
child impresses itself permanently; on the other hand, useless and
unintelligible verses learned by rote, that persons have taught him,
though seldom, for fun, are forgotten after a few days.
In the _thirty-third month_ the strength of memory already mentioned for
certain experiences shows itself in many characteristic remarks. Thus
the child, again absent from home with his parents for some weeks, says
almost every evening, _gleich blasen die Soldaten_ (the soldiers, i. e.,
the band, will play directly), although no soldier is to be seen in the
country far and wide. But at home the music was actually to be heard
every evening.
At sight of a cock in his picture-book the child says, slowly, _Das ist
der Hahn--kommt immer--das ganze Stueck fortnehmt--von der Hand--und
laueft fort_ ("That is the cock--keeps coming--takes away the whole
piece--out of the hand--and runs off"). This narrative--the longest yet
given, by the way--has reference to the feeding of the fowls, on which
occasion the cock had really carried off a piece of bread. The doings of
animals in general excited the attention of the child greatly. He is
capable even of forgetting to eat, in order to observe assiduously the
movements of a fly. _Jetzt geht in die Zeitung--geht in die Milch!_
_Fort Thier! Geh fort! Unter den Kaffee!_ (Now he is going into the
newspaper--going into the milk! Away, creature! go away! into the
coffee!) His interest is very keen for other moving objects also,
particularly locomotives.
How little clearness there is in his conceptions of animal and machine,
however, appears from the fact that both are addressed in the same way.
When his father's brother comes, the child says, turning to his father,
_neuer_ (new) _Papa_; he has not, therefore, the slightest idea of that
which the word "father" signifies. Naturally he can have none. Yet
selfhood (Ichheit) has come forth at this period in considerably sharper
manifestation. He cries, _Das Ding haben! das will ich, das will ich,
das will ich, das Spiel moecht ich haben!_ (Have the thing! I want it, I
should like the game.) To be sure, when one says "komm, ich knoepfs dir
zu" (come, I will button it for you), the child comes, and says, as an
echo, _ich knoepfs dir zu_ (I will button it for you), evidently meaning,
"Button it for me"! He also confounds _zu viel_ (too much) with _zu
wenig_ (too little), _nie_ (never) with _immer_ (always), _heute_
(to-day) with _gestern_ (yesterday); on the contrary, the words _und_,
_sondern_, _noch_, _mehr_, _nur_, _bis_, _wo_ (and, but, still, more,
only, till, where) are always used correctly. The most striking mistakes
are those of conjugation, which is still quite erroneous (e. g.,
_getrinkt_ and _getrunkt_ along with _getrunken_), and of articulation,
the "sch" (_dsen_ for "schoen") being only seldom pure, mostly given as
"s" or "ts." "Toast" is called _Toos_ and _Dose_.
After the first thousand days of his life had passed, the observation
of him was continued daily, but not the record in writing. Some
particulars belonging to the following months may be noted:
Many expressions accidentally heard by the child that excited the
merriment of the family when once repeated by him, were rehearsed times
without number in a laughing, roguish, obtrusive manner, thus, _du liebe
Zeit_. The child also calls out the name of his nurse, _Marie_, often
without meaning, over and over again, even in the night. He calls others
also by this name in manifest distraction of mind, often making the
correction himself when he perceives the mistake.
More and more seldom does the child speak of himself in the third
person, and then he calls himself by his name, never saying "he" any
more. Usually he speaks of himself as "I," especially "I will, I will
have that, I can not." Gradually, too, he uses _Du_ in address, e. g.,
_Was fuer huebsen Rock hast Du_ (What a handsome coat you have)! Here the
manner of using the "Was" is also new.
On the ten hundred and twenty-eighth day _warum_ (why?) was first used
in a question. I was watching with the closest attention for the first
appearance of this word. The sentence ran, _Warum nach Hause gehen? ich
will nicht nach Hause_ (Why go home? I don't want to go home). When a
wheel creaked on the carriage, the child asked, _Was macht nur so_ (What
makes that)? Both questions show that at last the instinct of causality,
which manifested itself more than a year before in a kind of activity of
inquiry, in experimenting, and even earlier (in the twelfth week) in
giving attention to things, is expressed _in language_; but the
questioning is often repeated in a senseless way till it reaches the
point of weariness. _Warum wird das Holz gesnitten?_ (for "gesaegt"--Why
is the wood sawed?) _Warum macht der Froedrich die [Blumen] Toepfe rein?_
(Why does Frederick clean the flower-pots?) are examples of childish
questions, which when they receive an answer, and indeed whatever
answer, are followed by fresh questions just as idle (from the
standpoint of adults); but they testify plainly to a far-reaching
independent activity of thought. So with the frequent question, _Wie
macht man das nur?_ (How is that done?)
It is to be said, further, that I found the endeavor impracticable to
ascertain the order of succession in which the child uses the different
interrogative words. It depends wholly on the company about him at what
time first this or that turn of expression or question is repeated and
then used independently. "Why" is heard by him, as a rule, less often
than "What?" and "How?" and "Which?" Still, it seems remarkable that I
did not once hear the child say "When?" until the close of the third
year. The sense of space is, to be sure, but little developed at that
time, but the sense of time still less. The use of the word "forgotten"
(_ich habe vergessen_) and of "I shall" (do this or that) is exceedingly
rare.
The articulation was speedily perfected; yet there was no success at all
in the repetition of French nasal sounds. In spite of much pains "salon"
remained _salo_, "orange" _orose_; and the French "je" also presented
insuperable difficulties. Of German sounds, "sch" alone was seldom
correct. It was still represented by _s_; for example, in _sloss_ for
"Schloss," _ssooss_ for "Schooss."
His fondness for singing increases, and indeed all sorts of meaningless
syllables are repeated with pleasure again and again, much as in the
period of infancy, only more distinctly; but, just as at that time, they
can not all be represented on paper or even be correctly reproduced by
adults. For a considerable time he was fond of _[=e]-la_, _[=e]-la_,
_la_, _la_, _la_, _la_, in higher and higher pitch, and with unequal
intervals, _lalla-lalla_, _lilalula_. In this it was certainly more the
joy over the increasing compass and power of his voice that stimulated
him to repetition than it was the sound of the syllables; yet in the
thirty-sixth month he showed great pleasure in his singing, of which
peculiar, though not very pleasing, melodies were characteristic. The
singing over of songs sung to him was but very imperfectly successful.
On the other hand, the copying of the manner of speaking, of accent,
cadence, and ring of the voices of adults was surprising, although
echolalia proper almost ceased or appeared again only from time to time.
Grammatical errors are already becoming more rare. A stubborn fault in
declension is the putting of _am_ in place of _dem_ and _der_, e. g.,
_das am Mama geben_. Long sentences are formed correctly, but slowly and
with pauses, without errors, e. g., _die Blume--ist ganz durstig--moecht
auch n bischen Wasser haben_ (The flower is quite thirsty--would like a
little water). If I ask now, "From whom have you learned that?" the
answer comes regularly, _das hab ich alleine gelernt_ (I learned it
alone). In general the child wants to manage for himself without
assistance, to pull, push, mount, climb, water flowers, crying out
repeatedly and passionately, _ich moecht ganz alleine_ (I want to [do it]
all alone). In spite of this independence and these ambitious
inclinations, there seldom appears an invention of his own in language.
Here belongs, e. g., the remark of the child, _das Bett ist zu holzhart_
(the bed is too wooden-hard), after having hit himself against the
bed-post. Further, to the question, "Do you like to sleep in the large
room?" he answered, _O ja ganz lieberich gern_; and when I asked, "Who,
pray, speaks so?" the answer came very slowly, with deliberation and
with pauses, _nicht-nicht-nicht-nicht-nicht-niemand_ (not--nobody).
How far advanced is the use of the participles, which are hard to
master, is shown by the sentence, _die Milch ist schon heiss gemacht
worden_ (the milk has already been made hot).
The child's manner of speaking when he was three years old approximated
more and more rapidly to that of the family through continued listening
to them and imitation of them, so that I gave up recording it; besides,
the abundant--some may think too abundant--material already presented
supplies facts enough to support the foundations of the history of the
development of speech in the child as I have attempted to set it forth.
A systematic, thorough-going investigation requires the combined labor
of many, who must all strive to answer the same questions--questions
which in this chronological survey are, in regard to one single
individual, in part answered, but in part could merely be proposed.
To observe the child every day during the first thousand days of his
life, in order to trace the historical development of speech, was
possible only through self-control, much patience, and great expenditure
of time; but such observations are necessary, from the physiological,
the psychological, the linguistic, and the pedagogic point of view, and
nothing can supply their place.
In order to secure for them the highest degree of trustworthiness, I
have adhered strictly, without exception, to the following rules:
1. I have not adopted a single observation of the accuracy of which I
was not _myself_ most positively convinced. Least of all can one rely on
the reports of nurses, attendants, and other persons not practiced in
scientific observing. I have often, merely by a brief, quiet
cross-examination, brought such persons to see for themselves the
erroneous character of their statements, particularly in case these were
made in order to prove how "knowing" the infants were. On the other
hand, I owe to the mother of my child, who has by nature a talent for
observation such as is given to few, a great many communications
concerning his mental development which have been easily verified by
myself.
2. Every observation must _immediately_ be entered in writing in a diary
that is always lying ready. If this is not done, details of the
observations are often forgotten; a thing easily conceivable, because
these details in themselves are in many ways uninteresting--especially
the meaningless articulations--and they acquire value only in connection
with others.
3. In conducting the observations every artificial strain upon the child
is to be avoided, and the effort is to be made as often as possible to
observe without the child's noticing the observer at all.
4. All training of the one-year-old and of the two-year-old child must
be, so far as possible, prevented. I have in this respect been so far
successful that my child was not until late acquainted with such tricks
as children are taught, and was not vexed with the learning by heart of
songs, etc., which he was not capable of understanding. Still, as the
record shows, not all unnecessary training could be avoided. The earlier
a little child is constrained to perform ceremonious and other
conventional actions, the meaning of which is unknown to him, so much
the earlier does he lose the poetic naturalness which, at any rate, is
but brief and never comes again; and so much the more difficult becomes
the observation of his unadulterated mental development.
5. Every interruption of one's observation for more than a day demands
the substitution of another observer, and, after taking up the work
again, a verification of what has been perceived and noted down in the
interval.
6. Three times, at least, every day the same child is to be observed,
and everything incidentally noticed is to be put upon paper, no less
than that which is methodically ascertained with reference to definite
questions.
In accordance with these directions, tested by myself, all my own
observations in this book, and particularly those of this chapter, were
conducted. Comparison with the statements of others can alone give them
a general importance.
What has been furnished by earlier observers in regard to children's
learning to speak is, however, not extensive. I have collected some data
in an appendix.