Monday - Language Lessons
Mar. 19th, 2007 03:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ninanevermoreBack when I was a part of a DINK (Double Income, No Kids) household I used to wonder how people with toddlers seemed to understand exactly what their progeny said to them. Toddler talk didn't make any sense to me; it seemed to be a language discernable to only the child and its parents. Yet when I watched these families interact, they did seem to be communicating, not just making random sounds at each other. A toddler would look at his or her parents and babble something incoherent, and the parents would respond by handing the child something or asking a question for further instructions. In the end all the parties involved would be satisfied while I, on the outside looking in, would be mystified about the whole exchange.
Now that I have kissed those DINKy days goodbye and waded into the murky waters of parenthood it all makes a lot more sense to me. Toddlers really do speak a language all their own. Still, no translation dictionary can be written for this language, which I will dub "toddlerese," because each child creates his or her own unique dialect of it. The only way to learn it is by being fully submerged in the culture of the toddler who speakes it.
A year ago, the following would have made no sense to me:
Before, this would have been perfect nonsense to me:
Mind you, certain words in toddlerese (at least the dialect of that I hear every day) sound the same as certain words in Standard American English, but have a slighly different meaning. For example, the words no and mine are clearly understandable to their adult counterparts. The danger, however, is assuming that just because they sound the same means that they are the same. They aren't.
The words my or mine are a good example. When a toddler says them they don't always mean that the toddler believes he owns the object it sounds like he is claiming. It could just mean that he would like to own it, but it could also mean that he only wants use it for a little while.
When my son points to his father's MG in the garage, which is a perpetual state of restoration and repair, and says "My car!" it means that he would like for us to let him sit in it and pretend to drive. When Jeff argued with him and answered, in Standard American English, that the car actually belonged to him (Jeff), my son cried because he believed that it meant that his father wanted to sit in the car and pretend to drive it, when my son had clearly just called dibs on this very thing. After some clarification and help opening the car door so that the boy could climb in the driver's seat, the confusion was cleared up and my son and his father are again on speaking terms.
Also, no does not always mean no, despite what your mother told you. When I ask my son if he is stinky and he tells me no, what he means is that he is busy playing and doesn't care to have his diaper changed at that moment. He knows very well that he is stinky, he just doesn't want to deal with it right now. He is not actually lying about his state of stinkiness, and my taking no to mean no would simply be a matter of failing to interpret his true intentions.
I am still learning, and I admit that there are still plenty of things that he says that I can't interpret at all. There are times that he could just be making up a song from sounds that he likes, for all I know. While I was once a native speaker of a very similar dialect of my own, I have not spoken that tongue for decades and no longer remember the particularities of it. I am having to learn toddlerese anew. I would say that I am now good at conversational toddlerese. I can usually figure out what he is talking about and respond in an appropriate manner. While I am not yet fluent, I am getting there
So while the experts say that learning a new language become harder the older you get, I want to give hope to those of you who are thinking about trying. I am living proof that it can be done. If you don't believe me, just ask my son. He would be happy vouch for me and tell you, "Mah mommy good. Yea!"
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Now that I have kissed those DINKy days goodbye and waded into the murky waters of parenthood it all makes a lot more sense to me. Toddlers really do speak a language all their own. Still, no translation dictionary can be written for this language, which I will dub "toddlerese," because each child creates his or her own unique dialect of it. The only way to learn it is by being fully submerged in the culture of the toddler who speakes it.
A year ago, the following would have made no sense to me:
"Mah botx! Botx! Peace! (whimper, buildup to a wail). Tanque. (slurp)"Now I know that it means, "I would like that box of apple juice, for I am very thirsty and it looks like it would hit the spot. That box right there, on the counter, please. Thank you."
Before, this would have been perfect nonsense to me:
"Mah bock. Mah bock! Seet, Mommy. Seet! Mah bock! Nimoon! Mah Nimoon."Whereas I have learned that this means, "See this book? I would like for you to read it for me. Please sit down so I can sit in your lap, mother. This book belongs to me. It is called Goodnight, Moon. In fact, it is my very own personal copy of Goodnight, Moon."
Mind you, certain words in toddlerese (at least the dialect of that I hear every day) sound the same as certain words in Standard American English, but have a slighly different meaning. For example, the words no and mine are clearly understandable to their adult counterparts. The danger, however, is assuming that just because they sound the same means that they are the same. They aren't.
The words my or mine are a good example. When a toddler says them they don't always mean that the toddler believes he owns the object it sounds like he is claiming. It could just mean that he would like to own it, but it could also mean that he only wants use it for a little while.
When my son points to his father's MG in the garage, which is a perpetual state of restoration and repair, and says "My car!" it means that he would like for us to let him sit in it and pretend to drive. When Jeff argued with him and answered, in Standard American English, that the car actually belonged to him (Jeff), my son cried because he believed that it meant that his father wanted to sit in the car and pretend to drive it, when my son had clearly just called dibs on this very thing. After some clarification and help opening the car door so that the boy could climb in the driver's seat, the confusion was cleared up and my son and his father are again on speaking terms.
Also, no does not always mean no, despite what your mother told you. When I ask my son if he is stinky and he tells me no, what he means is that he is busy playing and doesn't care to have his diaper changed at that moment. He knows very well that he is stinky, he just doesn't want to deal with it right now. He is not actually lying about his state of stinkiness, and my taking no to mean no would simply be a matter of failing to interpret his true intentions.
I am still learning, and I admit that there are still plenty of things that he says that I can't interpret at all. There are times that he could just be making up a song from sounds that he likes, for all I know. While I was once a native speaker of a very similar dialect of my own, I have not spoken that tongue for decades and no longer remember the particularities of it. I am having to learn toddlerese anew. I would say that I am now good at conversational toddlerese. I can usually figure out what he is talking about and respond in an appropriate manner. While I am not yet fluent, I am getting there
So while the experts say that learning a new language become harder the older you get, I want to give hope to those of you who are thinking about trying. I am living proof that it can be done. If you don't believe me, just ask my son. He would be happy vouch for me and tell you, "Mah mommy good. Yea!"
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-19 10:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-19 11:12 pm (UTC)If the child says something like "Wabla!" does it really count as part of their vocab? They don't have the word right but can associate a similar-sounding word to the object. I know that's all that the child is capable of at this stage in their verbal development, but does it count for a word?
no subject
Date: 2007-03-19 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 02:03 pm (UTC)Baby talk is the audio equivalent of baby walk. It is speech that just lacks grace. My son sees a pillow and calls it a bobo because when he attempts the word pillow, that is how it comes out. If I tease him and also call a pillow a bobo, he looks at me like I am nuts and even scowls at me a little for teasing him (so I stop). They don't mispronounce the words on purpose or try to create their own tongue; they are practicing language and polishing their skills at it. Grace and fluency will come with time. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 02:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 12:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 02:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 02:14 am (UTC)I love toddlerese!!!
Jen at the age of 2 would sit by her baby sister and eat her nummies. And say "I didda" And Greg and I would say "You did it??" "Yeah" But in reality she was pointing to Elycia and saying "My sister!!" We figured it out eventually...LOL
Camie still has some of that toddlerese in her, at the age of 4. I cherish it. I wish the other 2 still spoke it...
no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 02:15 pm (UTC)My son's speech is kind of like the buds of a flowering plant; eventually, the words will open up into the obvious blossoms of language, but right now they are full of mystery as they start to unfurl into what they will some day be.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 02:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 04:57 am (UTC)http://www.dunstanbaby.com/how-it-works/
no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 02:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-20 02:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-21 05:43 pm (UTC)