Chapter XVIII (2)

In the eighteenth month this ability of the ear to discriminate, and with it the understanding of spoken words, increases. "Finger, glass, door, sofa, thermometer, stove, carpet, watering-pot, biscuit," are rightly pointed out, even when the objects, which were at first touched, or merely pointed at, along with loud and repeated utterance of those words, are no longer present, but objects like them are present. Say "Finger," and the child takes hold of his own fingers only; "Ofen" (stove), then he invariably at first looks upward ("oben"). Besides the earlier commands, the following are correctly obeyed: "Find, pick up, take it, lay it down." Hand him a flower, saying, "Smell," and he often carries it to his nose without opening his mouth.

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

The _atta_, which used to be whispered when anything disappeared from the child's field of vision, has changed to _tto_ and _t-tu_ and _ftu_, with pouting of the lips.

In the monologues appear _naei_, _mimi_, _paepae_, _mimiae_, _pata_, _rrrrr_, the last uvular and labial for minutes at a time. But these meaningless utterances are simply signs of well-being in general, and are gladly repeated from pleasure in the exercise of the tongue and lips. The tongue still vibrates vigorously with fibrillar contractions when it is at rest, the mouth being open.

Characteristic for this period is the precision with which the various moods of feeling are expressed, without articulate sounds, by means of the voice, now become very high and strong, in screaming and crowing, then again in wailing, whimpering, weeping, grunting, squealing; so that the mood is recognized by the voice better than ever before, especially desire, grief, joy, hunger, willfulness, and fear. But this language can not be represented by written characters.

The same holds good of the nineteenth month, in which bawling and babbling are more rare, the spontaneous sound-imitations are more frequent, the vocal cords are strained harder, the mechanism of articulation works with considerably more ease; the understanding and the retention of spoken words have perceptibly increased, but no word of the child's own, used always in the same sense, is added.

When the child has thrown an object from the table to the floor, he often follows it with his gaze and whispers, even when he does not know he is observed, _atta_ or _t-ta_, which is here used in the same sense with _tuff_ or _ft_ or _ftu_, for "fort" (gone).

When he had taken a newspaper out of the paper-basket and had spread it on the floor, he laid himself flat upon it, holding his face close to the print, and said--evidently of his own accord, imitating, as he had done before, the reading aloud of the newspaper, which had often been witnessed by him--repeating it for a long time in a monotonous voice, _e-ja-e-e-ja nanana ana-na-na atta-ana [=a]je-ja s[=a]_; then he tore the paper into many small pieces, and next turned the leaves of books, uttering _pa-pa-ab ta hoe-oe-[)e] moemoemoem hoe-oen[)e]_.

Such monologues are, however, exceptional at this period, the rule being uniform repetitions of the same syllable, e. g., _habb habb habb habb habbwa habbua_.

Screaming when water of 26 deg. C. was poured over him in the bath appeared, a few days after the first experiment of this sort, even before the bathing, at sight of the tub, sponge, and water. Previously, fear had only in very rare cases occasioned screaming, now the _idea_ of the cold and wet that were to be expected was enough to occasion violent screaming. After about three weeks of daily bathing with water from 18 to 24 deg. C., however, the screaming decreased again. The experience that a pleasant feeling of warmth succeeded, may have forced the recollection of the unpleasant feeling into the background. But the screaming can not at all be represented by letters; _ae_ and _oe_ do not suffice. The same is true of the screaming, often prolonged, before falling asleep in the evening, which occurs not seldom also without any assignable occasion, the child making known by it his desire to leave the bed. As this desire is not complied with, the child perceives the uselessness of the screaming, and at length obeys the command, "Lie down," without our employing force or expedients for soothing him.

How far the power of imitation and of articulation is developed, is shown especially by the fact that now, at last, _pa_ is correctly pronounced in response; in the beginning _ta_ was still frequently the utterance, then _ba_, finally _pa_ almost invariably given correctly.

Further, these results were obtained:

Words said to him. Response.
bitte _bis_, _bits_, _bit_, _bets_, _beest_,
_be_, _bi_, _bit-th_ (Eng., _th_).
hart _hatt_, _att_, _haat_.
Fleisch _da-ich_, _dai-s-ch_, _dai-s-j_.
ma _moe_, _ma_.

In _bits_ appears with perfect distinctness (as already in the fifteenth month) the very rare _ts_ = _z_. The "hart" was once only confounded with "haar," and responded to by grasping at the hair. The _bits_ soon served to add force to the putting together of the hands in the attitude of begging; it is thus the first attempt at the employment of a German word to denote a state of his own, and that the state of desire. The other words said to him, and illustrated by touching and putting the hands upon objects, could not be given by him in response. When he was to say "weich" (soft), "kalt" (cold), "nass" (wet), he turned his head away in repugnance, as formerly. To "nass" he uttered in reply, once only, _na_. Smacking, when made for him, was imitated perfectly. The early morning hours, in which the sensibility of the brain is at its highest, are the best adapted to such experiments; but these experiments were not multiplied, in order that the independent development might not be disturbed.

The progress in the discrimination of words heard, and in the firm retention of what has been repeatedly heard, is shown particularly in more prompt obedience, whether in abstaining or in acting.

To the list of objects correctly pointed out upon request are added "leg, nail, spoon, kettle," and others. It is noteworthy, too, that now, if the syllables _pa_ and _ma_, or _papa_ and _mamma_, are prefixed to the names of the known parts of the face and head, the child points these out correctly; e. g., to the question "Where is Mamma-ear," the child responds by taking hold of the ear of his mother, and to "papa-ear," of that of his father; so with "nose, eye," etc. But if asked for "mamma-beard," the child is visibly embarrassed, and finally, when there is a laugh at his hesitation, he laughs too.

The old tricks, "How tall is the child?" and "Where is the little rogue?" which have not been practiced for months past, have been retained in memory, for when in the eighty-second week I brought out both questions with urgency, the child bethought himself for several seconds, motionless, then suddenly, after the first question, raised both arms. After the other question he likewise considered for several seconds, and then pointed to his head as he used to do. His _memory_ for sound-impressions often repeated and associated with specific movements is consequently good.

In the twentieth month there was an important advance to be recorded in his manner of repeating what was said to him. Suddenly, on the five hundred and eighty-fourth day, the child is repeating correctly and without difficulty words of two syllables that consist either of two like syllables--for the sake of brevity I will call these _like-syllabled_--or of syllables the second of which is the reverse of the first--such I call _reverse-syllabled_. Thus of the first class are _papa_, _mama_, _bebe_, _baba_, _neinei_, _jaja_, _bobo_, _bubu_; of the second class, _otto_, _enne_, _anna_; these are very frequently given back quickly and faultlessly at this period, after the repetition of the single syllables _pa_, _ma_, and others had gone on considerably more surely than before, and the child had more often tried of himself to imitate what he heard. These imitations already make sometimes the impression of not being voluntary. Thus the child once--in the eighty-third week--observed attentively a redstart in the garden for two full minutes, and then imitated five or six times, not badly, the piping of the bird, turning round toward me afterward. It was when he saw me that the child first seemed to be aware that he had made attempts at imitation at all. For his countenance was like that of one awaking from sleep, and he could not now be induced to imitate sounds. After five days the spectacle was repeated. Again the piping of the bird was reproduced, and in the afternoon the child took a cow, roughly carved out of wood, of the size of the redstart, made it move back and forth on the table, upon its feet, and chirped now as he had done at sight of the bird; _imagination_ was here manifestly much excited. The wooden animal was to represent the bird, often observed in the garden, and nesting in the veranda; and the chirping and piping were to represent its voice.

On the other hand, words of unlike syllables, like "Zwieback" (biscuit), "Butterbrod," are either not given back at all or only in unrecognizable fashion, in spite of their being pronounced impressively for him. "Trocken" (dry) yields sometimes _tokk[)e]_, _tokko_, _otto_. Words of one syllable also offer generally great difficulties of articulation: thus "warm" and "weich" become _w[=a]i_, "kalt" and "hart" become _hatt_. Although "bi" and "te" are often rightly given each by itself, the child can not combine the two, and turns away with repugnance when he is to reproduce "bi-te." The same thing frequently happens, still, even with "mamma" and "papa." But the child, when in lively spirits, very often pronounces of his own accord the syllables "bi" and "te" together, preferring, indeed, _bidth_ (with English _th_) and _beet_ to "bitte." In place of "adjoe" (adieu) he gives back _ad[=e]_ and _adj[=e]_. Nor does he succeed in giving back three syllables; e. g., the child says _papa_, but not "papagei", and refuses altogether to repeat "gei" and "pagei." The same is true of "Gut," "Nacht," although he of himself holds out his hand for "Gute Nacht."

When others laugh at anything whatsoever, the child laughs regularly with them, a purely imitative movement.

It is surprising that the reproducing of what is said to him succeeds best directly after the cold bath in the morning, when the child has been screaming violently and has even been shivering, or when he is still screaming and is being rubbed dry, and, as if resigned to his fate, lies almost without comprehension. The will, it would seem, does not intrude here as a disturbing force, and echolalia manifests itself in its purity, as in the case of hypnotics. The little creature is subdued and powerless. But he speedily recovers himself, and then it is often quite hard to tell whether he _will_ not or _can_ not say the word that is pronounced to him.

The _understanding of single words_, especially of single questions and commands, is considerably more prompt than in the previous month. Without there being any sort of explanation for it, this extraordinary understanding is here, manifesting itself particularly when the child is requested to fetch and carry all sorts of things. He has observed and touched a great deal, has listened less, except when spoken to. All training in tricks and performances, an evil in the modern education of children hard to avoid, was, however, suppressed as far as possible, so that the only new things were "making a bow" and "kissing the hand." The child practices both of these toward the end of the month, without direction, at coming and going. Many new objects, such as window, bed, knife, plate, cigar, his own teeth and thumbs, are correctly pointed out, if only the corresponding word is distinctly pronounced. Yet "Ofen" and "oben" are still confounded.

To put into written form the syllables invented by the child independently, and to get at a sure denotation of objects by them, is exceedingly difficult, particularly when the syllables are merely whispered as the objects are touched, which frequently occurs. At the sight of things rolled noisily, especially of things whirling in a circle, the child would utter _rodi_, _otto_, _rojo_, and like sounds, in general, very indistinctly. Only _one_ new concept could with certainty be proved to be associated with a particular sound. With _d[=a]_ and _nd[=a]_, frequently uttered on the sudden appearance of a new object in the field of vision, in a lively manner, loudly and with a peculiarly demonstrative accent--also with _t[=a]_ and _nt[=a]_--the child associates, beyond a doubt, existence, coming, appearing, shooting forth, emerging, in contrast with the very often softly spoken, whispered _atta_, _f-tu_, _tuff_, which signifies "away" or "gone." If I cover my head and let the child uncover it, he laughs after taking off the handkerchief, and says loudly _da_; if I leave the room, he says _atta_ or _haetta_, or _ft_ or _t-ta_, generally softly; the last of these, or else _hata_, he says if he would like to be taken out himself. In the eighty-seventh week we went away on a journey, and on the railway-train the child, with an expression of terror or of anxious astonishment, again and again said _attah_, but without manifesting the desire for a change of place for himself, even by stretching out his arms.

Two words only--_papa_ for father, and _baet_ or _bit_ for "bitte," are, besides, rightly applied of the child's own accord. The prolonged screaming, from wantonness, of _n[=a]n[=a]n[=a]n[=a]_, _nom-nom_, _h[=a]h[=a]_, _l[=a]l[=a]_, chiefly when running about, has no definite meaning. The child exercises himself a good deal in loud outcry, as if he wanted to test the power of his voice. These exercises evidently give him great pleasure. Still the highest crowing tones are no longer quite so high and piercing as they were formerly. The vocal cords have become larger, and can no longer produce such high tones. The screaming sounds of discontent, which continue to be repeated sometimes till hoarseness appears, but rarely in the night, have, on the contrary, as is the case with the shrill sounds of pain, scarcely changed their character, _hae-e_, _hae-ae-ae-[)e]_, _[)e]_. They are strongest in the bath, during the pouring on of cold water.

The child, when left to himself, keeps up all the time his loud readings ("Lesestudien"). He "reads" in a monotonous way maps, letters, newspapers, drawings, spreading them out in the direction he likes, and lies down on them with his face close to them, or holding the sheet with his hands close to his face, and, as before, utters especially vowel-sounds.

In the twenty-first month imitative attempts of this kind became more frequent; but singularly enough the babbling--from the eighty-ninth week on--became different. Before this time vowels were predominant, now more _consonants_ are produced. When something is said for the child to reproduce that presents insuperable difficulties of articulation, then he moves tongue and lips in a marvelous fashion, and often says _ptoe-ptoe_, _pt-pt_, and _verlapp_, also _dla-dla_, without meaning, no matter what was the form of the word pronounced to him. In such practice there often appears likewise a wilfulness, showing itself in inarticulate sounds and the shaking of the head, even when it is merely the repetition of easy like-syllabled words that is desired. Hence, in the case of new words, it is more difficult than before, or is even impossible to determine whether the child _will_ not or whether he _can_ not reproduce them. Words of unlike syllables are not repeated at all, not even "bitte." In place of "danke" are heard _dang-gee_ and _dank-kee_; the former favorite _dakkn_ is almost never heard. In most of the attempts at sound imitation, the tendency to the doubling of syllables is worthy of notice. I say "bi," and the answer is _bibi_; then I say "te," and the answer is _te-te_. If I say "bi-te," the answer is likewise _bibi_; a single time only, in spite of daily trial, the answer was _bi-te_, as if by oversight.

This doubling of syllables, involuntary and surely contrary to the will of the child, stands in remarkable contrast with the indolence he commonly shows in reproducing anything said, even when the fault is not to be charged to teasing, stubbornness, or inability. The child then finds more gratification in other movements than those of the muscles of speech. The babbling only, abounding in consonants, yields him great pleasure, particularly when it is laughed at, although it remains wholly void of meaning as language. Yet _bibi_, like _baebae_, for "bitte," is correctly used by the child of his own accord.

A new word, and one that gives notice of a considerable advance, is the term used by the child when hungry and thirsty, for "milk" or "food." He says, viz., with indescribable longing in his voice, _mimi_, more rarely than before _maemae_ and _moemoem_ (page 85). The first appellation was certainly taken from the often-heard "milk" by imitation, and applied to biscuit and other kinds of food. If the child, when he has eaten enough, is asked, "Do you want milk?" he says without direction, _neinein_; he has thus grasped and turned to use already the signification of the sound. The same is, perhaps, true also of "ja." For previously, when I asked the child as he was eating, "Does it taste good?" he was silent, and I would say, "Say jaja," and this would be correctly repeated. But in the ninety-first week he, of his own accord, answers the question with _jaja_--"yes, yes." This, too, may rest simply on imitation, without a knowledge of the meaning of the _ja_, and without an understanding of the question; yet there is progress in the recollection of the connection of the sound "schmeckt's" with _jaja_, the intermediate links being passed over.

In other cases, too, the strength of the memory for sounds is plainly manifested. To all questions of an earlier period, "Where is the forehead, nose, mouth, chin, beard, hair, cheek, eye, ear, shoulder?" the child now at once pointed correctly in every instance, although he might not have answered them for anybody even once for two weeks. Only the question, "Where is the thumb?" made him hesitate. But when the thumb had been again shown to him (firmly pressed), he knew it, and from that time pointed it out invariably without delay. To the question, "Where is the eye?" he is accustomed to shut both eyes quickly at the same time and to open them again, and then to point to my eye; to the question, "Axel's eye?" he responds by pointing to his own; to the question, "The other eye?" by pointing to the one not touched.

In the understanding of what is spoken astonishing progress has been made--e. g., if I say, "Go, take the hat and lay it on the chair!" the child executes the order without considering more than one or two seconds. He knows the meaning of a great number of words that no one has taught him--e. g., "whip, stick, match, pen." Objects of this sort are surely distinguished by the child, for, upon receiving orders, he gets, picks up, brings, lays down, gives these things each by itself.

This understanding of spoken words is the more surprising, as his repetition of them continues still to be of a very rudimentary character. With the exception of some interjections, especially _j[=a][)e]_ as a joyous sound and of crowing sounds, also screaming sounds, which, however, have become more rare, the child has but few expressions of his own with a recognizable meaning; _ndae_, _ndae_, _da_ is demonstrative "da" ("there") at new impressions.

_Att_, _att_, _att_, is unintelligible, perhaps indicative of movement.

_Attah_ means "we are off" (upon setting out) and "I want to go" ("ich will fort"); _tatass_, _tatass_ is unintelligible, possibly a sound-imitation.

When traveling by rail the child tried several times to imitate the hissing of the steam of the locomotive.

In the twenty-second month again there are several observations to record, which show the progress in understanding, the strengthening of the memory, and the greater facility in articulation. The child executes the orders given him with surprising accuracy, although the words spoken have not previously been impressed on him separately. Here, indeed, it is essential to consider the looks and gestures of those who give the orders; but the child also does what I request of him without looking at me. Instances of confusion among the words known to him are also perceptibly more rare. Once I asked him very distinctly, "Where's the moon?" (Mond), and for answer the child pointed to his mouth (Mund). But the error was not repeated.

The strength of the word-memory appears particularly in this, that all the objects learned are more quickly pointed out on request than they were previously, and the facility of articulation is perceived in the multiplying of consonants in the monologues and in the frequent spontaneous utterance of _pss_, _ps_, _ptsch_ (once), and _pth_ (Engl.). The child says, without any occasion, _pa-ptl-dae_, _pt_, and gives a loud greeting from a distance with _h[=aa]-oe_, with _ada_, and _ana_.

It seemed to me remarkable that the boy began several times without the least incitement to _sing_ tolerably well. When I expressed my approval of it, he sprang about, overjoyed. At one time he sang, holding his finger on his tongue, first _rollo_, _rollo_, innumerable times, then _mama_, _mama_, _maemae_, _mama_.

The progress in the sound-mechanism is most plainly discerned in the greater certainty in reproducing what is spoken. Thus, "pst" is correctly given, and of reverse-syllabled words, very accurately, "anna, otto, alla, appa, enne"; of unlike-syllabled words, "lina," but still, notwithstanding many trials, not yet "bitte." _For the first time three-syllabled words also, plainly pronounced to him, were correctly given back_, viz., _a-mama_ and _a-pa-pa_, as the child names his grandparents. Hitherto the vowels _e_, _i_, _o_, _u_, could not be correctly given every time, but "a" could be so given as before. When the reproduction of any new word that is too hard is requested--e. g., "gute Nacht"--the child at this period regularly answers _tap[)e]ta_, _p[)e]ta_, _pta_, and _ptoe-ptoe_, also _rateratetat_, expressing thereby not merely his inability, but also, sometimes roguishly, his disinclination to repeat.

_Ja ja_ and _nein nein_, along with _da_ and _bibi_ (with or without folding of the hands, for "bitte"), and _mimi_, continue still to be the only words taken from the language of adults that are used by the child in the proper sense when he desires or refuses anything. Apart from these appear inarticulate sounds, uttered even with the mouth shut. The intense cry of pain, or that produced by cold or wet or by grief at the departure of the parents (this with the accompaniment of abundant tears and the drawing of the corners of the mouth far down), makes the strongest contrast with the crowing for joy, particularly that at meeting again.

The twenty-third month brought at length _the first spoken judgment_. 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.