THE 



POPULAK SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



FEBHTJARY, 1895. 

 STUDIES OF CHILDHOOD. 



VI. FIRST ATTACKS ON THE MOTHER TONGUE. 

 Bt JAMES SULLY, M. A., LL. D., 



GRC)TE PROFESSOR OK THE PHILOSOPHY OV MINI) AND LOGIC AT THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, 



LONDON. 



IN the following paper I shall pass by the first stage of infant 

 phonation, the babbling or singing of the first year which 

 precedes and prepares the way for true baby-speech. A full ac- 

 count of this pre-linguistic articulation will be found in Preyer's 

 well-known volume. 



This learning of the mother tongue is one of the most instruct- 

 ive and, one may add, the most entertaining chapters in the his- 

 tory of the child's education. The brave efi^orts to understand 

 and follow, the characteristic and quaint errors that often result, 

 the frequent outbursts of originality in bold attempts to enrich 

 our vocabulary and our linguistic forms all this will repay the 

 most serious study while it will provide ample amusement. 



As pointed out above, the learning of the mother tongue is 

 essentially the work of imitation. The process is roughly as fol- 

 lows : The child hears a particular sound used by another, and 

 gradually associates it with the object, the occurrence, the situa- 

 tion, with which it again and again* occurs. When this stage is 

 reached he can understand the word-sound as used by another, 

 though he can not as yet use it. Later (by a considerable inter- 

 val) he learns to connect the particular sound with the appropri- 

 ate vocal action required for its production. As soon as this 

 connection is formed, his sign-making impulse imitatively appro- 

 priates it by repeating it in circumstances similar to. those in 

 which he has heard others employ it. 



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