STUDIES OF CHILDHOOD. ^ 787 



The precise way in which these pronominal forms first appear 

 is very curious. Many children use " me " before " I." Preyer's 

 boy appears to have first used the form " to me " {mir). " My," 

 too, is apt to appear among the earliest forms. In such different 

 ways does the child pass to the new and difficult region of pro- 

 nominal speech. 



The meaning of this transition has given rise to much discus- 

 sion. It is plain, to begin with, that a child can not acquire these 

 forms as he acquires the names " papa," " nurse," by a direct and 

 comparatively mechanical mode of imitation. When he does imi- 

 tate in this fashion he produces, as we have seen, the absurdity of 

 speaking of himself as " you." Hence during the first year or so 

 of speech he makes no use of these forms. He speaks of himself 

 as " baby " or some equivalent name, others coming down to his 

 level and setting him the example. 



The transition seems to be due in part, as I have already 

 pointed out, to a growing self-consciousness, to a clearer singling 

 out of the ego or self as the center of thought and activity, and 

 the understanding of the other " persons " in relation to this cen- 

 ter. Not that self-consciousness begins with the use of " I." The 

 child has, no doubt, a rudimentary self-consciousness when he 

 talks about himself as about any other object ; yet the use of the 

 forms " I," " me," may be taken to mark the greater precision of 

 the idea of self as not merely one among a group of things, but 

 as something distinct from and opposed to other things what 

 we call the subject or ego* 



While, however, we may set down this exchange of the proper 

 name for the forms "I" and "me "as due to the spontaneous 

 growth of the child's intelligence, it is possible that education 

 exerts its influence too. It is conjecturable that, as a child's intel- 

 ligence grows, others in speaking to him tend unknowingly to 

 introduce the forms " I " and " you " more frequently. Yet I am 

 disposed to think that the child commonly takes the lead here. 

 However this be, it is clear that growth of intelligence, involving 

 that of interest in others' words, will lead to a closer attention to 

 these pronominal forms as employed by others. In this way the 

 environment works on the growing mind of the child, stimulating 

 it to direct its thoughts to these subtle relations of the " me and 

 not me," " mine and thine." The more intelligent the environ- 

 ment the greater will be the stimulating influence ; hence, in part 

 at least, the difference of age when the new style of speech is 

 attained. 



The acquirement of these pronominal forms is a slow and irk- 

 some business. At first they are introduced hesitatingly and 



* Cf. Study V, January number of this magazine, p. 351. 



