AN INFANT'S PROGRESS IN LANGUAGE. 591 



would have been gained by it. The subsequent notes must be taken as 

 being rather selections than a full record. 



Eighteen to nineteen months. "Poor" (should perhaps have been 

 set down earlier) : no appreciable difference from ordinary adult pro- 

 nunciation. Darn (gum), a word of large significance ; see next para- 

 graph. 



"Poor" was taught as an expression of pity, but extended to mean 

 any kind of loss, damage, or imperfection in an object, real or supposed. 

 Some of her reasons for assuming imperfection were curious. She said 

 "poor" to the mustard pot and spoon, taking, as we suppose, the mov- 

 able spoon for a broken part. " Gum," on the other hand, with which 

 toys are often mended, is conceived as a universal remedy for things 

 broken or disabled. Later (at twenty-two and a half months) she says 

 "poor" to a crooked pin, and on my beginning to straighten it, "dada 

 mend." 



The sound of g is now coming, and a final nasal is developed. 

 "Down "is pretty well pronounced. Ding=d'mner not the meal or 

 meal-time, but a toy dinner-service. 



Be be~ biscuit, with desiderative-imperative tone and meaning. 



Nineteen months. sound now distinctly made, and g distinct by 

 the end of the month. " Guy" is now gd instead of dd. A final / once 

 or twice observed: '/=: shawl. Final t distinctly made: hat or hot 

 (hot). Soon afterward p (in "top," pronounced tap or top) ; pu = 

 foot ; after mastering final t she said fat. The monosyllabic form (one 

 consonant and one vowel) still prevails. K is a favorite sound, and 

 she has several words formed with it, which are carefully kept distinct. 

 ./w=stool. Kah (later &ac?)=cod [liver oil], which she considers a 

 treat. 7ib="cozy" (on teapot); later ka-zi or ka-zhi. ii^=cold. 

 Kd kd= chocolate. Khi-en or kli-en= clean; her first real dissyllable, 

 for so she pronounced it. Be for biscuit has now become bek. Sh?ad 

 (thread). She has now observed the process of sewing, and tries to 

 imitate it. Things broken, etc., are now divided into those which are 

 to be mended with dam and those which are to be mended with sh'ad. 

 Approach to chu (sugar) and shu (shoe, also sugar) sometimes quite 

 distinct. I also note "jar" as well said, but s, sh, ch, j, are on the 

 whole indistinct, and attempts to form them give curious palatal and 

 sibilant sounds which I cannot write down. TPJ v, f, are now formed, 

 but not well distinguished. Vdk or wdk= walk, fdk= fork. Here also 

 we get intermediate sounds. The w is often more German than Eng- 

 lish, though she cannot have heard the German w spoken. 



The fork is a toy fork in the set of things generally called ding or 

 din. But fdk has another unexpected meaning. The child likes to 

 look at an old illustrated edition of Dr. Watts's poems, and she has 



