This morning I said to Leo, "wave bye-bye to Daddy" and he did! Up until now we thought he had just been copying us, but he obviously understands what the phrase 'wave bye bye' means! How exciting is that?
For a good while now he has shown comprehension of "Where is..." by looking around - e.g. when you say "Where's Bonzo" he'll look at the back door that Bonzo uses to come in (and out, and in, and out, and in, and out - and that's just in a two minute period); if Bonzo is actually in the room he'll point and smile and say "Bah!" (which is his word for pretty much everything, pure coincidence that it begins with the same sound as Bonzo). Also "Can I have..." - he will give you whatever he's got, if in the mood! Usually I hold my hand out, I should make a point of saying it without the hand to see if he understands without the visual cue. He also knows "train" (we live close to a station and one our regular walks takes us alongside the railway line so we see and hear a lot of them) and will lean forward in his pushchair and crane his neck to look at the line if you say "there's a train" / "where's the train" / "is there a train coming."
He makes a lot of talky noises (s0metimes when holding a book as if reading aloud, which is very cute), and shouts quite a lot, but no recognisable words as yet. Lots of pointing, lots of inflection and emphasis on particular noises as he tries to communicate. He says mum-mum-mummmm when hungry, tired or poorly, (he had a stinking cold and chest infection last week, bless, still has the cough and snots) but I'm not sure whether he's actually saying Mum or it's just a whingey noise. I wonder if all babies make this noise when whingey and that's where Mum / Mama / Maman comes from?
4 comments:
Fascinating. Apparently you are absolutely right. The Telegraph website (which wouldn't let me put a link on here so here's the short article below) says:
Baby's first word filled Stone Age Papa with pride
By David Derbyshire, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 22/07/2004)
One of the first words to be uttered by Stone Age babies was probably "papa", according to scientists trying to piece together the origins of human language.
Researchers believe the word may have been passed down through the generations from a "proto-language" spoken 50,000 years ago.
However, other linguists have argued that "papa", "dada" and "mama" are common in many languages simply because they are the first noises made by babbling babies.
A new French study has found that the word "papa" is used in almost 700 out of 1,000 languages - and in 71 per cent of cases it means father or a male relative on the father's side.
"There is only one explanation for the consistent meaning of the word 'papa': a common ancestry," said Dr Pierre Bancel, from the Association for the Study of Linguistics and Prehistoric Anthropology in Paris.
He presented the findings at the Origins of Language and Psychosis conference in Oxford this month, New Scientist reported yesterday.
Linguists are divided over the origins of languages and the roots of family words. Some claim they stem from a common language spoken 50,000 years ago or more. Others say the idea of a single "proto-language" is nonsense and that different languages have sprung up independently.
Across the 14 major language groups, the words for mother and father are similar. In Swahili and Mandarin they are mama and baba, in Malay they are emak and bapa, in Apalai - spoken in the Amazon - they are aya and papa, while in Bengali they are ma and baba.
Supporters of the common origins believe these words are proof of a common ancestry. But others say the first noises babbled by babies tend to be ma-ma-ma followed by da-da-da or pa-pa-pa, because of the way the human brain is programmed.
Dr Don Ringe, a linguist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, said parents associate the first sound babies make with themselves. That could lead to a word like "papa" acquiring a similar meaning in many languages.
Hope that's not too boring for you,
love from aunty Jenny! xxx
Love the lightbulb btw - I had to draw a pear in 'Paint' the other day for a powerpoint presentation (don't ask). I should have asked you to do it because nine out of ten students thought it was a cat : )))
Henry shrieked, "Ma, Ma" the other day when getting over anxious when I was about to feed him. I'm pretty sure that is just a sound and he doesn't have any connection with it to me. His regular words are "uh-goo" and "uh-boo" which he says all of the time when trying to converse.
However, Leo is just about at the age where he should begin attaching mama and dada to the parents, so maybe he knows.
I think girls tend to start talking and putting words to things before boys as a general rule but it sounds like Leo is doing it now. what a genius! Izzy is almost managing sentences like 'where are you Pooh bear?', 'I want a grape mummy' etc but when she is tired or ill she still calls anyone who picks her up mummy i think she thinks as mummy meaning comfort and daddy as play! But its ok i dont mind her calling almost stangers mummy, no i dont mind really sniff sniff!
hi Helen, Izzy sounds like she is doing brilliantly with her talking, proper sentences, she's such a teenager! I can't imagine Leo saying proper words. He just shouts random sounds like kakaKAHKAHka or gak gak gak or baBABAbaba or bagabagabaga, which sounds like he's saying bugger bugger bugger.... probably is :-)
Becky I think Leo is much the same with his mumumumms I think he's just trying out the sound, he doesn't have words for Ben and I yet. Incidentally I would like to hereby ban the word 'should' from Leo's blog when used in connection with age-appropriate development. A year of mums group, hanging out with babies within 6 weeks of Leo's age and watching them grow, has demonstrated conclusively that if we were to be slavishly following the 'What to Expect The First Year' chapter summaries then all of our babies would apparently be abnormal. ;-D
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