The most important advance consists in the now awakenedunderstanding of spoken words. The ability to learn, or the capability of being trained, has emerged almost as if it had come in a night.
For it did not require frequent repetition of the question, "How tall is the child?" along with holding up his arms, in order to make him execute this movement every time that he heard the words, "Wie gross?" ("How tall?") or "ooss," nay, even merely "oo." It was easy, too, to induce him to take an ivory ring, lying before him attached to a thread, into his hand, and reach it to me prettily when I held out my hand and said, "Where is the ring?" and, after it had been grasped, said, "Give." In the same way, the child holds the biscuit, which he is carrying to his mouth, to the lips of the person who says pleasantly to him, "Give"; and he has learned to move his head sidewise hither and thither when he hears "No, no." If we say to him, when he wants food or an object he has seen, "Bitte, bitte" (say "Please"), he puts his hands together in a begging attitude, a thing which seemed at first somewhat hard for him to learn. Finally, he had at this time been taught to respond to the question, "Where is the little rogue?" by touching the side of his head with his hand (a movement he had often made of himself before).
From this it appears beyond a doubt that now (rather late in comparison with other children) the association of words heard with certain movements is established, inasmuch as upon acoustic impressions—at least upon combined impressions of hearing and of sight, which are repeated in like fashion—like movementsfollow, and indeed follow invariably with the expression of great satisfaction on the countenance. Yet this connection between the sensorium and the motorium is not yet stable, for there follows not seldom upon a command distinctly uttered, and without doubt correctly understood, the wrong movement—paramimy. Upon the question, "How tall?" the hands are put together for "Please," and the like. Once when I said, "How tall?" the child raised his arms a moment, then struck himself on the temples, and thereupon put his hands together, as if "rogue," and then "please," had been said to him. All three movements followed with the utmost swiftness, while the expression of face was that of a person confused, with wavering look. Evidently the child hadforgottenwhich movement belonged with the "tall," and performed all the three tricks he had learned,confoundingthem one with another. This confounding of arm-raising, head-shaking, giving of the ring, putting the hands together, touching the head, is frequent. It is also to be noticed that some one of these five tricks is almost invariably performed by the child when some new command is given to him that he does not understand, as he perceives that something is required of him—the first conscious act ofobedience, as yet imperfect.
In the fourteenth month there was no great increase in the number of independent utterances of sound that can be represented by syllables of the German language. Surprising visual impressions, like the brilliant Christmas-tree, and the observation of new objects, drew from the pleasurably excited child, without his having touched anything, almost the same sounds that he atother times made when in discontented mood,ŭä,mŭä, only softer;mömöandmama, and alsopapaare frequent expressions of pleasure. When the child is taken away, he often saysta-taloudly, also,attain a whisper. There can no longer be a doubt that in these syllables is now expressed simply the idea of "going." The labialbrrr, the so-called "coachman'sR," was practiced by the child, of his own accord, with special eagerness, and indeed was soon pronounced so cleverly that educated adults can not produce it in such purity and especially with so prolonged an utterance. The only new word isdakkuanddaggn, which is often uttered pleasantly with astonishing rapidity, in moments of enjoyment, e. g., when the child is eating food that tastes good. But it is also uttered so often without any assignable occasion, that a definite meaning can hardly be attributed to it, unless it be that of satisfaction. For it is never heard when the least thing of a disagreeable sort has happened to the child. The probability is obvious that we have here a case of imitation of the "Thanks" (Danke) which he has not seldom heard. But the modificationstaggn,attagn,attatn, pass over into the word, undoubtedly the original favorite,taï,ataï.
Among all the indistinct and distinct sounds of the babbling monologues, no inspiratory ones appeared at this time either; but such did make their appearance now and then, in a passive manner, in swallowing and in the coughing that followed.
I spent much time in trying to get the child to repeat vowels and syllables pronounced to him, but always without special success. When I said plainlyto him "pá-pá-pá," he answered loudlyta-taï, or with manifest effort and a vigorous straining,t-taï,k-taï,at-taï,hattaï, and the same when "má-má" was said for him by any one, no matter whom. He also moved lips and tongue often, as if trying to get the sound in various ways; as if thewillof the child, as he attentively observed the mouth of the speaker, were present, but not the ability to reproduce the sound-impression. Evidently he is taking pains to repeat what he has heard; and he laughs at the unsuccessful effort, if others laugh over it. The earliest success is with the repetition of the vowels "a-u-o," but this is irregular and inaccurate.
In contrast with these halting performances stands the precise,parrot-like repetitionof such syllables as the child had uttered of his own accord, and which I had immediately after pronounced to him. Thusattaï,taï,atta, were often easily and correctly repeated, but, strangely enough, frequently in a whisper. Theä-ĕ,ä-ö,ä-ĕ, accompanied by oscillatory movements of the hand, when imitated directly by me was also produced again; in like manner, regularly, thedakkn, but this course did not succeed in the case of other primitive syllables or words, even under the most favorable circumstances: here it is to be borne in mind that the last-named utterances were precisely the most frequent at this period. When he was requested with emphasis to saypapa,mama,tata, he would bring out one of the tricks he had been taught in the previous month; among others, that of moving the head to one side and the other as if in negation; but this it could not be, for this significance of the gesture was wholly unknown tohim at that time. Rather had the child received the impression from my voice that he was to do something that he was bidden, and he did what was easy to him just at the moment, "mechanically," without knowing which of the movements that he had learned was required (cf. p. 116).
In regard to theunderstanding of words heard, several points of progress are to be noted; above all a change of place in consequence of the question, "Where is your clothes-press?" The child, standing erect, being held by the hand, at these words turns his head and his gaze toward the clothes-press, draws the person holding him through the large room by the hand, although he can not walk a step alone, and then opens the press without assistance. Here, at the beginning of the fourteenth month, is theidea of a definite stationary object associated with a sound heard, and so strongly that it is able to produce an independent act of locomotion, the first one; for, although before this the clothes-press had often been named and shown, the going to it is still the child's own performance.
It is now a matter of common occurrence that other words heard have also a definite relation to objects seen. The questions, "Where is papa? mamma? the light?" are invariably answered correctly, after brief deliberation, by turning the head (at the word "light," occasionally since the ninth month) and the gaze in the proper direction, and by lifting the right arm, often also the left, to point, the fingers of the outstretched hand being at the same time generally spread out. In the previous month, only the association of the wordmamawith the appearance of the mother was established.The following are now added to the movements executed upon hearing certain words. The child likes to beat with his hands upon the table at which he is sitting. I said to him, "Play the piano," and made the movement after him. Afterward, when I merely said the word "piano" to the child (who was at the time quiet), without moving my hands, heconsideredfor a few seconds, and then beat again with his hands on the table. Thus the recollection of the sound was sufficient to bring out the movement. Further, the child had accustomed himself, of his own accord, to give a regularsnort, contracting the nostrils, pursing up the mouth, and breathing out through the nose. If now any one spoke to him of the "nose," this snorting was sure to be made. The word put the centro-motors into a state of excitement. The same is true of the command "Give!" since the child reaches out the object he is holding or is about to take hold of, in case any one puts out the hand or the lips to him. Some weeks ago this took place only with the ring and biscuit; now the word "give" has the same effect with any object capable of being grasped, but it operates almost like a reflex stimulus, "mechanically," without its being even once the case that the act of giving is a purely voluntary act or even occasioned by sympathy.
In these already learned co-ordinated movements made upon hearing the words "Please, How tall? rogue! no! piano! ring! give!" all of which are now executed with shorter intervals of deliberation as if by a well-trained animal, there is in general absolutely no deeper understanding present than that to this and the other sound-impression belong this and the other movement. By means of daily repetition of both, the time required for the production of the movement after the excitement of the auditory nerve becomes less and less, the doubt as to which movement follows this or that sound withdrawing more and more. At last the responsive movements followed without any remarkable strain of attention. They became habitual.
Now and then, however, the movements are still confounded. Upon "no! no!" follows the touching of the head; upon "please," the shaking of the head; upon "rogue," the putting of the hands together, etc. These errors become frequent when a new impression diverts the attention. They become more and more rare through repetition of the right movements made for the child to see and through guiding the limbs of the child. A further evidence of the increased ability to learn toward the end of the month is the fact that the hands are raised in the attitude of begging not only at the command "Please," but also at the question, "How does the good child behave?" Thus, the experience is beginning to become a conscious one that, in order to obtain anything, the begging attitude is useful.
The fifteenth month brought no new definite independent utterances of sound with the exception ofwa. Sensations and emotions, however, are indicated more and more definitely and variously by sounds that are inarticulate and sometimes unintelligible. Thus, astonishment is expressed byhā-āĕā-ĕ; joy by vigorous crowing in very high tones and more prolonged than before; further, very strong desire by repeatedhäö,hä-ĕ; pain, impatience, by screaming in vowels which pass over into one another.
The only word that is unquestionably used of the child's own motion to indicate a class of perceptions is stillatta,ha-atta, which during the following month also is uttered softly, for the most part, on going out, and which signifies "away" or "gone" (weg), and still continues to be used also as it was in the eleventh month, when a light is dimmed (by a lamp-shade). Beyond this no syllable can be named that marked the dawn of mental independence, none that testified to the voluntary use of articulate sounds for the purpose of announcing perceptions. For thebrrr, the frequentdakkn,mamam,mömö, andpapap, are without significance in the monologues. Even the saying ofatta, with turning of the head toward the person going away, has acquired the meaning of "away" (fort) only through being repeatedly said to the child upon his being carried out; but no one said the word when the lamp was extinguished. Here has been in existence for some time not only the formation of the concept, but also the designation of the concept by syllables. The similarity in the very different phenomena of going away and of the dimming of the light, viz., the disappearance of a visual impression, was not only discovered, but was named by the child entirely independently in the eleventh month, and has kept its name up to the present time. He has many impressions; he perceives, he unites qualities to make concepts. This he has been doing for a long time without words; but only in thisoneinstance does the child express one of his concepts in language after a particular instance had been thus named for him, and then the word he uses is one not belonging to his later language, but one that belongs to all children the world over.
In regard to the repeating of syllables pronounced to him a marked advance is noticeable. The child can not, indeed, by any means repeatnaandpaandooreandbe. He answersa,taï,ta-a-o-ö-a, and practices all sorts of tongue-and lip-exercises. But the other syllables uttered by him, especiallyanna,taï,dakkn,a, he says in response to any one who speaks them distinctly to him, and he gives them easily and correctly in parrot fashion. If a new word is said to him, e. g., "kalt" (cold), which he can not repeat, he becomes vexed, turns away his head, and screams, too, sometimes. I have been able to introduce into his vocabulary only one new word. In the sixty-third week he seized a biscuit that had been dipped in hot water, let it fall, drew down the corners of his mouth, and began to cry. Then I said "heiss" (hot), whereupon the child, speedily quieted, repeatedhaïandhaï-s(with a just discernibles). Three days later the same experiment was made. After this thehaïs,haïsses, with distincts, was often heard without any occasion. Some days later I wanted him to say "hand." The child observed my mouth closely, took manifest pains, but produced onlyha-ïss, then very distinctlyhasswith sharpss, andha-ith,hadith, with the Englishth; at another time distinctlyha-its. Thus, at a time whents=zcan not be repeated, there exists the possibility of pronouncingz. When I said to him "warm,"asswas pronounced with an effort and distinctly, although the syllablewabelonged to the child's stock of words. This was evidently a recollection of the previous attempts to repeat "heiss" and "hand."
Corresponding to this inability to say words afteranother's utterance of them is an articulation as yet very imperfect. Still, there is indication of progress in the distinctness of thes, the frequent Englishthwith the thrusting out of the tip of the tongue between the incisors, thew, which now first appears often, as well as in thesmackingfirst heard in the sixty-fifth week (in contented mood). The tongue is, when the child is awake, more than other muscles that in the adult are subject to cerebral volition, almost always in motion even when the child is silent. It is in various ways partly contracted, extended, bent. The lateral bending of the edges of the tongue downward and the turning back of the tip of the tongue (from left to right) so that the lower surface lies upward, are not easily imitated by adults. The mobility of my child's tongue is at any rate much greater than that of my tongue, notwithstanding the fact that, in consequence of varied practice from an early period in rapid speaking, the most difficult performances in rapid speaking are still easily executed by mine. The tongue is unquestionably the child's favorite plaything. One might almost speak of a lingual delirium in his case, as in that of the insane, when he pours forth all sorts of disconnected utterances, articulate and inarticulate, in confusion; and yet I often saw his tongue affected with fibrillar contractions as if the mastery of the hypoglossus were not as yet complete. Quite similar fibrillar movements seem to be made by the tongue in bulbar paralysis, and in the case of dogs and guinea-pigs whose hypoglossus has been severed.
To the number of words heard that already produce a definite movement are added the following new ones.The child is asked, "Where is the moon? the clock? the eye? the nose?" and he raises an arm, spreads the fingers, and looks in the proper direction. If I speak of "coughing," he coughs; of "blowing," he blows; of "kicking," he stretches out his legs; of "light," he blows into the air, or, if there is a lamp in sight, toward that, looking at it meantime—a reminiscence of the blowing out of matches and candles often seen by him. It requires great pains to get from him the affirmative nod of the head at the spoken "ja, ja." Not till the sixty-fourth week was this achieved by means of frequent repetition and forcible direction, and the movement was but awkwardly executed even later—months after. On hearing the "no, no," the negative shake of the head now appeared almost invariably, and this was executed as by adults without the least uncertainty.
The holding out of his hand at hearing "Give the hand," occurs almost invariably, but is not to be regarded as a special case of understanding of the syllable "give," for the word "hand" alone produces the same result.
All these accomplishments, attained by regular training, do not afford the least evidence of an understanding of what is commanded when the sound-impression is converted into motor impulse. It is rather a matter of the establishment of the recollection of the customary association of both during the interval of deliberation. The words and muscular contractions that belong together are less often confounded, and the physiological part of the process takes less time, but its duration is noticeably prolonged when the child is not quite well. He deliberates for as much as twelve seconds when thequestion is asked him, "Where is the rogue?" and then responds with the proper gesture (p. 115).
The sixteenth month brought few new articulate utterances of sound, none associated with a definite meaning; on the other hand, there was a marked progress in repeating what was said to the child, and especially in the understanding of words heard.
Among the sounds of his own making are heard—along with thehä!hä-ö!ha-ĕ!hĕ-ĕ!that even in the following months often expresses desire, but often also is quite without meaning—more seldomhi,gö-gö,gö,f-pa(theffor the first time),a͡u, and more frequentlyta,dokkn,tá-ha,a-bwa-bwa,bŭā-bŭ-ā, and, as if by accident, once among all sorts of indefinable syllables,dagon. Further, the child—as was the case in the previous month—likes to take a newspaper or a book in his hands and hold the print before his face, babblingä-ĕ,ä-ĕ,ä-ĕ, evidently in imitation of the reading aloud which he has often observed. By giving the command, "Read!" it was easy to get this performance repeated. Besides this, it is a delight to the child to utter a syllable—e. g.,bwaorma—over and over, some six times in succession, without stopping. As in the previous month, there are still the whisperedattöandhattö, at the hiding of the face or of the light, at the shutting of a fan, or the emptying of a soup-plate, together with thedakkn, with the combinations of syllables made out ofta,pa,ma,na,at,ap,am,an, and withmömö. Thepapaandmamado not, however, express an exclusive relation to the parents. Only to the questions, "Where is papa?" "Where is mamma?" he points toward them, raising his hand with the fingers spread. Pain is announced by loud and prolonged screaming; joy by short, high-pitched, piercing crowing, in which the voweliappears.
Of isolated vowels,aonly was correctly repeated on command. Of syllables, besides those of the previous month,möandma; and here the child's excessive gayety over the success of the experiment is worthy of remark. He made the discovery that his parrot-like repetition was a fresh source of pleasure, yet he could not for several weeks repeat again the doubled syllables, but kept to the simple ones, or responded with all sorts of dissimilar ones, likeattob, or said nothing. The syllablemawas very often given back ashömáandhömö;pawas never given back, but, as had been the case previously, onlytaandtaïwere the responses, made with great effort and attention, and the visible purpose of repeating correctly. To the word "danke," pronounced for him with urgency innumerable times, the response isdakkn, given regularly and promptly, and this in the following months also. If all persuasion failed, and the child were then left to himself without any direction of his attention, then not infrequently new imitations of sounds would be given correctly—e. g., when I said "bo"—but these, again, would no longer succeed when called for. Indeed, such attempts often broke down utterly at once. Thus the child once heard a hen making a piteous outcry, without seeing the creature, and he tried in vain to imitate the sound, but once only, and not again. On the other hand, he often succeeds in repeating correctly movements of the tongue made for him to see, as the thrusting out of the tongue between the lips, by reason of the extraordinary mobility of histongue and lips; he even tries to smack in imitation. The more frequent partial contractions of the tongue, without attempts at speaking, are especially surprising. On one side, toward the middle of the tongue, rises a longitudinal swelling; then the edges are brought together, so that the tongue almost forms a closed tube; again, it is turned completely back in front. Such flexibility as this hardly belongs to the tongue of any adult. Besides, the lips are often protruded a good deal, even when this is not required in framing vocables.
The gain in the understanding of words heard is recognizable in this, that when the child hears the appropriate word, he takes hold, with thumb and forefinger, in a most graceful manner, of nose, mouth, beard, forehead, chin, eye, ear, or touches them with the thumb. But in doing this he often confounds ear and eye, chin and forehead, even nose and ear. "O" serves in place of "Ohr" (ear); "Au" in place of "Auge" (eye). In both cases the child soon discovered that these organs are in pairs, and he would seize with the right hand the lobe of my left and of my right ear alternately after I had asked "Ear?" How easily in such cases a new sound-impression causes confusion is shown by the following fact: After I had at one time pointed out one ear, and had said, "Other ear," I succeeded, by means of repetition, in getting him to point out this other one also correctly every time. Now, then, the thing was to apply what had been learned to the eye. When one eye had been pointed out, I asked, "Where is the other eye?" The child grasped at an ear, with the sight of which the sound "other" was now associated. Not till long after (in the twentieth month) did he learn to applythis sound of himself to different parts of the body. On the other hand, he understands perfectly the significance of the commands, "Bring, fetch, give——"; he brings, fetches, gives desired objects, in which case, indeed, the gesture and look of the speaker are decisive; for, if these are only distinctly apprehended, it does not make much difference which word is said, or whether nothing is said.
In the seventeenth month, although no disturbance of the development took place, there was no perceptible advance in the utterance of thoughts by sounds, or in the imitation of syllables pronounced by others, or in articulation, but there was a considerable increase of the acoustic power of discrimination in words heard and of the memory of sounds.
Of syllables original with the child, these are new:Bibi,nä-nä-nä—the first has come from the frequent hearing of "bitte"; the last is an utterance of joy at meeting and an expression of the desire to be lifted up. Otherwise, longing, abhorrence, pleasure and pain, hunger and satiety, are indicated by pitch, accent,timbre, intensity of the vocal sounds, more decidedly than by syllables. A peculiar complaining sound signifies that he does not understand; another one, that he does not wish. In place ofatta, at the change of location of an object perceived, comes often at-tóandhöt-tó, with the lips much protruded. But, when the child himself wishes to leave the room, then he takes a hat, and saysatta, casting a longing look at his nurse, or repeatedly taking hold of the door.
Of voluntary attempts to imitate sounds, the most noteworthy were the efforts to give the noise heardon the winding of a time-piece, and to repeat tones sung.
The associations of words heard with seen, tangible objects on the one hand, and, on the other hand, with definite co-ordinated muscular movements, have become considerably more numerous. Thus the following are already correctly distinguished, being very rarely confounded: Uhr (clock), Ohr (ear); Schuh (shoe), Stuhl (chair), Schulter (shoulder), Fuss (foot); Stirn (forehead), Kinn (chin); Nase (nose), blasen (blow); Bart (beard), Haar (hair); heiss (hot), Fleisch (meat).
In addition to the above, eye, arm, hand, head, cheek, mouth, table, light, cupboard, flowers, are rightly pointed out.
The child so often obeys the orders he hears—"run," "kick," "lie down," "cough," "blow," "bring," "give," "come," "kiss"—that when he occasionally does not obey, the disobedience must be ascribed no longer, as before, to deficient understanding, but to caprice, or, as may be discerned beyond a doubt from the expression of his countenance, to a genuine roguishness. Thus the spoken consonants are at last surely recognized in their differences of sound.
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 byta. The voluntary repeating of syllables heard by chance is likewise rare; in particular, "jaja" is now repeated with precision.
Theatta, which used to be whispered when anything disappeared from the child's field of vision, has changed tottoandt-tuandftu, with pouting of the lips.
In the monologues appearnäi,mimi,päpä,mimiä,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 articulationworks 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,attaort-ta, which is here used in the same sense withtufforftorftu, 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-já-e-e-já nanana ána-ná-na atta-ánaāje-já sā; then he tore the paper into many small pieces, and next turned the leaves of books, utteringpa-pa-ab ta hö-ö-ĕmömömöm hö-önĕ.
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° 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 theideaof 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° 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;äandödo 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,pais correctly pronounced in response; in the beginningtawas still frequently the utterance, thenba, finallypaalmost invariably given correctly.
Further, these results were obtained:
Inbitsappears with perfect distinctness (as already in the fifteenth month) the very rarets=z. The "hart" was once only confounded with "haar," and responded to by grasping at the hair. Thebitssoon 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 wordssaid 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 syllablespaandma, orpapaandmamma, 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. Hismemoryfor 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 theselike-syllabled—or of syllables the second of which is the reverse of the first—such I callreverse-syllabled. Thus of the first class arepapa,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 syllablespa,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 daysthe 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;imaginationwas 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 sometimestokkĕ,tokko,otto. Words of one syllable also offer generally great difficulties of articulation: thus "warm" and "weich" becomewāi, "kalt" and "hart" becomehatt. 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 Englishth) andbeetto "bitte." In place of "adjö" (adieu) he gives backadēandadjē. Nor does he succeed in giving back three syllables; e. g., the child sayspapa, 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 hewillnot orcannot say the word that is pronounced to him.
Theunderstanding 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 bythe 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 utterrodi,otto,rojo, and like sounds, in general, very indistinctly. Onlyonenew concept could with certainty be proved to be associated with a particular sound. Withdāandndā, 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 withtāandntā—the child associates, beyond a doubt, existence, coming, appearing, shooting forth, emerging, in contrast with the very often softly spoken, whisperedatta,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 loudlyda; if I leave the room, he saysattaorhätta, orftort-ta, generally softly; the last of these, or elsehata, 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 saidattah, but without manifesting the desire for a change of place for himself, even by stretching out his arms.
Two words only—papafor father, andbätorbitfor "bitte," are, besides, rightly applied of the child's own accord. The prolonged screaming, from wantonness, ofnānānānā,nom-nom,hāhā,lālā, chiefly when running about, has no definite meaning. The child exercises himself a good deal in loud outcry, as if he wanted totest 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,hä-e,hä-ä-ä-ĕ,ĕ. 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 moreconsonantsare 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 saysptö-ptö,pt-pt, andverlapp, alsodla-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 isdesired. Hence, in the case of new words, it is more difficult than before, or is even impossible to determine whether the childwillnot or whether hecannot reproduce them. Words of unlike syllables are not repeated at all, not even "bitte." In place of "danke" are hearddang-geeanddank-kee; the former favoritedakknis 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 isbibi; then I say "te," and the answer iste-te. If I say "bi-te," the answer is likewisebibi; a single time only, in spite of daily trial, the answer wasbi-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. Yetbibi, likebäbä, 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 beforemämäandmömöm(page 85). The first appellation was certainly taken from the often-heard "milk" by imitation, and applied to biscuitand 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 withjaja—"yes, yes." This, too, may rest simply on imitation, without a knowledge of the meaning of theja, and without an understanding of the question; yet there is progress in the recollection of the connection of the sound "schmeckt's" withjaja, 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 astonishingprogress 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, especiallyjāĕas 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;ndä,ndä,dais demonstrative "da" ("there") at new impressions.
Att,att,att, is unintelligible, perhaps indicative of movement.
Attahmeans "we are off" (upon setting out) and "I want to go" ("ich will fort");tatass,tatassis 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 ofpss,ps,ptsch(once), andpth(Engl.). The child says, without any occasion,pa-ptl-dä,pt, and gives a loud greeting from a distance withha͞a-ö, withada, andana.
It seemed to me remarkable that the boy began several times without the least incitement tosingtolerably well. When I expressed my approval of it, he sprang about, overjoyed. At one time he sang, holding his finger on his tongue, firstrollo,rollo, innumerable times, thenmama,mama,mämä,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-mamaanda-pa-pa, as the child names his grandparents. Hitherto the vowelse,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 answerstapĕta,pĕta,pta, andptö-ptö, alsorateratetat, expressing thereby not merely his inability, but also, sometimes roguishly, his disinclination to repeat.
Ja jaandnein nein, along withdaandbibi(with or without folding of the hands, for "bitte"), andmimi, 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 lengththe 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 fromthe imitativehotto the independenthotas expressive of his judgment. He progressed more rapidly with the word "Wasser," which was reproduced aswatja, and was called out longingly by the thirsty child a few weeks afterward. He already distinguishes water and milk in his own fashion aswatjaandmimi. Yetmimmi,mömö, andmāmāstill signify food in general, and are called out often before meal-times by the impatient and hungry child. The primitive wordattais 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 aloudoioreu(äu); further, unusually loud,ana, and for himself in play,ida,didl,dadl,dldo-dlda, and in singing toneopojö,apojopojum aui,heissa. With special pleasure the child, when talking to himself, saidpapa,mama,mämä,mimi,momo, of his own accord, but not "mumu"; on the other hand,e-mama-ma-memama,mi,ma,mö,ma. His grandparents he now regularly designates bye-papaande-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 fromwillfulness. 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):
The four words,PaitschorPaitse,Bite,Watja, andHaïss, 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 interjectionsAje,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 regularlynenaornana, 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 alsobi-te; afterward, giving up the correct imitation, he saysbeti, but can not reproduceti-beortebi. "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(no͞o). Once the name "Willy" was called. Immediately the child likewise calledŭilē, 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 thechild; 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 thenarein,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.Moigensignified "Guten Morgen!"na, "Gute Nacht!" To the question, "Was thun wir morgen?" (What shall we do to-morrow?) comes the echo-answermoigen. In general, by far the greater part of the word-imitations are much distorted, to strangers often quite unintelligible.ImaandImammean "Emma,"dakkngaggngaggnagain means "danke," andbettistill continues to signify "bitte." Only with the utmost pains, after the separate syllables have been frequently pronounced, appeardange͞eandbitte͞e. An apple (Apfel) is regularly namedapfele͞ele͞e(from Apfelgelée); a biscuit (Zwieback),wita, thenwijak; butter, on the contrary, is often correctly named. Instead of "Jawohl," the child almost invariably sayswolja; for "Licht"listandlists; for "Wasser,"watjastill as before; for "pfui" he repeats, when he has been awkward,ūi, and often adds apottorputtin place of "caput." "Gut" is still pronouncedūtortut, and "fort,"okkorott. 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" hithertonot often achieved (twentieth month), and the simple "sch" inwitschiandwesch, 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 byraterateratera; 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 wordatta, 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 saysatta. 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 thisattaas having the force of a whole sentence, we may note many such primitive sentences in this month. Thus,mannmeans, on one occasion, "A man has come," then almost every masculine figure is namedmann;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 ofpapa, 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 thecombination of two wordsinto 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, washaim,mimi, i. e., "I would like to go home and drink milk." The second waspapa,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,pipapapaï,breit,baraï. A more important fact for the recognition of progress in speaking is that the words are oftenconfounded, e. g.,watjaandbuotö(forbutter). 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 veryhigh 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 ofthesetwomimeticmovements 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 pronouncedwaztiz, 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 sayingsowhen any object is brought to the place appointed for it. When the reproduction is defective, the child shows himself to be now much more amenableto correction. He has become more teachable. At the beginning of the month he used to say, when he wanted to sit,ettethenetse, afterwarditse; 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, butpata,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: