Our Little Language

We're experiencing the final transition from rudimentary language to English over here, and it's magical to see. Even the words they mispronouce, of which there are many, they know how they are supposed to be pronounced, and will reject an adult mimicry of their syllables. For instance, this morning, Lilly asked for toast with Buh-ller.  I teased her. You want buh-ller? Nooooo! she said.  Oh! I replied, you want butter! Yes, she nodded.

Here is the list of some of the funniest things they are saying right now.

"Dank oo, dank oo" - Thank you (usually accompanied by a bow)

"blashy" - I'm itchy, I'm scratching.

"I'm ginant" - I'm giant! (usually accompanied by a request for wine)

"buy shop" - Let's go shopping. OR we just bought that.

"picksure me" "picksure you" - take my picture, I'm taking your picture.

"chockit" - chocolate

"iseem" - ice cream

"messin" - medicine

"lie-din" - lion

"monsa" - monster

"she is!" - there it is!

They have trouble with rs and ls which I think is normal. They also have trouble with consonant combinations. In fact, one of the only ones they can pronounce is the sn, and they do it incorrectly, but so cutely. They cut air off to their nostils, and make a nasal snnnn sound, making snow and snack sound hilarious.

But, what really surprises me is their grip on the basic concepts of the English language. They understand pronouns, sayings, adjectives, quantifiers, etc., and they use them correctly. They understand that they can be me, I, or Dulce/Natalina, and that when they refer to the other she is either her, or you. Their understanding of these things astounds me. They picked it up just from listening to us. Human development is an amazing thing.


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