Early experiments

[r.n.campbell]

>I'm looking for a reference to an "experiment" carried out by one of the
>German kings (Frederick the ?), who purportedly raised children without
>allowing them to hear spoken language because he was sure that they
>would then speak the REAL language, German.  Can anyone tell me which
>Fred it was and point me to a reference that details this?  (I know all
>about
>Psammetichus, and really mean this story....)  Thanks.
>
>Jean Berko Gleason

As Jim Russell says, see my paper with Bob Grieve (overlooked by Bonvillian
et al, 1997, and curiously not mentioned in their communication to you):-

Royal Investigations of the Origin of Language. Historiographia Linguistica
IX:1/2 (1982). Pp. 43-74.

Although Frederick II of Sicily was undoubtedly an interesting person who
contributed substantially to avian biology (see references 1, 2 below),
there is plenty of doubt about whether he conducted any language
experiment.  The only  adequately authenticated isolation experiment is
Akbar's, also described at length in our paper.  What set us on the track,
however, were Guilio Panconcelli-Calzia's papers 3 and 4 below.

1. Hauber, A.  1912. 'Kaiser Friedrich II der Staufer und der langlebige
Fisch'.  Archiv fur die Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik
3: 315-29.

2. Wood, C.A. & F.M. Fyfe. 1943.'The Art of Falconry: the 'De venandi cum
avibus' of Frederick II'.  Stanford UP.

3. Panconcelli-Calzia, G. 1937.'Der 'wilde Knabe' in seiner Beziehung zu
manchen Sprachstorungen im Kindesalter und zu der Entstehung von Mythen'.
Medizinische Welt 11: 410-14

4. Panconcelli-Calzia, G. 1955.  'Das Motiv vom 'wilde Knaben'.  Zur
Sprache verwilderter Kinder.' Sprachforum 1: 272-77.

Dr Robin N Campbell
Dept of Psychology, University of Stirling
STIRLING FK9 4LA, Scotland
tele: 01786-467649  facs: 01786-467641
email: r.n.campbell at stir.ac.uk
http://www.stir.ac.uk/departments/humansciences/psychology/Staff/rnc1/