first words

[Shelley Velleman]

Marilyn Vihman's system of referring to the "4-word point" (when the  
child has 4 words in a 1/2 hour recording session, 8-10 words  
reported by parents) and "25-word point" (child has 40-60 words  
reported by parents) is a good system, too.

Shelley Velleman

On Sep 13, 2006, at 12:29 PM, Brian MacWhinney wrote:

> Dear Alison et al.,
>     Your observations suggest an interesting new method of  
> computing time in child language acquisition.  When you use the  
> phrase "in the first few months," I believe you mean something like  
> "in the first few months after the onset of language" or "in the  
> first few months after the first word."  Then, later, when you  
> refer to your sons use of "bears" at four months, I assume you mean  
> his use of this word at "four months after the onset of language."
>    It makes good sense for child language people to think in these  
> terms.  Of course, it requires a firm commitment to the time of the  
> first word.  But this is not all that different from the commitment  
> to the time of the beginning of the Christian era or the Buddhist  
> calendar.  How about 4 months AL (ante lingua)?
>
> --Brian MacWhinney
>
> On Sep 13, 2006, at 3:38 AM, Alison Crutchley wrote:
>
>> Tina highlights part of the difficulty in establishing what a  
>> 'first word' is. In the first few months we made up stories for  
>> our son involving elk, igloo(s) and legs, as these were all  
>> 'words' that he produced on a fairly regular basis. Of course  
>> there was no reason to think he was 'using' these 'words'. (Not  
>> many igloos in Yorkshire, although I did jump when I was carrying  
>> him down the road in the sling at about 4 months and he shouted  
>> 'Bears!').
>>
>> So it's not just the children who may be relying on a convergence  
>> of linguistic and non-linguistic cues to establish meanings...
>>
>> Incidentally, I think our son's first 'real' word was 'hiya' -  
>> only said when clamping a phone (or phone-shaped object) to his ear.
>>
>> Alison
>>
>>
>> ..................................................................... 
>> .......
>> Dr Alison Crutchley
>> Course Leader, English Language
>> School of Music, Humanities and Media
>> University of Huddersfield
>> Queensgate
>> Huddersfield, UK. HD1 3DH
>>
>> a.crutchley at hud.ac.uk
>> http://www.hud.ac.uk/mh/english/research/ac.htm
>> ..................................................................... 
>> .......
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> From: info-childes at mail.talkbank.org on behalf of tina.bennett
>> Sent: Tue 12/09/2006 10:17 PM
>> To: info-childes at mail.talkbank.org
>> Subject:
>>
>>
>>
>> One of my daughters used, as her first word (at
>> about 6 months) /da/, meaning "that", with rising intonation,
>> accompanied by pointing to objects she wanted us to name.
>>
>> She also produced a very credible "hi" when just
>> two weeks old and we were ignoring her in favor
>> of a football game on television. Even my father,
>> a speech pathologist, heard it and his mouth dropped open.
>> It was the first thing we used to say to her every time we
>> initiated interactions. But of course
>> it is impossible for a newborn to have done such a thing.
>>
>> -Tina Bennett-Kastor
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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