mystery book (children who begin speaking in sentences)

[Jean Berko Gleason]

Hi everyone,

For an old book with reference to late talkers starting out in full 
sentences, try Bertrand Russell, 1927, An Outline of Philosophy.  He 
repeats the old story about Lord Macauley, who purportedly said nothing 
until someone spilled hot tea/coffee on him when he was 4. When asked if 
he was OK, he replied, "Thank you, madame, the agony is [quite] 
[somewhat] abated."   Macauley's biographer notes that although M may 
not have spoken, he had already read the bible by this age.  

Russell also refers to Thomas Carlyle,  who was silent until the age of 
3, but then, on hearing his baby brother cry, asked, "What ails wee Jock?"

These anecdotes have an almost timeless appeal, and I think we all know 
some of our own.  For instance, I have a colleague, a psychoanalyst, who 
tells me he said nothing until the age of nearly 4, when his family took 
a holiday in Canada.  The formerly silent child looked out the train 
window and said, "Look, Daddy, Lake Ontario!"

I'm sure the science is not there (no real studies on groups of children 
who are silent until they suddenly burst forth with full blown language 
in the preschool years), but the stories, like folk tales, have 
consistent and satisfying elements.  So, why do we delight in these 
anecdotes? 

http://books.google.com/books?id=-AVp6Jm25WEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=bertrand+russell+outline+of+philosophy&source=bl&ots=YfmW4Sn0BA&sig=g1V3gmVsznY02LIlj1zBVKfECiE&hl=en&ei=6GezS8WnH8KBlAe3z5C6BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=&f=false


Jean




snedeker at wjh.harvard.edu wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> Years and years ago I ran into a book when wandering through the
> library stacks and I've never been able to find it again.  The topic
> was on children who are reported to skip the early stages of language
> production and launch immediately begin into full sentences.  The
> author tried to track down some cases and concluded (if I remember
> correctly) that there did appear to be some valid reports but they
> were rarer than is usually believed.
>
> Does anyone remember this book?  Or for that matter any other evidence
> validating this claim.  It crops up from time to time in review
> chapters and books but I can never figure out the origin of the claim.
>
> gratefully,
> Jesse Snedeker
>
>   

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