<div style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)">=====================================================<br> L O W L A N D S - L - 02 January 2012 - Volume 03<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p style="margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt">From: <span class="gI"><span class="gD">Hellinckx Luc</span> <span class="go"><a href="mailto:luc.hellinckx@gmail.com">luc.hellinckx@gmail.com</a></span></span></p>
Subject: <span class="gI">LL-L "Phonology"</span><br>Beste Ron,<div><br></div><div>You wrote:</div><div><div><blockquote type="cite"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><div><div><div>
Little Jonah, my rabbi's 1+-year old son, tends to throw his arms up at
adults and say, "Puh!" ([pʰʌ]). I interpret this as a metathesized form
of "Up!" ([ʔʌp]). (In other words, he wants you to pick him up.) Would
you agree with this?<br>
<br>Do you have any further thoughts or inside into the phenomenon of metathesis and "naturalness" of syllable structures?<br></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>On
the level of children/babies, it is maybe also a matter of "mirroring"
sounds, rather than copying them. When you talk to him, and you say
"u-p", he reciprocates by first repeating the letter he heard last, his
mind is not (yet) focussed on remembering sounds in a premidated way and
then copying them. His response is more like an echo from the other
side of the valley. He's sending back what he heard last and wants to be
some sort of mirror of your sounds. Not a replica, but a mirror,
because he knows he's different. I think this sort of conversation taps
into what we know as "call and response" in blues and gospel. Just my
two cents.</div><div><br></div><div>This reflection about a baby
realising he is somebody else may match two things I often heard: girls
learn quicker how to speak + they exhibit greater empathy...maybe one
triggers the other.</div><div><br></div><div>Initially this habit
sticks, and part of growing up is of course to learn how to lose this
behavior (bit comparable to learning the tenses, and then notice there
are strong verbs). For some it's just a lot more difficult to unlearn
than it is to learn.</div><div><br></div><div>Moreover, certain
combinations are definitely favored above others, because they hook
better into previously acquired vocabulary, assimilation.</div><div><br></div><div>Kind greetings,</div><div><br></div><div>Luc Hellinckx, Halle, Belgium<br></div></div></div><div><div><br></div>
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