first words

[Annette Karmiloff-Smith]

I'm certainly learning a lot, having started this!
A.

At 10:17 -0700 13/9/06, Jay McClelland wrote:
>Tardif, Twila wrote:
>>And my daughter's was very clearly "I'ee" (Iggy without consonants), the
>>name of our cat but it took a while before we figured that out.  Dada
>>was next though and referred to BOTH mom and dad and nobody else.
>>
>What an enjoyable conversation this is turning out to be! I hope 
>others are learning as much as I am from it.
>
>I have recently moved from Carnegie Mellon to Stanford and my 
>Stanford address was not recognized by the list, so (now that I've 
>been rehabilitated) I am including here the message that I attempted 
>to send to the list yesterday. Twila's anecdote seems to support the 
>greater power of 'No Coda' relative to 'Onset' discussed in my 
>message, which follows here:
>
>Two quick comments: First, the CV syllables used by babies are 
>essentially universally preferred and this fact is represented in 
>the two parade-case constraints from optimality theory: "Onset" and 
>"No Coda". Onset may be weaker than no coda -- this is supported by 
>cases like aba from semitic languages (see text below!).
>
>Second comment is that b is the most frequent onset in monomorphemic 
>English monosyllables, based on CELEX. b, p, and m are the most 
>frequent voiced stop, unvoiced stop, and nasal onsets respectively 
>(that is b > d or g, p > t or k, m > n; there is no onset velar 
>nasal). Not clear why we have dada and papa but not baba in English 
>(do young children contrastively control b and p well? Maybe baba vs 
>papa are in the ear of the behearer?), or maybe that is taken for 
>'baby'? In french we have the full set: maman, papa, and be'be' 
>(excuse my weak rendition of the accent aigue!).
>
>More speculatively, I think it's been suggested that young children 
>have trouble gaining control of liquids and fricatives which may 
>require finer control for correct articulation (perhaps this was 
>part of Jacobson's speculations?) Liquids are used frequently in 
>onsets by adults but not apparently by babies.
>-- Jay McClelland
>
>---------------
>http://www.path-light.com/IAM11.htm
>
>/ Abba i/s an Aramaic word, found in Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15 and Gal. 
>4:6. In the Gemara (a Rabbinical commentary on the Mishna, the 
>traditional teaching of the Jews) it is stated that slaves were 
>forbidden to address the head of the family by this title. It 
>approximates to a personal name, in contrast to "Father," with which 
>it is always joined in the NT. This is probably due to the fact 
>that, abba having practically become a proper name, Greek-speaking 
>Jews added the Greek word pater, "father," from the language they 
>used. Abba is the word framed by the lips of infants, and betokens 
>unreasoning trust; "father" expresses an intelligent apprehension of 
>the relationship. The two together express the love and intelligent 
>confidence of the child (Vine's).
>
>-----------------
>
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abba
>
>*Abba* (or *Aba*) means "father 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father>" in most Semitic languages 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semitic_languages>. The Syriac 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriac> or Chaldee version of the word 
>is found three times in the New Testament 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament> (Mark 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_Mark> 14:36; Romans 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_to_the_Romans> 8:15; Galatians 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galatians> 4:6), and in each case is 
>followed by its Greek <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language> 
>equivalent, which is translated "father." It is a term expressing 
>warm affection and filial confidence. It has no perfect equivalent 
>in the English language. It has passed into European languages as an 
>ecclesiastical term, "abbot." See Abba in the New Testament 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aramaic_of_Jesus#Abba_.28.CE.91.CE.B2.CE.B2.CE.B1.29>. 
>Most modern Israelis <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel> (along 
>with other semitic-speaking peoples) call their fathers /*Abba*/ as 
>one would use "Dad <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father>" or "Daddy 
><http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daddy>" in English. Unfortunately this 
>translation also falls far short of the original meaning.