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Thoughts on language
Feb. 16th, 2016 09:33 am Most of Oswin's early words seem to fall into what I call a 'social' category.
This might be because those are the ones I'm noticing - because they're very easy to spot in context -or it may be the ones she prefers.
This actually raises a lot of interesting questions about the way we learn language and how we use it.
What do I mean by 'social'?
Phrases like "Thank you", "Bless you", "Here you are" (when giving you something), and "No, no, no, that one," (when trying to spot the correct picture in a puzzle book) are all social interaction, but are not directly asking for anything.
Words like 'milk' are starting to appear, but she already knew to ask for milk by pointing at the fridge. I don't think of these as 'social'. They serve a specific purpose - that of getting a wanted item.
There are all sorts of reasons why she may have social words first, so I'll just toss in a few random thoughts and those who work with kids or have grandchildren/children of their own may toss in any contributions they feel like.
1. Social interaction is what makes us human. The ability to form social connections may be just as important as the ability to gain food.
(She's got an army of slaves who are good at guessing what she wants. Keeping the slaves happy is important.)
2. Her family babble a lot of social nonsense at her and she's just imitating what she hears most of. (We're all social animals and we copy one another)
3. Genetic variation. Some people are better socialisers than others. She's maybe going to grow up as a real people person (She's very good at charming staff in shops, though I suspect most toddlers have this skill.)
This might be because those are the ones I'm noticing - because they're very easy to spot in context -or it may be the ones she prefers.
This actually raises a lot of interesting questions about the way we learn language and how we use it.
What do I mean by 'social'?
Phrases like "Thank you", "Bless you", "Here you are" (when giving you something), and "No, no, no, that one," (when trying to spot the correct picture in a puzzle book) are all social interaction, but are not directly asking for anything.
Words like 'milk' are starting to appear, but she already knew to ask for milk by pointing at the fridge. I don't think of these as 'social'. They serve a specific purpose - that of getting a wanted item.
There are all sorts of reasons why she may have social words first, so I'll just toss in a few random thoughts and those who work with kids or have grandchildren/children of their own may toss in any contributions they feel like.
1. Social interaction is what makes us human. The ability to form social connections may be just as important as the ability to gain food.
(She's got an army of slaves who are good at guessing what she wants. Keeping the slaves happy is important.)
2. Her family babble a lot of social nonsense at her and she's just imitating what she hears most of. (We're all social animals and we copy one another)
3. Genetic variation. Some people are better socialisers than others. She's maybe going to grow up as a real people person (She's very good at charming staff in shops, though I suspect most toddlers have this skill.)
