Along with such lame omissions we have the more vigorous procedure of
substitutions. In certain cases there seems little if any kinship
between the sounds or the articulatory actions by which they are
produced. At the early stage more particularly almost any manageable
sound seems to do duty as substitute. The early-acquired labials,
including the labio-dental _f_ come in as serviceable ‘hacks’ at this
stage. What we call lisping is indeed exemplified in this class of
infantile substitutions. Children have been observed to say ‘fank’ for
‘thank’ and ‘mouf’ for ‘mouth,’ ‘feepy’ for ‘sleepy,’ ‘poofie’ for
‘pussy,’ ‘wiver’ for ‘river,’ ‘Bampe’ for ‘Lampe’ (German). The dentals,
too, _d_ and _t_, are turned to all kinds of vicarious service. Thus we
find ‘ribbon’ rendered by ‘dib,’ ‘gum’ by ‘dam,’ ‘Greete’ (German) by
‘Deete,’ ‘Gummi’ (German) by ‘Dummi,’ ‘cut’ by ‘tut,’ and ‘klopfen’
(German) by ‘topfen’. Similarly ‘gee-gee’ (horse), which oddly enough
was first rendered by the child M. as ‘dee-gee,’ is altered to
‘dee-dee’. I find too that new sounds are apt to be put to this
miscellaneous use. Thus one child after learning the aspirate (_h_) at
two years not only brought it out with great emphasis in its proper
place but began to use it as a substitute for other and unmanageable
sounds. Thus he would say, ‘hie down on hofa’ for ‘lie down on sofa’.
The aspirate is further used in place of _sh_, as when ‘shake’ was
rendered by ‘hate,’ and of _st_, as when Preyer’s boy called ‘Stern’
‘Hern’. In other cases we see that the little linguist is trying to get
as near as possible to the sound, and such approximations are an
interesting sign of progress. Thus in one case ‘chatterbox’ was rendered
by ‘jabberwock,’ in another case ‘dress’ by ‘desh,’ in another (Preyer’s
boy), ‘Tisch’ (German) by ‘Tiss’.[82]
-----
Footnote 82:
I find according to the notes sent me that the sounds _s_ and _sh_
develop unequally in the cases of different children. Some acquire
_s_, others _sh_ before the other.
-----
Besides omissions and substitution of sounds, occasional insertions are
said to occur. According to one set of observations _r_ may be inserted
after the broad _a_, as when ‘pocket’ was rendered by ‘barket’. A
cockney is apt to do the same, as when he talks of having a ‘barth’
(bath). Yet this observation requires to be verified.
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