Language development

Dr. C. George Boeree

Language is one of the most amazing things that we are capable of. It may even be that we -- Homo sapiens -are the only creature on the planet that have it. Only the dolphins show any indication of language, although we are as yet unable to understand them. We seem to be built to speak and understand language. The specialized areas of the brain, such as Brocas and Wernickes areas, suggest that genetics provides us with, at very least, the neurological fo undations for language. Linguistics is, of course, a whole separate subject matter, but it does overlap with psychology quite a bit, especially in regards to language development in infants and children. The ability young children have of learning a language -- or even two or three languages simultaneously -- is one of the indications that there is something special about our brains at that age. It all begins in infancy. From birth until around 6 months, babies make a great deal of noise. They squeal, squeak, growl, yell, and give us raspberries. And they coo. Cooing is basically the production of what will later become vowels (a, e, i, o, and u). From 6 months to about 10 months, they produce somewhat more complicated sounds called babbling. First, they practice their vowels more precisely, starting with the round, back vowels (oo, oh, ah...) and working their way to the unrounded front vowels (ee, eh, ay...). The first consonants are h, m, and b, which can be combined with the vowels to make syllables. Soon, they add p, t, d, n, w, f, v, and y. A little while later, they add k, g, and ng. Then they start adding s and z. It takes a little longer for babies to get sh, ch, j, and the infamous th sounds. The very last sounds are l and r. This is why you hear them pronouncing works as oddly as they sometimes do. Fis does fine for fish, soozies for shoes, Wobbut for Robert, Cawa for Carla, and so on. But keep in mind that they can perceive far more than they can pronounce -- something appropriately called the fis phenomenon. They will not be able to say certain words, but they wont put up with you mispronouncing them! One of my daughters, for example, used the syllable y (with a nasal a) to mean shoe, sock and even chair -- but understood the difference quite well. Mothers (and fathers) play a huge part in forming the childs language. Even if we are preprogrammed in some way to speak language, we need to learn a specific language from the people around us. Mothers typically adjust their speech to fit the childs level. This is called motherese. It is found in practically every culture on the planet, and it has certain common characteristics: The sentences are very short, there is a lot of repetition and redundancy, there is a sing-song quality to it, and it contains many special baby words. It also is embedded in the context of the immediate surroundings, with constant reference to things nearby and activities that are going on here-and-now. Motherese often involves a subtle shaping called a protoconversation. Mothers even involve infants who do little more than coo or babble in protoconversations:

Mother Look! (getting child's attention) What are these? (asking a question) Yes, they are doggies! (naming the object) (mom laughes) Yes, doggies! (repeating)

Child (one year old) (the child touches the picture) (the child babbles, smiles) (the child vocalizes, smiles, looks at mom) (the child vocalizes, smiles)

(laughs) Yes! (giving feedback)

(the child laughs)

Moms also ask questions like where is it? and whats it doing? Any response at all is rewarded with happiness! Of course, the conversation becomes more meaningful when the child can actually form his or her own words. By 10 months, most kids understand between 5 and 10 words. The fastest 1/4 of them have up to 40 words! From 12 to 18 months (or thereabouts) is called the one word (or holophrastic) stage. Each word constitutes a sentence all by itself. By 12 months, most kids can produce 3 or 4 words, and understand 30 to 40. Again, there are some kids who understand and even use as many as 80! By 14 months, the number of words understood jumps to 50 to 100, and even the slowest 1/4 know 20 to 50. By 18 months, most kids can produce 25 to 50 words on their own, and understand hundreds. Two characteristics of this stage are overextension and underextension. For example, the word hat can mean just about anything that can be put on your head, a goggie applies to just about any animal, and dada (much to the embarrassment of moms everywhere) pretty much means any man whatsoever. On the other hand, sometimes kids engage in underextension, meaning that they use a general word to mean one very specific thing. For example, baba may mean MY bottle and my bottle only, and soozies may mean MY shoes and no one elses. There are certain common words that show up in most childrens early vocabularies. In English, they include mama, daddy, baby, doggy, kitty, duck, milk, cookie, juice, doll, car, ear, eye, nose, hi, bye-bye, no, go, down, and up. There are also unique words, sometimes actually invented by the child, called idiolects. Identical twins sometimes invent dozens of words between themselves that no one else understands. Between 18 to 24 months (approximately), we see the beginnings of two word sentences, and telegraphic speech. Here are some common examples, showing a variety of grammatical functions taken over by simple conjunction of the two words: see doggy, hi milk that ball, big ball daddy shoe (i.e. daddys shoe), baby shoe (i.e. my shoe) more cookie, more sing two shoe, allgone juice (numbers and quantities) mommy sit, Eve read (subject-verb "sentences") gimme ball, want more (making a request) no bed, no wet (negation) mommy sock (subject-object "sentences," i.e. mommy get my sock) put book (verb-object "sentences," i.e. you put the book here) After 24 months, children begin to use grammatical constructions of various sorts. Here are some in their usual order of development: I walking (-ing participles used as verbs) in basket, on floor (prepositions) two balls (the plural) it broke (verbs in an irregular past tense) Johns ball (possessive s) There it is (the verb to be) A book, the ball (articles) John walked (verbs in the regular past tense) He walks (third person singular of verbs) She has (irregular third person singular) It is going (the progressive formation of verbs) Its there (contractions) Im walking (complex verbs) Notice that simple irregular verb tenses learned before regular tenses! These things are by no means restricted to English, or to any particular language: They are universal. For example, all children begin with telegraphic sentences:

Man clean car (The man is cleaning his car) Obachan atchi itta (Obachan ga atchi e itta, "my aunt went that way," in Japanese) Articles (in languages that use articles) are learned as a general idea first, and only refined later: uh = a, the (see uh car?) uh = un, une, le, la in French duh = die, der, das, etc. in German Grammatical gender is not an easy thing to learn, ether. French masculine and feminine words and German masculine, feminine, and neuter words are just a matter of memorization. The same difficulty applies to different classes of verbs. Aspect (such as differentiating between things that are done once and for all, and things that are done repeatedly -- the perfect and the imperfect) is learned before tense (past-present-future). Tense is actually quite difficult, even though as adults we take it for granted. There do seem be languages that are easier for children to learn, and others that are more difficult: Some languages (Turkish, Hungarian, and Finnish, for example) use many suffixes to indicate a variety of grammatical and semantic qualities. These suffixes are very common, complete syllables, and fully regular-and are learned easily and early. On the other hand, some languages (e.g. Chinese, Indonesian, and to some extent English) prefer to use small words called particles (e.g. the, of, in, and, and so on). These tend to be learned late, because they have no meaning of their own and are often unstressed and unclearly pronounced. Notice, for example, that "is" and "not" are often reduced to 's and n't! A third group -- which contains most European and Semitic languages -- have a mixed system, including lots of very irregular, unstressed endings and particles. If you recall the effort you put into remembering the German article or Spanish conjugations or Latin declensions of the nouns, you realize why children have a hard time learning these things as well. Language learning doesnt end with two year olds, of course. Three year olds are notorious for something called over-regularization. Most languages have irregularities, but 3 year olds love rules and will override some of the irregulars they learned when they were 2, e.g. "I go-ed" instead of I went and "foots" instead of feet. Three year olds can speak in four word sentences and may have 1000 words at their command. Four year olds are great askers of questions, and start using a lot of wh- words such as where, what, who, why, when (learned in that order). They can handle five word sentences, and may have 1500 word vocabularies. Five year olds make six word sentences (with clauses, no less), and use as many as 2000 words. The first grader uses up to 6.000 words. And adults may use as many as 25,000 words and recognize up to 50,000 words! One of the biggest hurdles for children is learning to read and write. In some languages, such as Italian or Turkish, it is fairly easy: Words are written as they are pronounced, and pronounced as they are written. Other languages -- Swedish or French, for example -- are not too difficult, because there is a lot of consistency. But other languages have terribly outdated spelling systems. English is a clear winner among languages that use western alphabets. We spend years of education on getting kids to memorize irrational spellings. In Italy, on the other hand, spelling isn't even recognized as a school subject, and "spelling bees" would be ridiculous! And then there are languages that don't use alphabets at all: Chinese requires years of memorization of long lists of symbols. The Japanese actually have four systems that all children need to learn: A large number of kanji symbols, adopted centuries ago from the Chinese; two different syllabaries (syllable-based "alphabets"); and the western alphabet! The Koreans, on the other hand, have their own alphabet with a perfect relationship of symbol to sound. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/langdev.html

Copyright 2003, C. George Boeree

How to Communicate with Animals

by Dawn Baumann Brunke
There are many ways we can tap into our natural abilities to communicate with animals. No matter which method you choose, however, it all boils down to one thing: relationship. Any form of meaningful communication involves relating to others (as well as ourselves) in an honest and authentic manner. One wonderful benefit to communicating with animals is that it requires us to feel our deeper relationship with all life and share ourselves from that connected state of awareness. As we open to the energy that flows through all life, we open ourselves to instant relationship. We know that we share a common awareness, for we feel it moving through us, connecting us with every other living being. Our ancestors embraced this connection and communicated fluently with the natural world. We also carry this ability within ourselves. Remembering it is simply a matter of shifting perspective, deepening, and tuning our consciousness. Different Ways to Sense the World Llama, dolphin, eagle, cat; human, salmon, whale and rat: underneath our fur or feathers, skin or scales, we are all composed of the same universal essence. Still, obviously, we are different. Among the 1.5 million species on earth, each of us has a unique vibration in form. Our perceptions of the world are unique as well, based on our sensing mechanisms (fingers, whiskers, trunks, antennae) and the ways we use those sensing mechanisms to know the world. Many animals have completely different sensing mechanisms than we do. Consider the bats ability to echolocate; the squids undulating propulsion system that powers it through water; the snails intimate sensing of the world through the length of its body. Part of the adventure in communicating with other beings is learning how to open our feelings, thoughts and senses in ways that can be mutually understood. So, How Does It Work? As we relax into a quieter, more tranquil state of being, our logical mind slows down. Our habitual ways of seeing the world shake loose and we become more receptive to perceiving in different ways. As rigid thoughts of how reality should be release their hold, we shift to a more intuitive state of being, one that is quite naturally capable of telepathy. The word telepathy comes from tele, meaning distant or far away, andpathy, meaning feeling or perception. Telepathy is feeling from a distance, or perceiving from far away. It transcends the way we normally understand time and space. With telepathy, we can expand our awareness to connect on inner levels with any other being. With telepathy, we rediscover our fluency in the universal language. We can receive telepathic information from animals in many different ways. This may include visual images (pictures or movies within the inner theatre of the mind); inner feelings (an ache in the body that corresponds to an animals body, or sensing emotional feelings, such as fear or excitement); inner hearing (what an animal is hearing, or hearing an animals thoughts within the mind); or intuitive flashes (a sudden knowing). We must then translate these inner impressions in ways that we (and other humans) can understand.

Many people discover that they have a preference for one mode over another. If you are very visual, you might get a lot of pictures, and you may want to practice sending images in return. If you like to talk and share ideas, you might sense an inner translation of words and sentences that resembles a dialogue. Over time and with practice, you might strengthen all modes and discover that you enjoy communicating in a variety of ways. The Basics: Four Easy Steps The basics of communicating with animals are not that different than communicating with people: you share an interesting thought or observation and await a response. This may excite you to share something else and listen eagerly to a reply. And so it goes, back and forth, an exchange of information, ideas, thoughts, laughter, sadness, joy and delight. What could be more natural? 1. Attuning Attuning is about moving deeper in relationship, intimately feeling the bonds connecting you and your animal friend. To begin, get comfortable in a quiet place. Close your eyes, breathe deep and allow the center of your being your heart, your mind, your soul to connect with your animal. Feel your animal connecting to you. Sense the flow between the two of you. Dont force the situation; rather, let it unfold. Your only goal is to quiet yourself and welcome the adventure. 2. Stating your Intention As you sense a deeper connection, address your animal directly, just as you would a good friend. You can use words (Id like to talk to you) or images (picture yourself conversing) or feelings (feel your desire to communicate). Or, use all three (say it, picture it, sense it). In truth, it doesnt matter so much what you do or how you do it since this isnt about doing, but about being. Allow yourself to be in that place that genuinely desires to connect. It may help to first express your feelings Im nervous about this, but Id really like to talk to you. Or, you might ask a question: Is there anything I can do for you? Whats it like to be you (a dog, a cat, a horse)? Do you have a message for me? 3. Receiving Heres where you let go of everything and open up wide for the answer to come. Let go of all your thoughts about what could happen or might happen.Sshhh how can you hear when you are listening to doubts or planning what to ask next? Be open, relaxed and receptive. Welcome any and all feelings, sensations, images, words, smells, tastes or combinations thereof. Dont judge what you get or wonder if it is right. It is what it is! Allow the full message to come to you before you send a second message. 4. Closing, Giving Thanks As my wise, old dog Barney used to say, Good manners never go out of style. Offer warm feelings and thanks as you end your conversation. By thanking your animal, you acknowledge your appreciation and make first contact something you can build upon. Remember to thank yourself too! Thank your intuition and desire to connect with life in a deeper and more meaningful way. Even if you dont sense anything, thank your animal and yourself for a very good start. Really mean it, too, because although it may seem that what you are doing is little, what you are being is deep and expansive and very great indeed. Sharing the Mystery Every conversation, just like every relationship, is about sharing our own inimitable take on the mystery of life. There is no one way for everyone. There is no right way either. We each need to find what works for us.

As you continue to tune into animals, remember that the universal language is one we already know and share with all life. Since it has been awhile that humans have used this language in a conscious way, we are a little out of practice. So be kind to yourself. And celebrate yourself, for in learning how to remember, you are helping the entire world to remember too! http://www.alaskawellness.com/may-june04/communicate.htm

10 Ways to Communicate With Your Pets

I did what y'all said with my black cat, Lumbre. I asked him this: "Do you love me?" and guess what? He answered, in a tired kind of voice (in my head), "I don't know, I will if you give me spaghetti" I thought that to be a really weird response) Anyway, I didn't know what my mom was cooking, and I couldn't smell it. AT ALL. After Lumbre gave me that response, I asked my mom, "Mom, what are you cooking?" And she responded..... "Some of this spaghetti stuff." I was SO shocked! I was, like, wow, awesome, I can TALK to my cat! And I was like, this is amazing, I thought I couldn't do that! YAAA! Laura Simpson, leader of the Global Psychics' team of animal communicators, offers her insights on getting started on some heart to heart communications with the animals in your life. 1. Start noticing what your pet is paying attention to. What interests them and what's their reaction. 2. Start noticing your pet's facial expressions when you are talking to them. Relate that to what you've learned about reading other's faces to see what they are saying in their expressions. (Remember, babies can get their wants and desires across to their mothers and fathers with out crying out.) It's the beginning of communication. 3. Quiet your mind center yourself or learn how to meditate. It will quiet "the committee" in your head that try to check and recheck and triple check then categorizes the information that goes in and out of your thought process all day long. It will help you to detach from the, so called, logic override in your speech so you can speak to and for the animals. 4. Gently reach out and ask a simple question in your head. Is this question your issue or the pets? Be simple with it. Don't expect a complicated lengthy answer. 5. Allow the FIRST thing that comes into your mind to be verbalized by you. Then see what your pets reaction is. You might be surprised at their facial or vocal answer. 6. Don't think about, "Is this real?", "It can't be that!" Just try and observe your pets answer, facial, body, and vocal. Be detached from the outcome. 7. Try the new information out. See if it's a viable answer or if your pet has a sense of humor. Sometimes they will try and interject some humor when we take ourselves too seriously. Be light with it. Animals often feel humans are too serious with questions. 8. Now, have some play with your pet and lighten up. Practice talking to your pet about everything, like you would your friend or child. Love them. You can sing made up songs about them. Have fun!! Include their input in your household decisions. Keep it easy so then will feel free to come to you if something big is up for them. 9. Allow them their independence. No one likes to feel that their thoughts are constantly listened to, or that someone is trying to intrude into their space. 10. Practice and be easy with the questions and your intuition. No straining or you'll miss the meaning. Remember they "talk" to each other all the time without vocalizing. It's us, humans, that think we have to make noise to talk, not the animals http://globalpsychics.com/enlightening-you/animal-communications/how-tocommunicate/index-how-to-communicate.shtml