When is a word a word?
I had this conversation with my dear friend Carol this week. Her son, Tommy, is the same age as CC, so we are always talking about the babies and what they're up to. Lately we've been talking about talking.
The only word that MJ and I believe CC is saying, is "hi." After paying close attention for several months (no exaggeration), we finally determined that CC was using it often enough, correctly enough, and unprompted enough to "count" as a word.
For example, she will come running around the corner of the family room, see MJ sitting on the couch, and say, "Hi!" Or we'll be at church, and hear her familiar "hi!" and realize that she's waving at the people behind us. Or she'll be sitting in the grocery cart at the supermarket, and she'll yell a happy "hi!" at another lady coming down our aisle.
Other words, however, are not so clear. She makes plenty of animal sounds (lamb, cow, monkey, snake, dog), but do those really count as words?
She says "Daddy" with perfect pronunciation, often while looking right at MJ, but sometimes it's also when she's pointing at Rory, or it's her answer to my question, "Where's CC's nose?"
She will mimic words very frequently. The most obvious example is when I'm getting her lunch ready and I'm cutting a slide of cheese for her. I'll tell her what I'm doing, and she will repeat the word "cheese" after I say it. It sounds a little more like "jeez." Then, a few minutes later as I place it on her tray, she will repeat it: "jeez." But she only does this in response to my saying it first.
Until she is saying a word unprompted and unprovoked, I have a hard time "counting" it as a word.
So ... are we being too strict with our criteria for words? When does it "count"?
1 comment:
I don't think you're being too strict! I think it's silly when parents brag about their children saying words when they are really just mimicking sounds. My husband and I follow your methods - counting something as a word when our son uses it mostly at appropriate times and when unprovoked. Until last week, he only had "Hi" down, as well. He really didn't try to mimic words that much either, but I think, like most boys, he's been more interested in playing with toys and learning how to heighten his motor skills to bother with those pesky words. Just this week, though, he has started to figure out "Bye bye." It's not quite legit yet, because he will sometimes say it at inappropriate times, but you can tell he's slowly figuring it out. He is also working on "Daddy" and "Momma," but unfortunately, my husband's method of trying to teach him those words (patting each person on their chest when saying the name that applies to them) backfired, and now he thinks that you are supposed to say "Daddy" or "Momma" when you pat your own chest :) I don't think it will be long before he figures it out, though.
Anyway, the point is that I agree with you. A word doesn't count as a word unless it is used appropriately. Otherwise it is just noise meant to replicate what they hear you say.
On a side note, so glad to see your pregnancy is going well! How exciting that your new little babies will be here so soon!
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