30 for 30: What's in a Word?
Being a generally contemplative person, this time of early parenthood - seeing a human develop from potato to person - has re-opened a lot of topics that I believed my thoughts had settled on. Communication and speech are the big ones I've been considering from a new angle this month, as Toby expands her vocabulary at a prodigious clip.
I've started keeping track of the new words Toby has debuted for us this December. We're at 30 as I write this on the 30th. Every day, we can count on her to express a new idea with some set of syllables. Some have been very clear (I loved seeing how hard she worked to enunciate both parts of "bunny"), while it has taken some pointing and follow-ups to confirm others (we're giving her credit for "medicine" but it's more like "mah-nee" [UPDATE: she has added a third syllable]).
And this brings us to the core of the consideration: If a person is using a consistent set of sounds for an object, person, or concept, is that "saying a word?"
To be clear, of the 30+ words Szuyin and I have heard from Toby, she's only nailing the pronunciation on "mama," "dada," and "bye-bye," which is because those words are just baby-babble sounds anyway. But I don't feel like it's disingenuous to credit her for "chicken," "applesauce," and "milk" despite the fact that she's dropping half (or more) of the consonant sounds.
Communication is a two-way exchange. The listener is responsible for processing the message, just as much as the speaker ought to make their message easy to understand. I applied that mindset a lot at work, and now at home I think it grants us the license to declare that Toby really is saying all these words. She produces sounds, with a definite intent behind them, and her mom and I understand and can respond appropriately. That's talking!
A decent chunk of Toby's words all happen to start with M: mama, milk, more, meow-meow, moon. And she kinda just does the opening "M" and a vowel sound. (Not even necessarily the right vowel sound.) But it is rare that she miscommunicates to us. A passionate "MIH!" while pointing to the fridge is pretty unambiguous: "I'd like some milk, please!"
I haven't heard this from a third-party, but I imagine it's pretty weird to witness the conversations Toby and I have. She outputs a single semi-syllable, I respond with a clarifying question, she nods or shakes her head, and then I can help with what she wants or just acknowledge what she's telling me about. It's gotta be like those videos when somebody just slips in half of a conversation between their talkative cat's meows.
Ok, last little thought on this subject: it's impressive how much you can express with so few words! If you're not worried about being polite and you're willing to repeat yourself until your audience figures it out, that is. Take "more," for example. Toby has deployed that word to cover:
- I liked that, please do it again
- please give me some, too
- that's my jam! play it again!
- don't make me leave the park
- pick me up and bring me with you
- I'm still hungry
- come back here, cat
- I consent to your tickles
As she continues to add words to her repertoire, I think the era of stretching "more" is coming to an end. I'll miss it.
Thanks for indulging me on these musings! Talk to you again soon.