Sun, 01 Aug 2010: Kids' syntax
My 5 year old grandson hasn't got down the inversion of "be" + subject, so he snuck aka sneaked up on me in disguise and asked me "Who I am?" I replied, "By your syntax, I surmise it's Logan."
Sun, 25 Jul 2010: Language and technology -
My 8 year old grandson was running around playing with his brother when he stopped for a minute, "Wait, Logan, I'm on pause."
Thus technology affects language.
Sun, 18 Apr 2010: across door
My granddaughter, 8, was asking about the music coming from over the backyard fence. She at first said, 'the music next door', then, realizing that meant at the side of, switched to looking for across the fence but wound up with 'across door', with a giggle.
So she recognized her neologism, but it got me to wondering how much credit linguists give kids for innovating in language.
Sun, 19 Jul 2009: Sophisticated phrases
My four year old grandson was watching a cartoon whose content was decidedly teenage, dating and so forth. At one point he laughed and I asked him if he thought that was funny. "Yes," he said, and then added thoughtfully, "... and I don't know why."
He used "and I don't know why" with exactly the perplexed but resigned tone an adult might use it to punctuate a mystery like dating the wrong people or eating cake for breakfast.
July 24. Playing Dracula, I was told I was going to be shot with his "bone and arrow".
The older kids are in this fort/house/science lab and I guess they forget I'm sitting right outside at the computer, so I have realized they know the proper use of several choice words. No one in this house can claim innocence.
Sat, 11 Jul 2009: Are kids aware of structure?
My 4 year old grandson asks, "Where you are?" Just now, he asked it of his 7 year old brother. So after his brother answered him ("In the kitchen."), I asked the 7 year old what the "normal" way would be of asking that question as opposed to the way his brother asked it. I was fishing for conscious awareness (redundant?) of language structure.
The 7 year old (8 in a few days) answered, "Where are you." Then he added, "You don't need to ask me that question, Grandpa, it's too easy. I'm going into third grade."
True enough.
Sun, 22 Feb 2009: Kids say …
My 4 y.o; grandson said, "You almost made me fell." My 7 y.o. granddaughter corrected him by saying, "Fall, Logan, it’s you made me fall."
Very interesting.