Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Friday, August 01, 2008 9:43 PM
My daughter Camilla and my sister’s son Daniel, almost 22 and 26 months respectively, are talking up a storm. But the thing is, what they’re saying and what it sounds like they’re saying are sometimes two very different things.
My sister and I have had no end of fun with the noise Daniel makes when he tries to say the “f” sound. “Say fish, Daniel!” we prompt him, and he obliges. It sounds something like “tshyshis,” but that is a very rough estimate. The actual sound is something neither his mother nor I have been able to reproduce.
Camilla, on the other hand, has no trouble with her Fs. In fact, she likes them so much that she substitutes them for other sounds. Daniel’s new baby brother Matthew, for instance, is “Mafew” when Camilla says it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said, “Camilla, say ‘mouTH’,” and she’s responded happily with, “mouffffffffffffff.”
The mispronunciations that really get me, though, are the ones that are clearly deliberate. We usually refer to Camilla as Billa, which comes from the original nickname, Camilla-Billa, that my mom gave her when she was about four days old. As a result of this Camilla refers to herself as Billa, but she pronounces it “Bih-ba.” Which would be fine, except that I know she can say the “l” sound, because the other day I asked her to say Milla, and she responded with a perfect reproduction of the word. Thus, the trick I’ve been having her do for relatives and friends all week:
“Camilla, say ‘Milla’.”
“Milla.”
“Okay, now say ‘Billa’.”
“Bih-ba.”
Inexplicable.
What funny approximations of real words have you heard from your kids?
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Filed under fun, talking, toddlers, words
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For the past week now my 20-month-old son keeps saying, “Go-guck!”
“You want some yogurt?” I ask.
“Go-GUCK!” He exclaims.
I finally figured it out today when we were watching some cartoons together. He’s developed a fascination with Donald Duck a.k.a. Go-guck. I think he’s just a little too lazy to pronounce all the syllables needed for Donald.
My daughter, Lexi, used to pronounce her name, “Yucky”...so when she met someone, she would say, “I yucky”. Also, when she prayed the Our Father, she would pray, “Give us this day our DAIRY bread.” Her younger sister told us she had a “bacon-ake”. It took us a while to figure out she had a bellyache.
Our best family example was my nephew, James, when he was about 3. He had a problem with consonent-blends, especially the “ST” sound. It was pronounced like a “D.” This was especially amusing when he was telling us the story about the first Thanksgiving that he heard at preschool. He kept telling my us that, “the Indians put feathers on their *****” It was a while before Molly could stop laughing long enough to explain to the rest of us that the Indians put feathers on their STicks.
When trying to get my son to properly say “potato,” instead of ba-tato, I realized that I could use the name of a tellatubby character to bring him around. While holding a potato, I said, “This is a PO-tato. Po, like on Tellatubbies. Say, ‘PO.’” Which he did. “Now say, ‘Tato’” Which he did. There was applause, followed by much more when he correctly put them, “Po” and “tato,” together. We hugged as he repeated it. Then a look, somewhat of concern, crossed his face as he asked, “Where’s the La-Latato?”
Okay, if you’re kids are too young or too old for you to see the humor, I apologize. Mea Culpa. Peace. ~~~mary
My personal favorites from my two year old are...Targrit for Target, GAmote for remote, toab for toad.
My 26 mo daughter knows how to say water, but she constantly asks for wa-wa. When I correct her and pronounce it wa-ter, it comes out like she has a British accent and says woah--turrr (which is too cute to hear). But then I say good girl now say water...she repeats...wa-wa.
Our 2yo insists that Mcdonalds is OLD Mcdonalds. When we pass one she’s always the first to see it and comment and if any of us dare to forget that it is OLD Mcdonalds she is quick to correct us. Since we all find her absolutely adorable we all solemnly agree!
I worked for a Department store called Steiger’s when my oldest were 3 and 2. They were sure I worked for tigers
My favorites are from last year: 2yo son trying to say stuck - gussssk! 3 and 4yo daughters arguing over how to say 4yo’s name - “Cracken! No, It’s Cack-ren” Um...Actually, It’s Catherine. Oh, and an uncle always reminds me of how I used to say spaghetti - pasketti. Great stuff!
My two year old would completely eliminate the “s” sound, but he left a silent placeholder. Therefore he’d say that “I hurt my elf” instead of “I hurt myself”. I miss that little elf!
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Todd and Sarah Palin’s infant son Trig has brought new attention to the frightening fact that 90 percent of children diagnosed prenatally with Down Syndrome are aborted. This tiny baby is bringing new hope to people with Down Syndrome and those who love them. This tiny baby presents a real threat to the culture of death.
