It seemed to me remarkable that the boy began several times without the least incitement to sing tolerably well. When I expressed my approval of it, he sprang about, overjoyed. At one time he sang, holding his finger on his tongue, first rollo, rollo, innumerable times, then mama, mama, mämä, mama.

The progress in the sound-mechanism is most plainly discerned in the greater certainty in reproducing what is spoken. Thus, "pst" is correctly given, and of reverse-syllabled words, very accurately, "anna, otto, alla, appa, enne"; of unlike-syllabled words, "lina," but still, notwithstanding many trials, not yet "bitte." For the first time three-syllabled words also, plainly pronounced to him, were correctly given back, viz., a-mama and a-pa-pa, as the child names his grandparents. Hitherto the vowels e, i, o, u, could not be correctly given every time, but "a" could be so given as before. When the reproduction of any new word that is too hard is requested—e. g., "gute Nacht"—the child at this period regularly answers tapĕta, pĕta, pta, and ptö-ptö, also rateratetat, expressing thereby not merely his inability, but also, sometimes roguishly, his disinclination to repeat.

Ja ja and nein nein, along with da and bibi (with or without folding of the hands, for "bitte"), and mimi, continue still to be the only words taken from the language of adults that are used by the child in the proper sense when he desires or refuses anything. Apart from these appear inarticulate sounds, uttered even with the mouth shut. The intense cry of pain, or that produced by cold or wet or by grief at the departure of the parents (this with the accompaniment of abundant tears and the drawing of the corners of the mouth far down), makes the strongest contrast with the crowing for joy, particularly that at meeting again.

The twenty-third month brought at length the first spoken judgment. The child was drinking milk, carrying the cup to his mouth with both hands. The milk was too warm for him, and he set the cup down quickly and said, loudly and decidedly, looking at me with eyes wide open and with earnestness, heiss (hot). This single word was to signify "The drink is too hot!" In the same week, at the end of the ninety-ninth, the child of his own accord went to the heated stove, took a position before it, looked attentively at it, and suddenly said with decision, hot (heiss)! Again, a whole proposition in a syllable. In the sixty-third week for the first time the child had reproduced the word "hot" pronounced to him. Eight and a half months were required for the step from the imitative hot to the independent hot as expressive of his judgment. He progressed more rapidly with the word "Wasser," which was reproduced as watja, and was called out longingly by the thirsty child a few weeks afterward. He already distinguishes water and milk in his own fashion as watja and mimi. Yet mimmi, mömö, and māmā still signify food in general, and are called out often before meal-times by the impatient and hungry child. The primitive word atta is likewise frequently uttered incidentally when anything disappears from the child's field of vision or when he is himself carried away. The other sound-utterances of this period proceeding from the child's own impulse are interesting only as exercises of the apparatus of articulation. Thus, the child not seldom cries aloud oi or eu (äu); further, unusually loud, ana, and for himself in play, ida, didl, dadl, dldo-dlda, and in singing tone opojö, apojopojum aui, heissa. With special pleasure the child, when talking to himself, said papa, mama, mämä, mimi, momo, of his own accord, but not "mumu"; on the other hand, e-mama-ma-memama, mi, ma, mö, ma. His grandparents he now regularly designates by e-papa and e-mama. He knows very well who is meant when he is asked, "Where is grandmamma? Grandpapa?" And several days after leaving them, when asked the question, e. g., on the railway-train, he points out of the window with a troubled look. The understanding of words heard is, again, in general more easy. The child for the most part obeys at once when I say, "drink, eat, shut, open, pick it up, turn around, sit, run!" Only the order "come!" is not so promptly executed, not, however, on account of lack of understanding, but from willfulness. That the word-memory is becoming firm is indicated particularly by the circumstance that now the separate parts of the face and body are pointed out, even after pretty long intervals, quickly and upon request, on his own person and that of others. When I asked about his beard, the child (after having already pointed to my beard), in visible embarrassment, pointed with his forefinger to the place on his face corresponding to that where he saw the beard on mine, and moved his thumb and forefinger several times as if he were holding a hair of the beard between them and pulling at it, as he had had opportunity to do with mine. Here, accordingly, memory and imagination came in as supplementary to satisfy the demand made by the acoustic image.

The greatest progress is to be recorded in this month in regard to the reproduction of syllables and words. A perfecting of the process is apparent in the fact that when anything is said for him to repeat, his head is not turned away in unwillingness so often as before, in case the new word said to him is too difficult, nor are all sorts of incoherent, complicated sounds (paterateratte) given forth directly upon the first failure of the attempt at imitation. Thus, the following words were at this period, without systematic exercises, incidentally picked up (give, as before, the German pronunciation to the letters):

Spoken to him.Reproduced.Spoken to him.Reproduced.
Ohr,Oa(r).Wasser,Wass, Watja.
Tisch,Tiss.Hand,Hann.
Haus,Hausesess.Heiss,Haïss.
Hemd,Hem.Auge,Autschge.
Peitsche,Paitsch, Paitse.Butter,Buotö.
Eimer,Aïma.Alle,Alla.
Bitte,Bete, Bite.Leier,Laijai.
Blatt,Batn.Mund,Munn.
Tuch,Tuhs.Finger,Finge.
Papier,Patn, Paï.Pferd,Pfowed, Fowid.
Fort,Wott.Gute Nacht,Nag-ch Na.
Vater,Fa-ata.Guten Tag,Tatách.
Grete,Deete.Morgen,Moigjen.
Karl,Kara.Axel,Akkes, Aje, Eja

The four words, Paitsch or Paitse, Bite, Watja, and Haïss, are uttered now and then by the child without being said to him, and their use has regard to the meaning contained in them. His whip and his pail he learned to name quickly and correctly. His own name, Axel, on the contrary, he designates by the favorite interjections Aje, Eja. On the whole, variety of articulation is on the increase as compared with the previous month, but the ability to put syllables together into words is still but little developed. Thus, e. g., the child reproduces quite correctly "je," and "ja," and "na." But if any one says to him "Jena" or "Jana," the answer runs regularly nena or nana, and only exceptionally, as if by chance, jena. Further, he repeats correctly the syllables "bi" and "te" when they are given to him, and then also bi-te; afterward, giving up the correct imitation, he says beti, but can not reproduce ti-be or tebi. "Bett, Karre, Kuk," are correctly repeated.

Finally, echolalia, not observed of late, appears again. If the child hears some one speak, he often repeats the last syllable of the sentence just finished, if the accent were on it—e. g., "What said the man?" man; or "Who is there?" there? "Nun?" (now) nou (no͞o). Once the name "Willy" was called. Immediately the child likewise called ŭilē, with the accent on the last syllable, and repeated the call during an hour several dozens of times; nay, even several days later he entertained himself with the stereotyped repetition. Had not his first echo-play produced great merriment, doubtless this monotonous repetition would not have been kept up. In regard to the preference of one or another word the behavior of those about the child is not merely influential, but is alone decisive. I observed here, as I had done earlier, that urgent exhortations to repeat a new word have generally a much worse result than is obtained by leaving the child to himself. The correct, or at any rate the best, repetitions were those made when the child was not spoken to. Even adults can imitate others in their manner of speaking, their dialect, even their voice, much better when not called upon to do it, but left entirely to their own inclination. The wish or command of others generates an embarrassment which disturbs the course of the motor processes. I resolved, consequently, to abandon in the following month all attempts to induce the child to reproduce sounds, but to observe so much the more closely what he might say of his own accord.

In the last month of the second year of his life this leaving of him to himself proved fruitful in results to this extent—that voluntary sound-imitations gained considerably in frequency and accuracy. Particularly, genuine echolalia manifested itself more at this period in the repeating of the last syllables of sentences heard, the meaning of which remained unintelligible to the child; and of single words, the sense of which became gradually clear to him by means of accompanying gestures. Thus, the word "Herein!" (Come in!) was repeated as an empty sound, and then arein, harrein, haarein, were shouted strenuously toward the door, when the child wanted to be let in; ab (off) was uttered when a neck-ribbon was to be loosened. Moigen signified "Guten Morgen!" na, "Gute Nacht!" To the question, "Was thun wir morgen?" (What shall we do to-morrow?) comes the echo-answer moigen. In general, by far the greater part of the word-imitations are much distorted, to strangers often quite unintelligible. Ima and Imam mean "Emma," dakkngaggngaggn again means "danke," and betti still continues to signify "bitte." Only with the utmost pains, after the separate syllables have been frequently pronounced, appear dange͞e and bitte͞e. An apple (Apfel) is regularly named apfele͞ele͞e (from Apfelgelée); a biscuit (Zwieback), wita, then wijak; butter, on the contrary, is often correctly named. Instead of "Jawohl," the child almost invariably says wolja; for "Licht" list and lists; for "Wasser," watja still as before; for "pfui" he repeats, when he has been awkward, ūi, and often adds a pott or putt in place of "caput." "Gut" is still pronounced ūt or tut, and "fort," okk or ott. All the defects illustrated by these examples are owing rather to the lack of flexibility in the apparatus of articulation—even stammering, tit-t-t-t, in attempting to repeat "Tisch," appears—than to imperfect ability to apprehend sounds. For the deficiency of articulation shows itself plainly when a new word is properly used, but pronounced sometimes correctly and sometimes incorrectly. Thus, the "tsch" hitherto not often achieved (twentieth month), and the simple "sch" in witschi and wesch, both signifying "Zwetschen," are imperfect, although both sounds were long ago well understood as commands to be silent, and Zwetschen (plums) have been long known to the child. Further, the inability to reproduce anything is still expressed now and then by raterateratera; the failure to understand, rather by a peculiar dazed expression of countenance, with an inquiring look.