Speakers, singers and stammerers / by Frederick Helmore.

  • Helmore, Frederick.
Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Speakers, singers and stammerers / by Frederick Helmore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/146 (page 3)
    ta, and the nurse is lost in admiration of the thankful dispo- sition displa3^ed by the precocious pet. Anon, by imitating the shape of a loving mouth, disco- vered suddenly in connection with two laughing eyes, from behind an apron or handkerchief, it learns to shout ho It next endeavours to reUeve the monotony of monosyllabic intercourse with mankind by the duple repetition of those with which it is already familiar; and the welkin rings with ma-ma, pa-pa, da-da, and na-na. The last of these, accord- ing to the nursery dictionary, may mean either nurse, no, don't wash me, Annie, or Nanny. At length the spring bursts forth in budding sympathy with the child. In morn- ing visits to sunny fields the imitative powers are further exercised on the bleating sound of the lambs ; and frequent bahs are only interrupted by a distant moo, which has to be imitated, or by faithful Nero laying his loving head on the apron of the perambulator, and gazing with such loving eyes on the absurd little mimic as to call forth ow-ow, or perhaps even bow-wow. Presently, by a great effort of genius, he announces, at a turn of the road, the sudden appearance of pa-pa on his favourite jee-jee. Up to this time the study of language has been pursued by easy and natural stages, and the child-pupil has attained considerable proficiency in the production of monosyllabic ejaculation. But another step has now to be taken, at which perhaps, through the ambitious eagerness of the preceptor, a sudden check is sustained. The nurse is proud of her pupil, and in her over-anxiety to increase its vocabulary, en- deavours to teach it words, which, like conjuring tricks, appear easy enough, after they have been thoroughly learnt and constantly practised ; but are to the uninitiated almost impossible. She begins, perhaps, to prelude her administra- tion to the little one's wants by insisting upon please. A child utterly devoid of self-respect makes a dash at it, and