I have a question. Or a thought, really. An observation?

[conuly]

Ana tends to add an -a to certain verbs:

I pick-a up book!
No take-a nap! (When if it hadn't been one of those verbs, it would've not had an "a" in there)
You read-a da book.

It's not all verbs she does this with - she says she wants to turn off the light, not turna off, for example.

Does anybody have any idea why she might possibly be doing this? It's very confusing.

Comments

[velasco.livejournal.com]

Is-a she part Italian?

...j/k. Could just be a normal childhood language quirk? My sister said ephelants, evelators and emenies until she was at least four. I remember I had trouble with thistle (thithle). Whatever it is, it's cute :P

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

::giggles:: You read my mind.

[conuly]

This isn't a pronunciation quirk, though - it's a consistent affix to certain verbs. Why those verbs, and not others, I don't know....

[leora.livejournal.com]

I don't know. But most language quirks in young children sort themselves out as the child gets older and more experienced. So, I'd say - it's just one of those things.

[conuly]

Why does everybody think I'm worried? I'm not. I'm honestly just curious as to what is going on. It's not just a "language quirk" with no explanation. There is an explanation as to what is going on in her head when she does this, and I want to know what it is! God!

[rachelkachel]

Can you tell if it's related to the consonant at the end? As ladyshrew said in your other post, it might be easier that way - to add an extra vowel sound depending on what the preceding sound was.

[conuly]

Hm. I can do that tomorrow. I don't see any correlation between the end of the word, and the -a, though.

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

I don't know anything about language development, but I have a lecture series on the history of the English language, and the way his son's learning to speak showed some of the same mechanisms as the English language developing over time (I'm not making myself very clear, am I?). But, yeah, got it on mp3, but it'd take ages to YSI and it might not even fit in Gmail.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Washu! Washuwashuwashu! Too bad she's not the greatest linguistic genius in the universe. :(

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

I really wanna take a class on first language acquisition... And second language acquisition. Language acquisition is so insanely intriguing! But especially first.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Have you asked her if she does it because she thinks she sounds pretty?

[fledchen.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what you and the rest of her family sound like when you talk, but "going to" and "want to" usually end up sounding like "gonna" and "wanna" around here. Maybe that's confusing her? Those are pretty common verbs.

[conuly]

I don't think so. We don't say "wanna" or "want to" around her that much, nor "going to" and "gonna". It's "We'll have lunch first, then we'll go take a nap", that sort of thing. It's not a conscious choice to avoid those words, I think, just....

[padawank.livejournal.com]

Doctor Who icon.

[velasco.livejournal.com]

Is-a she part Italian?

...j/k. Could just be a normal childhood language quirk? My sister said ephelants, evelators and emenies until she was at least four. I remember I had trouble with thistle (thithle). Whatever it is, it's cute :P

[ladyshrew.livejournal.com]

::giggles:: You read my mind.

[conuly]

This isn't a pronunciation quirk, though - it's a consistent affix to certain verbs. Why those verbs, and not others, I don't know....

[leora.livejournal.com]

I don't know. But most language quirks in young children sort themselves out as the child gets older and more experienced. So, I'd say - it's just one of those things.

[conuly]

Why does everybody think I'm worried? I'm not. I'm honestly just curious as to what is going on. It's not just a "language quirk" with no explanation. There is an explanation as to what is going on in her head when she does this, and I want to know what it is! God!

[rachelkachel]

Can you tell if it's related to the consonant at the end? As ladyshrew said in your other post, it might be easier that way - to add an extra vowel sound depending on what the preceding sound was.

[conuly]

Hm. I can do that tomorrow. I don't see any correlation between the end of the word, and the -a, though.

[atalantapendrag.livejournal.com]

I don't know anything about language development, but I have a lecture series on the history of the English language, and the way his son's learning to speak showed some of the same mechanisms as the English language developing over time (I'm not making myself very clear, am I?). But, yeah, got it on mp3, but it'd take ages to YSI and it might not even fit in Gmail.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

Washu! Washuwashuwashu! Too bad she's not the greatest linguistic genius in the universe. :(

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

I really wanna take a class on first language acquisition... And second language acquisition. Language acquisition is so insanely intriguing! But especially first.

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Have you asked her if she does it because she thinks she sounds pretty?

[fledchen.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what you and the rest of her family sound like when you talk, but "going to" and "want to" usually end up sounding like "gonna" and "wanna" around here. Maybe that's confusing her? Those are pretty common verbs.

[conuly]

I don't think so. We don't say "wanna" or "want to" around her that much, nor "going to" and "gonna". It's "We'll have lunch first, then we'll go take a nap", that sort of thing. It's not a conscious choice to avoid those words, I think, just....

[padawank.livejournal.com]

Doctor Who icon.