The Babbler

"Language is a virus from outer space." ~ William S. Burroughs

She babbles. She babbles a lot! She says "Mama" and then her second word surprised me, a pronoun, "This",  as  in, "This little piggy". She says, "Thiiiiiiiis, thiiiiiiiis" and touches her toes. She also uses it to point out things she wants me to notice.  She points with questioning intonations at things around us she wants to know more about using the sound or word, "brur".  Bruuuurrrr?


I love to hear her babble. I am truly enjoying the babble that often sounds like several different languages mixed together. It has me thinking of William S. Burroughs' paranoid theory on what language is and it's limitations. When I speak to August and show her things, in a children's book, for example,  there is the object itself, the color and shape. In the world around us, there is the object itself, the color, shape and action, usually things are in motion. There are whatever emotions she is feeling at the time, where we are, indoors, in her room or outside on a walk... As I speak to her and show her things, name things, I wonder what exactly it is she is associating. There are so many variables, not least of all, what it is exactly she is pointing to when she gives a general point.

Then there is the phone babble. When I or anyone around us gets on the phone she picks up her toy phone or any object that is next to her and holds it up to her ear then babbles up a storm. There are pauses and laughs and her volume increases and decreases as she paces around. I wish I were privy to all that was being communicated, there is no "this" or "brur" when she is phone babbling.

I have shown August the illustrations of the moon in Goodnight Moon and in The Very Hungry Caterpillar and at the end of Big Red Barn. When we had the super moon appear a few weeks ago, it was a clear night with a clear view of the full moon, high above trees and any other distractions. "Moooooooon", we said to her, she said, "Bruuuur?",  leaving me in a delicious wonder of what her mind was grasping and what associations she was making.  She even babbles in her sleep, leaving me tickled and in love.

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home