When Sophie wants to be picked up and carried, she says "tai! tai!" I noticed recently that when she wants to wear an article of clothing or wants her doll to wear something, she also says "tai." I thought that was an interesting overlap of meaning since there are two distinct words for wearing and carrying in English but only one (porter) in French. A quick check of Google Translate to shore up my faulty language memory reveals that German and Polish also cover both concepts with one word (although the situation is slightly more complicated in Polish). When I told Keegan about my observation, his initial reaction was "Why would you ever think those two things would be covered by the same word?" but apparently Sophie hasn't yet been infected with that English-speaking mindset. Language acquisition is fascinating!
On a further note, "tai" does triple duty in Sophie's vocabulary, also meaning "ride." She will point to a bike or a ride-on toy and says "tai!"
Also, I think we may be at the start of a "do-it-myself" streak for Miss Sophie. She has been wanting to put on her clothes by herself lately, but unfortunately, we look to be a long way from successful self-dressing. The drawback of this phase is a lot of frustration and occasional tears when Mommy steps in, but the advantage is that fruitless attempts to get her head and arms into a shirt keep her entertained for several minutes at a time!
1 comment:
This is interesting, and along these lines is the way some baby carriers refer to "baby wearing."
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