From newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!torn!utcsri!rpi!usc!venice!gumby.dsd.trw.com!deneva!willow.sdd.trw.com!shrdlu Wed Oct 14 14:58:21 EDT 1992
Article 7184 of comp.ai.philosophy:
Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Path: newshub.ccs.yorku.ca!torn!utcsri!rpi!usc!venice!gumby.dsd.trw.com!deneva!willow.sdd.trw.com!shrdlu
>From: shrdlu@willow.sdd.trw.com (Lynda L. True)
Subject: Re: "Mama"
Message-ID: <2AD5DB53.19EB@deneva.sdd.trw.com>
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References: <1992Oct9.025636.27460@news.media.mit.edu> <2AD5AA6F.109E@deneva.sdd.trw.com> <1b4fmgINN87h@smaug.West.Sun.COM>
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 19:19:46 GMT
Lines: 40

Sorry to post what I would have preferred to keep in email, but you
are absolutely unreachable, at least for me.

In article <1b4fmgINN87h@smaug.West.Sun.COM>
 dab@ism.isc.com (Dave Butterfield) writes:
>shrdlu@willow.sdd.trw.com (Lynda L. True) writes:

>I don't think we disagree here.

>>Babies would call their mothers "ooooo" if anything; I've been
>>there, and the mouth is just not shaped in any way that would
>>cause the sound "ma" to come out.
>
>Here I must disagree; my son is two months old.  His first "talking"
>sound was "ahhh".  When I take him through the five basic vowels he
>does "ahhh" the easiest, though "ooooo" ("u") was easy to teach him.
>He can get "ohhhh" ("o") if he works at it.  "Eeeee" ("i") I have a
>hard time getting him to imitate very well, and I haven't heard him
>say h"ey" ("e") yet.  To get "ahhh" just requires dropping the mouth
>open ("open your mouth and say 'Ahhhh'"); to say "ooooo" requires
>shaping the mouth and lips, which is harder.  To get from "ahhh"
>to "ma" simply requires starting the vocal chords with mouth closed
>and then dropping the mouth open.  It's hard to imagine a simpler
>syllable to voice than "ma".

Babies learn by imitation, but you also need TEETH to make some of the
sounds that you are looking for... BTW, that comment I made about
"oooooo" was in respect to the shape of the mouth of a nursing baby,
not about what sound is easiest, or first, for a baby to make. I
should add that "eeee" requires more control over the facial muscles
and tongue than an infant possesses. Not to say that babies (at least
english speaking babies) don't try out things like mama, but then they
have a lot of motivation to do so. (Every loving and excited parent
I've ever seen has always said things like "Say mama" "Say dada". "Oh,
look, he's saying mama." "Wow, did you just hear her say daddy?")
-- 
George Bush, the environmentalist: 1000 points of blight.

shrdlu@rowan.sdd.trw.com (Lynda L. True)
Work Phone - (310) 812-1660 or (310) 812-1570


