language question

My kids are major chatterboxes, and language has always been one of their strengths. I'm not really concerned, just wondering if a couple things are normal for their age.

-They still mostly say "you" for "I" and vice versa. They're starting to get it right a little more often, but I'd say they're probably mixed up 80-90% of the time.

-They've recently developed a bit of a stutter. Not the beginning of words ("w-w-w-wa-want") but the end of words ("want-nt-nt-nt-nt") as they're thinking through what they want to say next.

-Some very goofy grammar/syntax. One example: if they're cranky, one will get annoyed at any random thing the other says. And the typical exchange will go: A: "____." I: "Don't want _____!" A: "The _____ is OK. It don't it means it makes you mad." They'll also say things like "It don't is raining outside."

-They don't really ask questions. (Which may be a blessing, since I'm not subjected to the barrage of "why" all the time! :laughing When they want something, they don't ask for it, they state that they want it. (Sometimes even with nice manners - "Want more toast with butter please!") But they don't ask things like why, when, who, etc. Question-and-answer generally seems to be a little bit of a challenge for them - even when I ask them something very simple, like where they went with Daddy this morning, they can answer, but you can just tell that they're working a bit at it. And sometimes they'll come up with totally fictitious answers to simple questions.


Like I said, not all that concerned, just curious about how "normally" kids this age talk.

 

Alice speaks really well, in fact, yesterday she said, "Mommy, you kiss my arm? I hurt my arm on the chair." :whoa: (it sounded more like, Mommy-kish my arm, I huwt my awm onda chaiw.)

If Royce was going to say that sentence, he'd say, "Mommy kiss! Arm." I think he's probably on the normal side, she's probably a little more on the advanced verbal side.

My husband is really the worst for giving fictitious funny answers. Saturday, Alice: " Dogs walking Daddy" Mikey "Yes, they're looking for the bear that has the ping pong balls." Royce "Pin. Pon."

But Royce, for being average in speaking can name every friggin comic book character! "Who's that?" Geen Wantewn. Huwk. Spidahmin. Woovereen. Supahguy. (Superman) BackCanry. Batmin. Geen Awwow. Iwonmin. Now to get him to start naming their non-super names. . .And determining whether they're Marvel or DC. Mwuhahahahaaa

 

I can't relate to alot of what you said, but I can share some of what my DS says.

- I had a post before about his drawl. He doesn't stutter like you said yours do, but he draws out the consonants, like "hay-ouse" or "bay-ed" and I don't know where he learned to speak that way.

- He doesn't confuse "you" and "I" but he does confuse "I" and "me".

- He will repeat what you say, almost word for word (even if it's days later). We were looking for his toy the other day, and he said, "It's got to be here somewhere". Every word was there, even if slightly mispronounced.

- I asked him last night in his bath where we went yesterday (talking about Saturday) and he thought for a minute and then was able to tell me. Like you said, he had to work at it just a bit.

- His pronunication is still pretty bad - there are many times when I have to get him to show me what he's saying because I can't understand him. Last night he was trying to tell Daddy he wanted a "pretend" hug (he was sick, so no hugs) so that he didn't get Daddy sick, and we had no idea what he was saying!!

My DS was trying to communicate with a boy who's about 6 months older with him on Saturday, and that boy looked at him like he had no idea what he was saying. It broke my heart, but I know it's normal!

 

Mine still have some issues with questions. At times they repeat the question back to me, other times you can tell they have a hard time coming up with an answer. Sometimes the answer is completely crazy (ie What did you have for breakfast? Pretzels! Um, no!), other times it's true but not to the actual question (ie: What did you do this morning? We went to the Children's Museum. Actually we had went 2 days ago), & other times they will just say "Ummm, I don't know!"

Aiden speaks in the 3rd person about 50% of the time. I'm constantly repeating his sentences with "I" & "ME" & then he'll say them right. Conner uses I, Me, We, You, etc correctly.

Aiden's outgrowing what I called his 'toddler stutter'. Like you, it wasn't at the start of words, it was within sentences. I think his brain was just processing all he wanted to say. Conner still does it when he gets really excited & is trying to spit out a whole lot of words !

As for goofy grammar, we've definitely had our fair share. I always correct them & they've caught on well. I always joke that they're like Yoda..."Where the book is, Mama?" A lot of this they've outgrown within the past month or two. I did notice that whatever error one had, the other typically picked up on. So, the fact that BOTH your kids say the same odd grammar doesn't surprise me. I did find it fascinating when my two would mispronounce words differently, though!

I'm sure your kids are right on track. Just keep correcting them & they'll catch on. I find if you ignore it & chalk it up as "cute toddlerisms", they don't learn & will keep doing it. One of these days Aiden may actually say "I" without being prompted, but I find myself at fault a lot by using "Mama" in 3rd person (ie We'll go to the store after Mama gets ready), so I'm working on it, too! I ALWAYS used Mama when they were young b/c they would never say it...they didn't say Mama til 17 mos or so, so I said it every chance I had!!!

Good luck!!!

 

-Mine confuse 'me' & 'you', like if they burp they say "excuse you".

-I haven't noticed any stuttering

-Mine add a 't' on the end of any word that ends with 'n'...down-t, on-t...others that I can't think of right now.

-They both have weird little phrases. For instances, when B wants something off she says "take it off it"

-Mine don't really ask questions yet either.