The Dickinson press., 1889-02-09
WHENCE COMES SPEECH?
A STRANGE CASE RECORDED IN
A BOSTON NEWSPAPER,
Two Brothers Who Speak a New Ian.
g"agc-.A Parallel Case i'll tho state of
S~cyuia-Thc Children of the Bastilc.

guagc-.A Parallel Case in the state of
Scvuia-Thc Children of the Bastilc.
Freaks.
y Boston newspaper recently published an
account Of two brothers living in that city,
who. it declares, have grown to mans estate
without ever being able to speak the English
language, although born in The United Suites
of American parents. and having heard
English spoken continuously. Their vocal
organs have been examined 10y the best S,c,
ci,!i>ts and found To he perfectly normal.
These brothers. it is asserted, speak IL Ian
GuaSc of their own, which they perfectly
understand, bat winch, thus far, has been
uiiintrlliglblc To everybody else. Some words
OF the language were given by the journal
referred To. and n philologist would trace II
Resemblance. if nothing more, to Sanscrit.
l'Gt The case referred to is not without its
parallel. The writer of this article saw, Oh
more than one occasion, two children. Il
brother and sister, living Mt n little stage
station in the state OF Nevada. who had in
vciiI"d Il language of their own, which they
constantly used in talking with each other,
Imo girl WIS Jor 10 wears of ace, aud the
hoy II year "r two younger. There could he
no deception and no mistake about The mat
~. Nv At.IItlItIl Nilll'tl D.IN Itb'll NOR HihI
~,nn,,ur IN iii, sir,,,g. .,e,.jh nf ,,ni,. own
| d.y,>ipr. o,J If w,s ,.rrc,. liz ,,,,,.nt t,,,
i, WA, II, ,,,.h nr,nin rlrSs rihInris, as
children o,to, Ms. il, ,Iry. lint , comma
| l,uqu,n, In ~r,...iuhl.a no l,uou,|o will
| winch, ,i,c writer had ouy ocn,,intorr.
| Tnor. roulI he detected no resemblance, f.,
;.ut modern lanyu,g.. no SIMILARITY to roof
form. ,,. stems Winch may Lo s,iJ ,o,ri,1,.
| To lit. common. to all s.,ok,n lr,puoucs. MOI,
was There any likeness to either Latin or
Greek, and, consequently. none to the coz.
| rate language which is called Sa,,,crit.
he cmlLrpn We're MOI Mt nil shy ohnut talk.
me- i'm HE presence nf STRANGER. hut t;,nv
cnujd net III, made to understand what Trans.
I;.tion from English into their language
mralt. Tiny understood ENGLISH. and could
AN! did :, eali it when s,,okcn TO: hut tIcy
either coull NOT or vo,il no; .iv,. tl,r 4,,iyn.
l~n,s of Englisl. words i'm their own laur,,a~.
Tine ,i,orlrr of ,io ,hild,cu s,i in sbc rnnIj ,,,+
in amy was account forth strn,,rn liur,istir
freak. she sad that tho frs, time she heard
them. and indeed fu,. ,o,nv Times ,rte,.v,r j
size paid no attention. as She s,p,,os,sl tl.y
wore "oulv iah.rrin- nonsense" rs SHE ry-
pressed 1T. and So slln wus entirely unall. In
~ whether the iau.,,."e wo, evolutionary
~ whether tll, children s,,ol,. i, inst MS wrlI
lilo first TIM as lh, last. They certainly
3, .. ,,.ur.h of ii vh., ,l,r w,itol. l,,.,I,I
....n. 4, understand tl.,n without ,,v aim.
..v. :ltlio,y, it seemed 10 tlc writer from
,,,,sD,y oIs.rya,j,,p. he r,ull nr,l,. t,.t
Ilr. vocabulary WAS n very lin,it,.1 ono. Lnt
l!i2i woull lnye b,cn oou,uy I'm. ,,sn viii
Irll,ir,u of that a~,. Ind they b,,, s,u.,l.;n"
Ei,eIisll.
Tucrc las been . st,,,, il, v,r,,a fo,. many
wears. nltj,ou.h i, /, i,1,o.Sibic ia Worthy !,
,ai h i, probably ",r,iy,ohnl .tl,Yt fan, ,L.,
,sirl,,s,. If l~alprlniuinr vIr.tIr., ,}u.r. ,;,,,
i~u,qH,al l.r..,.age. and il so vr,1 if w,s two
infant. ,,.,,. M one ,i1,o c.,ti,.l in tha n,..
ili. and were never allowed In br,r >, wu.,i
:.,v L,uar1ae, siokeo. if h.iu. s,,.,..nso,1
:t9; nature would supply them will, ,,n
m,,n. of communicative with .,,., NJ, i,o...
ti,rl ,er2w old ,ru,rn 10 talk mud tb,t ,n,.
controversy MS to- ,,ri,n,l l,nn,,,n, w,nll
fr, aoucl,l ;iv,lv d.tcr,niro,l THO stn,y s,v.
.,yy.,t,.. finn, N, ia II Year. Of ,un tL.. ,i,iI.
a..., mover at..,n1 nm ;,Itirnt,1n sn;,,,1 1g,oy
communicate win carl, thor il, - f,si,io,
lrt it WAS c~,:,irrlv bv SIGNS. and no, by nry-
MI ne ,r,.,,hl;.,,r , snosnn l,nru,.c ~ ,nv
| Kind. The story ro.s ON to saw tl,,t tl,rv
w.ey, then released from ,i,ni,. ,oufi,,o,,.nt
| and ;,locrl nmonr pro;,ln whore tl,nv Lr,rd
French spoken all around thcrn. mud ,b,t
;h,, soon learned ia sp.nI thr l,nmi,,~a
which they heard. Int ncvn, o,vo, nv .i.,n.
| Of Knowing auy other tonr,,e
The story NAV be ,l.,c. or If mny no, If
il is. il would TEND very STRONGLY to show
| that our s,,eech is the result of initiation. and
thn, tL. fncpl,y of ,r,i,.ul,to s,na.,, ,,o,,op,,s
np fine ability to repn,t what is nn,t,n,.nd from
| I'm. s,,ec,h of others Tins yi.w ,or,iv,s
r,.,tir,n,tion from thn Observable, or ,1.,,
! and dumb people. who o,r. MS a rnle lmnh
because they are dn,f Thcv nossess rho
vocal ORGANS fu,,v laveloncl hnt thev .,,,.
not s,c,l; boca,,.e rho. M not oh,o ia mi
fate, either tine s,rnd Of l,nruogo ~. tho
mechanical WOOL nrn,,s nf cnos11.i,M -, ,o..an
| ,n1 ihis nor b.c,usn Of innate in,Liiity I,,,
b.,4,l,s. Of the Incl, of /, medium nf intc,.con,.
u,,n,cation.
And vot ,he observation If +bo ,,sos i,
! Nnss,cinsorts and Snv,d, Z, ybinh yea h,t.n
rcferrcd shows th,t thn,o INST ho nxoo,,in,s
f., What would .oom tn ho +, ooron,l ,mla