The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-06-29

On the subject of baby talk a well
known writer discussing it in the Phil
Ndelphia Times, says: zone of. the
things that struck me as being very
PECULIAR when first began to get ac-
quainted with Oriental languages was
the baby talk mothers used to their
children said a man who has lived
for many years In the Far East.
"Of course, being a family man, I
knew all about baby talk in my own
tongue-indeed, / may say that ] had
taken a post graduate course In the
jargon. myself-but somehow II had
never occurred to me that people speak
ing another language had coined a
similar fond nonsense for the Dursery,
and the discovery that baby talk Is
limited to no particular race or cline
gave me quite a shock.
why. / nearly had a spasm the first
day heard a Chinese mother Groom
the equivalent for 'muzzersl little pet
and when ] got SO ] could understand
the translation of 'Didum's little too
fms hurt um?' ! was so astonished that
had to lay off from the Office for
whole day to recuperate.
"Of course, when you sit down and
figure the thing out In cold blood you
find that there is no reason on earth
why baby talk should not prevail the
world over. A baby is a baby and
mother is a mother, no matter where
you find her, and II Is only natural that
the words addressed to youngster
should assume a diminutive form. Still.
in spite of that common sense way of
looking at II, ] never quite got used to
Oriental baby gibberish, and to this
day when l hear Chinese parents talk
about Bess um's little heart and Was
um's duss ee seetest little sing?' in their
own lingo, / want to go behind the
door and smoker, for II really does
sound funny.
However. the Orientals themselves
don't see anything strange in It, and
no matter how many Chinese and Jap
anese purists stand up and denounce
the practice as silly and harmful to the
speech of the child. fancy the moth
ers will keep on taking just so TO the
end of the chapter.
Its a queer thing. anyway. this
baby talk. / know an artist who has
spent the past twenty years knocking
around over the globe, camping right
down in the homes Of the people for
local color. He has a smattering of
two-score Of languages. and he says
that no matter where he is or how
tight a fix he may be in, the minute
he hears a word of baby talk he feels
safe.
People to whom baby talk comes
natural have a mighty comfortable
way with them. They make their
meaning known with marvellous quick
ness. A person may be almost wholly
ignorant of a language. but just let
some woman start up a string of fnfan-
tile endearments and the stranger will
declare, straight off, That's baby talk.
all right. even though he doesn't under
stand a word that Is spoken. / be-
lieve that II I were in the wl.ds OF
Africa and heard somebody coo 'Goore-
~. gooreiy. GOO I'd say. That means
ne little bittie lamb and settle down
for a good nights rest. Verify, baby
talk - the universal language OF the
present day. All honor 20 baby talk"
II wonder" remarked an invalid re-
Gently. that the medicinal effects of
perfumes have never been investigated.
Doctors send their patients 20 breathe
the bhlsam scented air Of the pine re-
glOns. and We know that the punxency
u certain odOrfferous shrubs "a iBylg-
Grating AMI that some Elckly yegeta-
Ne sceufs cause fainfnefs Why should
not each perfume which IL ~ distinct
in iir Chara ciff-fhe scent ~ The rose.
fbs violet. heietFopf. the llly ~ the
Valley. ana 3 heef ~ ofhffs have some
eisiincf guallfY fbaf might hfeef eefr
taip conditional taneF ssf plfsfaff -