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Re: childish pronunciation of "Christophe"

From:Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
Date:Friday, March 12, 1999, 8:41
Christophe Grandsire wrote:
> So what do you think of it? Do you think it's only a coincidence or not?
Certainly not! A child's mouth isn't much different than an adult's mouth, and both sound changes and children's distortions are often motivated by the same factor - ease of articulation. The same kinds of sounds that would be easier for an adult, likely to occur over time, are usually easier for children. Speaking of childish pronunciations, my first word was /'ki.ki/ = "kitty" (yes, even before "mama" or "dada"!), with assimilation of place for the second consonant. I also used to say /nImnImz/ for "m&m's", and still often use it with my family. Another pronunciation I used to retain for family use was /'alilr=/ for my Mom's cat "Oliver". I'm not sure if that was a pronunciation I actually used as a child, or a later term of affection, tho, a sort of affectation (it could've been - my Mom bought him before I was born, so he was around all my life until he died).