First Words

[Cubfan]

Oh another 5am waking, let's see, what can we talk about... OH!

So how was it with you guys when your kids said their first words? Or should I say when you think they said their first words? I mean, did you consider their first word to be something that they blurted out totally randomly (which our boy seemed to do many months ago), or did you consider their first word to be something that you could tell that they could finally associate the word with the object/person/or whatever?

Our boy for a while has been babbling stuff like: mahhh, dahhhh, uh-uh-uh (this means pick me up). Are those his first words???

But now he can point to the pantry and say "grah ka ka" for graham cracker and point to the fridge and say "jooooooz" for juice.

I guess it's not a big deal, we just want to be able to tell him what his first word is (I'm leaning towards the grahh ka ka!).

[CTDon]

We considered Ian's first word to be when he, as you said, blatently associated an object with a sound.

For him, it was "ball".

[jim]

We considered Bubbers 1st word the one he clearly associated with an object/person. Like pointing or reaching for me and going DaDa. (about 7 months when it was clear what he was saying)

Now at 15 months he has a pretty good vocab: Done, Down (which can mean down or up) Mommy, grandma, doggie, thank you, more, out, see, tea, drink, cracker, cookie, uh-uh (no), kittie, yellow, green, blue (about 50% right).

Of course right now, 90% of what still comes out of his mind is that toddler baby babble which they do such a good job of making sound like a language.

I drive my wife nuts pretending I understand it all. (actually I just know his tones, body language ets very well and can simple pick up on what the Bubbers wants. )

[Cubfan]

Yeah, our guy was doing some pointing and da-da, ma-ma back then too.
And he's just now getting into some of the things you listed, but not that many! I think he's really on the verge though.

[Riggs]

I think I figured the first words were ones that clearly they understood what it was. Our boys first were "ice" for one and "hot" for the other (after pointing to the woodstove and saying it so much). Sounds like some Montana words, eh? :D

[Weston]

Alex started saying mama and dada before anything else, but we really don't consider that his first words. I guess because that really doesn't reflect his personality... what I consider his first "real" word to be is car. He loved cars from the get go and that was his first word besides the mama and dada.

I read somewhere that "mama" (and maybe "papa")is a pretty universal word for children and there is evidence that it is more than just a learned word, that it might be hard-wired into babies to say this word. Dunno :confused: I'll have to look that up to see where I read it

[jim]

I read somewhere that "mama" (and maybe "papa")is a pretty universal word for children

I really do not buy that. Children learn to say words based on two factors, IMHO. How often they hear the word, and how important that word is to them. Mommy and Daddy are usually the most important thing to babies which is why it is often the first word(s) they utter.

[Weston]

I really do not buy that. Children learn to say words based on two factors, IMHO. How often they hear the word, and how important that word is to them. Mommy and Daddy are usually the most important thing to babies which is why it is often the first word(s) they utter.

Here's an interesting link (http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:34QgKLp58DEJ:www.sussex.ac.uk/linguistics/documents/where_do_mama2.pdf+jakobson+mama&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=4)on the subject that kept coming up on google. Author claims that mama and dada and similar "words" are nothing more than babble. Author agrees with you though on the hard-wire being bunk and mentions it.

This stuff interests me but its kind of over my head

[jeffb]

from what I understand...MAMA and DADA are nothing more than babble at first, like BABA, etc. However, OUR reaction to those babbles makes them IMPORTANT enough to them to use them as "Words"

So I'd have to agree with Jim....

[Jackson's Dad]

Yep. If you study phonetics and linguistics, you learn that the sounds "ma" and "ba" are simply the easiest to physically make. "Ma" just requires you open your lips while vocalizing. Most likely, the names "ma", "pa", etc were the result of these often being the kids first recognizable sounds, not the other way around. And that's probably how they begin to learn what "words" are ("hey, when I make that one sound, the nice lady who lives with me smiles. Lemme do it again.")

(I love it when my college degree comes in handy.)

[jeffb]

Yep. If you study phonetics and linguistics, you learn that the sounds "ma" and "ba" are simply the easiest to physically make. "Ma" just requires you open your lips while vocalizing. Most likely, the names "ma", "pa", etc were the result of these often being the kids first recognizable sounds, not the other way around. And that's probably how they begin to learn what "words" are ("hey, when I make that one sound, the nice lady(OR GENTLEMAN) who lives with me smiles. Lemme do it again.")

(I love it when my college degree comes in handy.)

I took the liberty of editing your post....:p

[RunLongLiveLong]

Well my babys first word was "cracker". I give her whale crakers all the time.

[jeffus]

'Trust fund'.....

[jerseydad]

Trust fund is our girls first word too! Must be a jersey thing.

I've been MIA for a while, i think this is post # 3 for me, maybe even up to 4 (I know your all so impressed..lol) anyway, me and my wife just had the conversation the other day. Did our kid say her first word yet? I have a group of 9 moms I hang out with and all except one thinks that their kids have said their first word, mostly mama and dadda. Our kids are all about 10 months. Me and the lone mom both think mamama and dadadada don't count and are just sounds w/o association. But sometimes my kid does point to me and say DADADADADAD & I'll be thinking "She's a friggin genius! She knows who I am." Then a second later she'll point to me again and say "Mamadamama bbbbbrrrrrrrrr" So, who knows when a dada or mama means something. I do know though that there are things I say that my kids is 1st starting to understand. Mostly commands like "clap hands", "wave hi". So, I know my daughter understands some of the things I say, I just dont know if she is saying anything. lol. Either way wether daddad or mamam is a word, my wife is crossing her fingers and praying that my kid's first word isn't a curse 'cause I have a little thing for 4 letter words... She is also praying our kids first word isnt "Eagles" cause my wifes a Giants fan and I have a tendency to buy blankets and shirts for my kid that she "needs" and the only thing i could find "on sale" is Eagles stuff. lol. BTW, this weekend was great. Both Giants and Dallas knocked out!

[GrahamsPapa]

Well his first word, and still his favorite, was "truck"
although his first signed word(we taught him baby signs) was "flower"

[Indy]

Alexa's first word that we could clearly associate with something was actually two words--"Rachel NO!". No question about that one.

[Jackson's Dad]

There was no one first word. Gradually his babbles became more recognizable and predictable. I couldn't say which was his "first".