less
syllables are repeated with pleasure again and again, much as in the
period of infancy, only more distinctly; but, just as at that time, they
can not all be represented on paper or even be correctly reproduced by
adults. For a considerable time he was fond of _[=e]-la_, _[=e]-la_,
_la_, _la_, _la_, _la_, in higher and higher pitch, and with unequal
intervals, _lalla-lalla_, _lilalula_. In this it was certainly more the
joy over the increasing compass and power of his voice that stimulated
him to repetition than it was the sound of the syllables; yet in the
thirty-sixth month he showed great pleasure in his singing, of which
peculiar, though not very pleasing, melodies were characteristic. The
singing over of songs sung to him was but very imperfectly successful.
On the other hand, the copying of the manner of speaking, of accent,
cadence, and ring of the voices of adults was surprising, although
echolalia proper almost ceased or appeared again only from time to time.

Grammatical errors are already becoming more rare. A stubborn fault in
declension is the putting of _am_ in place of _dem_ and _der_, e. g.,
_das am Mama geben_. Long sentences are formed correctly, but slowly and
with pauses, without errors, e. g., _die Blume--ist ganz durstig--moecht
auch n bischen Wasser haben_ (The flower is quite thirsty--would like a
little water). If I ask now, "From whom have you learned that?" the
answer comes regularly, _das hab ich alleine gelernt_ (I learned it
alone). In general the child wants to manage for himself without
assistance, to pull, push, mount, climb, water flowers, crying out
repeatedly and passionately, _ich moecht ganz alleine_ (I want to [do it]
all alone). In spite of this independence and these ambitious
inclinations, there seldom appears an invention of his own in language.
Here belongs, e. g., the remark of the child, _das Bett ist zu holzhart_
(the bed is too wooden-hard), after having hit himself against the
bed-post. Further, to the question, "Do you like to sleep in the large
room?" he answered, _O ja ganz lieberich gern_; and when I asked, "Who,
pray, speaks so?" the answer came very slowly, with deliberation and
with pauses, _nicht-nicht-nicht-nicht-nicht-niemand_ (not--nobody).

How far advanced is the use of the participles, which are hard to
master, is shown by the sentence, _die Milch ist schon heiss gemacht
worden_ (the milk has already been made hot).

The child's manner of speaking when