The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought Part 31

Ploss has a few words to say about "Volksgebrauchliche Sprach- Exercitien," or "Zungen-Exercitien," the folk-efforts to teach the child to overcome the difficulties of speech (326. II. 285, 286), and more recently Treichel (373) has treated in detail of the various methods employed in Prussia. In these exercises examples and difficult words are given in several languages, alliteration, sibilation, and all quips and turns of consonantal and vocalic expression, word-position, etc., are in use to test the power of speech alike of child and adult. Treichel observes that in the schools even, use is made of foreign geographical names, names of mountains in Asia, New Zealand, and Aztec names in Mexico; the plain of _Apapurinkasiquinilschiquasaqua_, from Immermann's _Munchhausen_, is also cited as having been put to the like use. The t.i.tle of doctors' dissertations in chemistry are also recommended (373. 124).

Following are examples of these test sentences and phrases from German:--

(1) Acht und achtzig achteckige Hechtskopfe; (2) Bierbrauer Brauer braut braun Bier; (3) De donue Diewel drog den d.i.c.ke Diewel dorch den d.i.c.ke Dreek; (4) Esel essen Nosseln gern; (5) In Ulm imd um Ulm und urn Ulm herum; (6) Wenige wissen, wie viel sie wissen mussen, um zu wissen, wie wenig sie wissen; (7) Es sa.s.sen zwei zischende Schlangen zwischen zwei spitzigen Steinen und zischten dazwischen; (8) Nage mal de Boll Boll Boll Boll Boll Boll Boll Boll Boll; (9) Fritz, Fritz, friss frische Fische, Fritz; (10) Kein klein Kind kann keinen kleinen Kessel Kohl kochen.

There are alliterative sentences for all the letters of the alphabet, and many others more or less alliterative, while the humorous papers contain many exaggerated examples of this sort of thing. Of the last, the following on "Hottentottentaten" will serve as an instance:--

"In dem wilden Land der Kaftern, Wo die Hottentotten trachten Holie Hottentottent.i.tel Zu erwerben in den Schlachten, Wo die Hottentottentaktik La.s.st ertonen fern und nah Auf dem Hottentottentamtam Hottentottentattratah; Wo die Hottentottentrotteln, Eh' sie stampfen stark und kuhn.

Hottentottentatowirung An sioh selber erst vollzieh'n, Wo die Hottentotten tuten Auf dem Horn voll Eleganz Und nachher mit Grazie tanzen Hottentottentotentanz,-- Dorten bin ich mal gewesen Und iclh habe schwer gelitten, Weil ich Hottentotten trotzte, Unter Hottentottentritten; So 'ne Hottentottentachtel, Die ist namlich furchterlich Und ich leid' noch heute An dem Hottentottentatterich" (373. 222).

In our older English, and American readers and spelling-books we meet with much of a like nature, and the use of these test-phrases and sentences has not yet entirely departed from the schools. Familiar are: "Up the high hill he heaved a huge round stone; around the rugged riven rock the ragged rascal rapid ran; Peter Piper picked a peck of p.r.i.c.kly pears from the p.r.i.c.kly-pear trees on the pleasant prairies," and many others still in use traditionally among the school-children of to-day, together with linguistic exercises of nonsense-syllables and the like, p.r.o.nouncing words backwards, etc.

In French we have: (1) L'origine ne se desoriginalisera jamais de son originalite; (2) A la sante de celle, qui tient la sentinelle devant la citadelle de votre coeur! (3) Car Didon dina, dit-on, Du dos d'un dodu dindon.

In Polish: (1) Bydlo bylo, bydlo bedzie (It was cattle, it remains cattle); (2) Podawala baba babie przez piec malowane grabie (A woman handed the woman over the stove a painted rake); (3) Chrzaszcz brzmi w trzinie (The beetle buzzes in the pipe). Latin and Greek are also made use of for similar purpose. Treichel cites, among other pa.s.sages, the following: (1) Quamuis sint sub aqua, sub aqua maledicere tentant (Ovid, _Metam._ VI. 376); (2) At tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit (Virgil, _Aen._ IX. 503); (3) Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quat.i.t ungula campum (Virgil, _Aen._ VIII. 596); (4) [Greek: _Aytis epeita pedonde kylindeto laas anchidaes_] (Homer, Odyss. II. 598); (5) [Greek: _Trichtha te ka tetrachtha dieschesen s anemoio_]

(Homer, Odyss. IX. 71, II. III. 363); (6) [Greek: _'O makar 'Adreidae moiraegenes...o...b..odaimon_] (Homer, _Il._ III. 182). These customs are not confined, however, to the civilized nations of Europe. Dr.

Pechuel-Loesche tells us that, among the negroes of the Loango coast of Africa, the mother teaches the child little verses, just as illogical as the test-sentences often are which are employed in other parts of the world, and containing intentionally difficult arrangements of words. The child whose skilful tongue can repeat these without stumbling, is shown to visitors and is the cause of much admiration and merriment. And this exhibition of the child's linguistic and mnemonic powers finds vogue among other races than those of the dark continent (373. 125).

_Alphabet-Rhymes_.

A very curious development of child-linguistics is seen in the so-called _ABC Rhymes_. H. A. Carstensen reports from Risummoor in Low Germany the following arrangement and interpretation of the letters of the alphabet (199. 55):--

A--Aewel B--baeget C(K)--Kaege A--Abel B--bakes C(K)--cakes.

D--Detlef E--et F--fle.

D--Detlef E--eats F--much.

G--Grutte H--Hans J--jaeget K--Kraege.

G--Great H--Jack J--hunts K--crows.

L--Lotte M--maeget N--noerne.

L--Lutje M--makes N--names.

O--Okke P--plokket Q--Kuerde.

O--Okke P--makes Q--wool-cards.

R--Rikkert S--sait T--tuffle.

R--Richard S--sews T--slippers

U--Uethet V--Volkert W--waeder?

U--Fetches V--Volkert W--water?

From the North Frisian islands of Silt and Fohr the following ABC rhymes have been recorded, consisting mostly of personal names (199. 192):--

1. From Silt: _A_nna _B_oyken, _C_hristian _D_ojken, _E_rkel _F_redden, _G_ondel _H_ansen, _J_ens _K_uk, _L_orenz _M_ommen, _N_iels _O_tten, _P_eter _Q_uotten, _R_ink _S_wennen, _T_heide _U_wen, _V_olkert, _W_ilhelm, exerzere.

2. From Fohr: _A_rest _B_uhn, _C_ike _D_uhn, _E_hlen _F_rodden, _G_irre _H_ayen, _I_ngke _K_ayen, _L_urenz _M_unje, _N_ahmen _O_tt, _P_eter _Q_uott, _R_ekkert _s_kar, _T_rintje _u_m, qui _w_eg, _x, y, z_.

3. From Fohr: _A_ntje _b_rawt; _C_isele _d_rug; _E_hlen _f_ald; _G_ontje _h_olp; _I_ngke _k_nad; _L_ena _m_ad; _N_ahmen _O_kken; _P_eter _Q_uast;

_R_ord _R_utjer; _S_ab _S_utjer; _S_onk _S_tein; _T_hur _O_rdert; _W_ogen _w_uhlet; _Y_ng _Z_uhlet.

From Ditmarschen we have the following (199. 290):--

1. From Suderstapel in Stapelholm: _A-B_eeter, _C-D_eeter, _E-_E_f_ter, _G-H_ater, _I-K_ater, _L-_E_m_der, _N-O_ter, _P_eter Ruster sien Swester harr Buxsen von Manchester, harr'n Kleed vun Kattun, weer Kofft bi Jud'n (Peter Ruster his sister has breeches from Manchester, has a dress of cotton, who buys of Jews).

2. From Tonningstedt and Feddringen: _A-B_eeter, _C-D_eeter, _E-E_fter, _G-H_ater, _J-K_ater, _L-_E_m_der, _N-O_ter, _P-_K_u_ter, _L-_E_s_ter, _T-U_ter, _V-W_eeter, _X-Z_eeter.

In Polish we have a rather curious rhyme (199. 260): _A_dam _B_abkie _C_ukier _D_al, _E_wa _F_igi _G_ryzla; _H_anko, _J_eko, _K_arol _L_erch _N_osi _O_rla _P_apa _R_uskigo (Adam to the old woman sugar gave, Eve figs nibbled; Hanko, Jeko, Karol, and Lerch carry the eagle of the Ruthenian priest). Another variant runs: _A_dam _B_abi _C_ucker _d_aje _E_wa _f_igi _g_rizi _H_ala, _i_dzie _K_upic' _l_ala _m_ama _n_ie _p_ozwala (199. 150).

At Elberfeld, according to O. Sch.e.l.l, the following rhyme was in use about the middle of this century (199. 42): _A_braham _B_ockmann; _C_epter _D_ickmann; _E_ngel _F_uawenkel; _G_retchen _H_ahn; _I_saak _K_reier; _L_ottchen _M_eyer; _N_ikolas _O_lk; _P_itter _Q_uack; _R_udolf _S_imon; _T_ante _U_hler; _V_ater _W_ettschreck; _X_erxes _Y_ork.

From Leipzig, L. Frankel reports the following as given off in a singing tone with falling rhythm:--

B a ba, b e be, b i bi--babebi; b o bo, b u bu--bobu; ba, be, bi, bo, bu--babebibobu. C a ca (p.r.o.n. _za,_ not _ka_), c e ce, c i ci --caceci; c o co, c u cu--cocu; ca, ce, ci, co, cu-cacecicocu, etc.

From various parts of Ditmarschen come these rhymes:-- A-B ab, A-B ab, Mus sitt in't Schapp, Mouse sits in the cupboard, Kater darfr, Cat in frount, Mak apen de Dr. Open the door.

These child-rhymes and formulae from North Germany find their cognates in our own nursery-rhymes and explanatory letter-lists, which take us back to the very beginnings of alphabetic writing. An example is the familiar:--

"A was an Archer that shot at a frog, B was a Butcher that had a big dog," etc., etc.

_Letter-Formulae._

Here belong also the curious formulae known all over the United States and English-speaking Canada, to which attention has recently been called by Professor Frederick Starr. When the word _Preface_ is seen, children repeat the words, "_P_eter _R_ice _E_ats _F_ish _a_nd _C_atches _E_els," or backwards, "_E_els _C_atch _A_lligators; _F_ather _E_ats _R_aw _P_otatoes." Professor Starr says that the second formula is not quite so common as the first; the writer's experience in Canada leads him to express just the opposite opinion. Professor Starr gives also formulae for _Contents_ and _Finis_ as follows: "_F_ive _I_rish _N_iggers _I_n _S_pain,"

backwards "_S_ix _I_rish _N_iggers _I_n _F_rance"; "_C_hildren _O_ught _N_ot _T_o _E_at _N_uts _T_ill _S_unday" (355. 55). Formulae like these appear to be widespread among school-children, who extract a good deal of satisfaction from the magic meaning of these quaint expressions.

Another series of formulae, not referred to by Professor Starr, is that concerned with the interpretation of the numerous abbreviations and initials found in the spelling-book and dictionary. In the manufacture of these much childish wit and ingenuity are often expended. In the writer's schoolboy days there was quite a series of such expansions of the letters which stood for the various secret and benevolent societies of the country. _I. O. G. T._ (Independent Order of Good Templars), for example, was made into "I Often Get Tight (_i.e._ drunk),"

which was considered quite a triumph of juvenile interpretative skill.

Another effort was in the way of explaining the college degrees: _B.A._ = "Big Ape," _M.A._ = "Matured Ape," _B.D._ = "Bull-Dog," _LL.D._ = "Long-Legged Devil," etc. Still another cla.s.s is represented by the interpretations of the German _u. A. w. g._ (our R. S. V. P.), _i.e._ "um Antwort wird gebeten" (an answer is requested), for which A. Treichel records the following renderings: um Ausdauer wird gebeten (perseverance requested); und Abends wird getanzt (and in the evening there is dancing); und Abends wird gegeigt (and in the evening there is fiddling); und Abends wird gegessen (and in the evening there is eating); und Andere werden gelastert (and others are abused) (392. V. 114). This side of the linguistic inventiveness of childhood, with its _double-entendre_, its puns, its folk-etymologies, its keen discernment of hidden resemblances and a.n.a.logies, deserves more study than it has apparently received.

The formulae and expressions belonging to such games as marbles are worthy of consideration, for here the child is given an opportunity to invent new words and phrases or to modify and disfigure old ones.

_Formulae of Defiance, etc._

The formulae of defiance, insult, teasing, etc., rhymed and in prose, offer much of interest. Peculiarities of physical const.i.tution, mental traits, social relations.h.i.+ps, and the like, give play to childish fancy and invention. It would be a long list which should include all the material corresponding to such as the following, well known among English-speaking school-children:--