Emerging Grammar

I was crowing the other day about how Asher seemed to have worked out that there was such a thing as grammar in language. We were at the zoo and Asher told me he had 'seed' the giraffes. As soon as he said it I was all excited - just like I was waiting for his first four-word sentence I was waiting to see when he would get that there was such a thing as grammar. Up until now if he used any kind of grammar (tenses etc) I couldn't be sure whether he was copying words he'd heard but hearing him make a mistake when applying a rule (in this case not using the exception) means that he's worked out that there are such things as rules to make tenses.

It didn't occur to me until several days later (when I was boring Elvira with my excitement) that many people would just correct the kid an not think anymore about it, but for me the way little kids acquire language and all it's complex rules and exceptions is nothing short of miraculous, and I feel so lucky to be able to watch it in my boy and his little friends.



The picture is of Asher and my cousin Ciaran at the zoo. Ciaran was trying to take photos of the giraffes with the harbour and city skyline in the background and Asher wanted to help. Ciaran was really lovely with him, endlessly patient with Asher's camera obsession and letting Asher fill the entire CF card with wonky images.