From A. H. Sayce   2 August 1877

Dear Sir,

Very many thanks for your kind permission to quote your words¹ as well as for the account of the last meeting of the American Philological Association & your allowing me to keep it. What Professor Holden & Professor Whitney say is at once interesting & important.² The first word on the list of the children’s vocabulary I notice is birdie, & among other words quoted are ‘dollie & my footies.³ This illustrates one of the results to w^h. the facts I have collected seem to point, namely the inclination children show for changing a monosyllable into a dissyllable by the addition of a short vowel or nasal. Other results are a clearer pronunciation of the vowels than of the consonants, a dislike to double consonants especially at the beginning of words, a use of aspirated gutturals & semi-articulate sounds very difficult for us to imitate, & an inclination to change initial s with h. I also observe in some cases that where a child has learnt to pronounce isolated words clearly & distinctly it fails to do so when it tries to combine them into sentences.

With many thanks | Yours faithfully | A. H. Sayce.