case the answer _nicht mehr da_ is no falsehood, but is to be
understood as meaning that the key is no longer to be seen. The
expression of the face was roguish at the time.

The sole interrogative word continues still to be "Where?" e. g., _Where
is ball?_ The demonstratives _da_ (there) and _dort_ (yonder) (_dort ist
nass_--wet) were more frequently spoken correctly in answer.

The "I" in place of his own name does not yet appear, because this word
does not occur frequently enough in conversation with the child. The bad
custom adults have of designating themselves in their talk with little
children, not as in ordinary conversation by the word "I," but by the
proper name, or as "aunt," "grandma," etc., postpones the time of saying
"I" on the part of children. _Me_ is pretty often used at this period,
for the reason that it is frequently heard at meal-times in "Give me!"

_Bitte, liebe Mama, gib mir mehr Suppe_ (Please, dear mamma, give me
more soup) is, to be sure, learned by heart; but such sentences are at
the proper time and in the proper place modified and even independently
applied. _Noch mehr_, _immer noch mehr_, _vielleicht_, _fast_ (more,
more yet, perhaps, almost), are also expressions often properly
employed, the last two, however, with uncertainty still. _Fast gefallen_
(almost fell) the child says when he has actually fallen down.

Although declension and conjugation are as yet absolutely lacking, a
transition has become established from the worst form of dysgrammatism
to the beginning of correct diction by means of the more frequent use of
the plural in nouns (_Rad_, _Raeder_), the more frequent employment of
the article (_foer d[)e] Papa_), the not very rare strong inflection
(_gegangen_ instead of the earlier _gegeht_; _genommen_ instead of the
earlier _genehmt_). To be sure, the infinitive still stands in the place
of the participle and the imperative in by far the great majority of
cases. The auxiliaries are often omitted or employed in strange
misformations, e. g., "Where have you been?" Answer, _paziren gewarent_
[something like _they wented 'alk_] (wir waren spazieren, spazieren
gewesen).

In _articulation_ no perceptible progress is to be recorded. The objects
known from the picture-book are indeed for the most part rightly named,
but new ones often have their names very much distorted--e. g.,
"Violine" is persistently called _wiloine_. The "sch" is occasionally
given correctly, but _s-truempf