Linguistic Phenomenon.

— The Quarterly Journal of Psychological Medicine publishes a very curious report about a little girl who replaced the language spoken around her with a series of nouns and verbs, forming an entire idiom, which she uses and from which she cannot be weaned.

“The child is now nearly five years old. Until the age of three she did not speak and could pronounce only the words “papa” and “mama”. When she approached four years of age, her tongue suddenly loosened, and today she speaks with all the facility and volubility of her age. But of everything she says, only the two words “papa” and “mama”, which she learned first, were taken from the English language. All the others sprang from her little brain and from her lips, and have no relation even to that corruption of words that the children who habitually play with her use.

“In her dictionary, Gaan means God (Deus); migno-migno, water (água); odo, to send for, or take away (mandar, retirar), according to how it is placed; gar, horse (cavalo).

“One day, says Dr. Hum, it began to rain. They made the little girl come in and forbade her to go out until the rain stopped. She positioned herself at the window and said:

“— Gaan odo migno-migno, feu odo. (God, take away the rain; bring the fire of the sun).

“The word feu applied in the same sense as in the language to which I belong struck me. I learned that the child had never heard French spoken, a very singular thing, and that it would be interesting to verify it well, because the child had taken several words from the French language, such as “tout”, “moi” and the negation “ne… pas.”

“The little girl has a brother, about eighteen months older than she. She taught him her language, without taking any of the words he uses.

“Her parents are very distressed by this little phenomenon; they have often tried to teach her English, to give her the English name of the things that she designates otherwise in her idiom: this she flatly refuses. They tried to keep her away from children of her age and to place her only in contact with elderly people, who speak English and know nothing of her little jargon. It was to be expected that a child who showed herself as eager to communicate her thoughts as to invent a new language would seek to learn English when she found herself among people who spoke only that language. But it produced no result.

“As soon as she finds herself with people she is not in the habit of seeing, she sets about teaching them her language and, at least momentarily, her parents have given up trying to break her of this habit.”

— The fact having been discussed at the Spiritist Society of Paris, a Spirit gave its explanation in the following communication:

(Society of Paris, October 9, 1868. – Medium: Mr. Nivard.)

The phenomenon of the little Englishwoman, speaking a language unknown to those around her, and refusing to make use of theirs, is the most extraordinary fact that has occurred in many centuries.

Surprising facts have occurred in all times, in all epochs, which caused admiration in men, but they had counterparts or similar cases. Certainly this does not explain them, but they were seen with less surprise. The one with which we are dealing is, perhaps, the only one of its kind. The explanation that can be given for it is neither easier nor more difficult than the others, but its singularity is striking: that is the essential point.

I said striking; it is not exactly the cause, but the reason for the phenomenon. It shocks with astonishment: that is why it was produced. Today, when progress is making a certain headway, people will not be content to speak of the fact as one speaks of rain and fair weather; they want to seek its cause. The physicians have nothing to do with this; physiology is foreign to this singularity; if the child were mute, or could articulate a few words only with difficulty, words that would not be understood owing to the insufficiency of her vocal organs, the learned would say that this results from bad physiological dispositions, and that, by making these bad dispositions disappear, they would leave the child the free use of speech. But such is not the case here; the child, on the contrary, is loquacious, talkative, speaks easily, calls things in her own way, expresses them in the manner that suits her, and goes further: she teaches her language to her playmates, when it is proven that they cannot teach her her mother tongue and that she does not even wish to submit to it. Psychology is, therefore, the only science in which the explanation of this fact must be sought. The reason, the special purpose, I have just stated: it was necessary to impress the Spirits and provoke their researches. As for the cause, I will try to tell it to you.

The Spirit incarnated in the body of this little girl knew the language, or rather, the languages of which she speaks, for she makes a mixture. This mixture, however, is made consciously and constitutes a language, whose various expressions are taken from those that this Spirit knew in other incarnations. In his last existence he had had the idea of creating a universal language, in order to allow men of all nations to understand one another and thus increase the facility of relations and human progress. To this end, he had begun to compose this language, which he constructed from fragments of several of those he knew and liked best. The English language was unknown to him; he had heard Englishmen speak, but he found their language disagreeable and detested it. Once in erraticity, the aim he had set himself in life continued there; he set to the task and composed a vocabulary peculiar to him. He incarnated among the English, with the contempt he had for their language, and with the firm determination not to speak it. He took possession of a body whose flexible organism allows him to maintain speech. The bonds that bind him to this body are elastic enough to keep him in a state of semi-detachment, which leaves him a fairly distinct remembrance of his past and sustains him in his resolve. On the other hand, he is helped by his spiritual guide, who watches over the phenomenon so that it is produced with regularity and perseverance, in order to draw the attention of men. Moreover, the incarnated Spirit was consenting to the production of the fact. At the same time that he displays his displeasure with the English language, he fulfills the mission of provoking psychological researches. L. Nivard, father.

Observation. – If this explanation cannot be demonstrated, at least it has in its favor rationality and probability. An Englishman, who does not admit the principle of the plurality of existences, and who had no knowledge of the above communication, carried along by irresistible logic, said, in speaking of this case, that it could be explained only by reincarnation, if it were certain that one could live again on Earth.

Here, then, is a phenomenon which, by its very strangeness, captivating attention, provokes the idea of reincarnation, as the only plausible reason that can be given for it. Before this principle was the order of the day, the fact would simply have been found bizarre and, no doubt, in more remote times, they would have regarded this little girl as bewitched. We would not even affirm that today this is not the opinion of certain people. What is no less worthy of note is that this fact is produced precisely in a country still refractory to the idea of reincarnation, but to which it will be carried by the force of things.