Ahh, vacation...
What better time than vacation to write random oneshots? Also...I'm gonna work on ReEragon. I swear. ^_^;;;; But anyway, here's a baby-Svyrnn oneshot. Because they're fun to write. *laughs*
What Sarah Heard
(The researchers thought Sarah wasn't learning. Sarah might disagree.)
"Water," Dr. Grey said slowly, pointing to the bowl of water on the table. "Waaaa-teeeeer," he repeated when Sarah didn't even look up. She just kept staring off at the blank wall behind him. Did she even know he was there? Did she understand that he was trying to communicate?
"Water," Dr. Grey said again, splashing the water a little. Most children would at least be interested in the splashing water, but Sarah was not most children.
With a sigh, Dr. Grey moved the bowl aside. He wasn't surprised--Sarah hadn't responded to Dr. Geiber at yesterday's test, so why should she respond today?--but he was disappointed. Four years old and she still didn't talk...was Sarah even capable of communication? Was anything getting through to her? There was no way to know.
"We'll talk again tomorrow, Sarah. Goodbye. Goodbye, Sarah," Dr. Grey said, speaking slowly and clearly as they always did with Sarah, before waving goodbye and leaving. Sarah still didn't move. She stayed staring at the wall. Five minutes after Dr. Grey had left, she knocked the bowl of water over and started banging it on the table. Just as usual. Sarah's only mode of interaction with the world seemed to take the form of blunt force trauma.
Oh well, Dr. Grey thought with a shrug. Just had to keep trying. They would only be able to prove or disprove that a soulless human couldn't communicate with repeated testing.
-o-o-o-
"Wuh," Sarah mumbled as she sat in her small, bare room that night, rocking back and forth and staring into empty space. "Ah. Tuh. Urrh. Wuh. Ah. Tuh. Urrh." Over and over she mumbled, rocking and staring.
"She's not mute," Dr. Geiber said thoughtfully as she watched the video feed of Sarah's room. Sarah was observed at all times; what she did when she was alone was as important to their research as her interactions with them.
"But all she does is grunt like that," Dr. Grey said. "She's not communicating, just making noise. It's probably no different than the sounds a bowl makes when she hits it on the table; she just likes the noise."
"Still, it shows that she should be capable of making at least the sounds of language," Dr. Geiber insisted. "Even a parrot can imitate human speech--shouldn't she be able to?"
'Wuh-ah-tuh-urrh' meant the cold-slippery-wet-can't-hold-onto-it in the bowl. So did 'wadd-er', like Dr. West said, and 'wah-ter' like Dr. Geiber said. 'Waw-tur' and 'waw-der' and 'wott-er'. They all meant the same. They sounded different, but they all meant 'wuh-ah-tuh-urrh'. That was what Sarah heard.
They made sounds at each other. Sarah heard them. Then, they did things. The sounds made them do things. Sarah thought that.
She did not care much about the make-them-do-things noises, but that man wanted her to make them too. The others called that man the Learned Doctor Richard Grey. Sarah heard them say it one time. That was what that man was called.
The Learned Doctor gave Sarah food to eat and blocks to play with. It didn't hurt her head when he was near anymore.
Sarah didn't know why, but when the Learned Doctor was there, she felt like doing what he wanted her to do. So she was practicing.
'Wuh-ah-tuh-urrh'. The Learned Doctor said it 'waw-ter'. 'Wuh-ah-tuh-urrh.' Sarah was practicing because the Learned Doctor wanted her to make the sounds, too.
'Wuh-ah-tuh-urrh'. That was what Sarah heard.
[the end]
So...it's weird to write in Sarah's POV, because at this point she's basically non-verbal. She clearly can understand speech at this point, or at least knows sort-of what it is, but I have no idea how to realistically write the POV of someone who doesn't see the world in verbal terms (probably because I see the world in verbal terms. My 'inner monologue', so to speak, is in words. But Sarah's isn't, or shouldn't be.). So...this is written in words, because how else could I write it? But Sarah doesn't really have much of a word-based thought process at this point, or ever, really. So...I guess in using words, I'm...I dunno...translating her thought process into words? But she's learning verbal communication at this point.
The reason she's sounding it out so weirdly is because Sarah has very, very good hearing. So, to her, when Dr. Grey and Dr. Geiber each say 'water', the two words sound different. 'Water' is 'water' no matter how you say it, but if you didn't know that, it might take a while to figure it out, especially if your primary mode of understanding the world is more tactile/visual than auditory. So, speech was a tricky thing for Sarah to learn, mostly because it just wasn't how she naturally saw the world.
She starts talking some time after a normal child would, though. Babies babble and stuff, but Sarah didn't. I learned in my linguistics class that this is possible (children suddenly starting to talk when they didn't before) IF the child has been exposed to language enough. So...Sarah is like that. One day she just up and starts talking. Her first word is 'no'. *laughs* Somehow, that seemed appropriate for her. XD
But anyway, this ficlet is mostly just...what Sarah is hearing is not the same as what the researchers are hearing. Also, Dr. Grey is her favorite person at this point, which is why she decides to talk to him and practices it. She doesn't understand the idea of 'love' or 'being happy with a parent-figure', she just knows what she wants to do. For Sarah, instead of asking 'how do you feel?', it's better to ask 'what do you want to do?' Sarah might want to hit someone if she's angry, but wouldn't be able to express 'I feel angry'--just hit. She has emotions, she just doesn't KNOW that she has them or know how to label them or recognize them easily. She starts to learn that more when she's an adult, thanks to her brother's help.
So yeah, I just randomly wrote that...^_^;;;;
What Sarah Heard
(The researchers thought Sarah wasn't learning. Sarah might disagree.)
"Water," Dr. Grey said slowly, pointing to the bowl of water on the table. "Waaaa-teeeeer," he repeated when Sarah didn't even look up. She just kept staring off at the blank wall behind him. Did she even know he was there? Did she understand that he was trying to communicate?
"Water," Dr. Grey said again, splashing the water a little. Most children would at least be interested in the splashing water, but Sarah was not most children.
With a sigh, Dr. Grey moved the bowl aside. He wasn't surprised--Sarah hadn't responded to Dr. Geiber at yesterday's test, so why should she respond today?--but he was disappointed. Four years old and she still didn't talk...was Sarah even capable of communication? Was anything getting through to her? There was no way to know.
"We'll talk again tomorrow, Sarah. Goodbye. Goodbye, Sarah," Dr. Grey said, speaking slowly and clearly as they always did with Sarah, before waving goodbye and leaving. Sarah still didn't move. She stayed staring at the wall. Five minutes after Dr. Grey had left, she knocked the bowl of water over and started banging it on the table. Just as usual. Sarah's only mode of interaction with the world seemed to take the form of blunt force trauma.
Oh well, Dr. Grey thought with a shrug. Just had to keep trying. They would only be able to prove or disprove that a soulless human couldn't communicate with repeated testing.
-o-o-o-
"Wuh," Sarah mumbled as she sat in her small, bare room that night, rocking back and forth and staring into empty space. "Ah. Tuh. Urrh. Wuh. Ah. Tuh. Urrh." Over and over she mumbled, rocking and staring.
"She's not mute," Dr. Geiber said thoughtfully as she watched the video feed of Sarah's room. Sarah was observed at all times; what she did when she was alone was as important to their research as her interactions with them.
"But all she does is grunt like that," Dr. Grey said. "She's not communicating, just making noise. It's probably no different than the sounds a bowl makes when she hits it on the table; she just likes the noise."
"Still, it shows that she should be capable of making at least the sounds of language," Dr. Geiber insisted. "Even a parrot can imitate human speech--shouldn't she be able to?"
'Wuh-ah-tuh-urrh' meant the cold-slippery-wet-can't-hold-onto-it in the bowl. So did 'wadd-er', like Dr. West said, and 'wah-ter' like Dr. Geiber said. 'Waw-tur' and 'waw-der' and 'wott-er'. They all meant the same. They sounded different, but they all meant 'wuh-ah-tuh-urrh'. That was what Sarah heard.
They made sounds at each other. Sarah heard them. Then, they did things. The sounds made them do things. Sarah thought that.
She did not care much about the make-them-do-things noises, but that man wanted her to make them too. The others called that man the Learned Doctor Richard Grey. Sarah heard them say it one time. That was what that man was called.
The Learned Doctor gave Sarah food to eat and blocks to play with. It didn't hurt her head when he was near anymore.
Sarah didn't know why, but when the Learned Doctor was there, she felt like doing what he wanted her to do. So she was practicing.
'Wuh-ah-tuh-urrh'. The Learned Doctor said it 'waw-ter'. 'Wuh-ah-tuh-urrh.' Sarah was practicing because the Learned Doctor wanted her to make the sounds, too.
'Wuh-ah-tuh-urrh'. That was what Sarah heard.
[the end]
So...it's weird to write in Sarah's POV, because at this point she's basically non-verbal. She clearly can understand speech at this point, or at least knows sort-of what it is, but I have no idea how to realistically write the POV of someone who doesn't see the world in verbal terms (probably because I see the world in verbal terms. My 'inner monologue', so to speak, is in words. But Sarah's isn't, or shouldn't be.). So...this is written in words, because how else could I write it? But Sarah doesn't really have much of a word-based thought process at this point, or ever, really. So...I guess in using words, I'm...I dunno...translating her thought process into words? But she's learning verbal communication at this point.
The reason she's sounding it out so weirdly is because Sarah has very, very good hearing. So, to her, when Dr. Grey and Dr. Geiber each say 'water', the two words sound different. 'Water' is 'water' no matter how you say it, but if you didn't know that, it might take a while to figure it out, especially if your primary mode of understanding the world is more tactile/visual than auditory. So, speech was a tricky thing for Sarah to learn, mostly because it just wasn't how she naturally saw the world.
She starts talking some time after a normal child would, though. Babies babble and stuff, but Sarah didn't. I learned in my linguistics class that this is possible (children suddenly starting to talk when they didn't before) IF the child has been exposed to language enough. So...Sarah is like that. One day she just up and starts talking. Her first word is 'no'. *laughs* Somehow, that seemed appropriate for her. XD
But anyway, this ficlet is mostly just...what Sarah is hearing is not the same as what the researchers are hearing. Also, Dr. Grey is her favorite person at this point, which is why she decides to talk to him and practices it. She doesn't understand the idea of 'love' or 'being happy with a parent-figure', she just knows what she wants to do. For Sarah, instead of asking 'how do you feel?', it's better to ask 'what do you want to do?' Sarah might want to hit someone if she's angry, but wouldn't be able to express 'I feel angry'--just hit. She has emotions, she just doesn't KNOW that she has them or know how to label them or recognize them easily. She starts to learn that more when she's an adult, thanks to her brother's help.
So yeah, I just randomly wrote that...^_^;;;;