—Leonard Bloomfield, Language, 1933
                               
               (Boyibus kissibus priti girlorum, girlibus likibus, wanti somorum.) 

PART ONE    JOHN RAN AWAY

Suppose we hear a speaker say
     John ran ,
And a little later hear him or another speaker say
     John fell,
We recognize at once that these two forms,
 John ran and John fell, are in part phonetically alike…
In fact, if we are lucky,
We may hear someone utter the form  John !
All by itself, without any accompaniment.

 John! John?
John?! (‘It isn’t John, I hope!)

John, he ran away.
Who was watching the door?

Who, With whom? Who ran away?
With whom was he talking? 

PART TWO    THE LONE JILL

The lone Jill is in much
The same position as the speechless animal.
 Bow-wow, whip-poor-will, gnaf-gnaf.
Money gave out…
Horses gave out…
That’s all…One hardly knows what to say.

I am thinking of him. Charge
The man with larceny. Baby
Is hungry. Poor baby. I’m hungry
(Angry, frightened, sorry, glad;
My head aches, and so on).

“You haven’t given me money to buy coal.”
 Sniff, sniffle, snuff, sizzle, wheeze.

I was just wishing I had an apple. 

PART THREE       THE STUDY OF SPEECH

Since lips, tongue, and uvula are elastic,
They can be placed so that the breath
Sets them into vibration.

 Choo-choo, bye-bye, goody-goody,
Zigzag, flimflam, pell-mell,
Here are some apples; take one .


PART FOUR          HOW IT ENDED

 The man, who was carrying a bag,Came up to our door.

John! John? John?! Shut the door.
King John, John Brown…Mount Everest.

Whatever he says, I don’t believe him.

Ish gabibble, I love you. 
An inanimate object is a  roadster.
Man wants but little
Here below.
           Is zat so? 


Baby is hungry. Give baby the orange.
Give us bread and flesh. Poor baby.
I don’t seem to understand all you say.

           You angel. Here are some apples; take one.
          Heute spielen wir Ball*. Ouch, damn it!            
           It’s high time we—it’s high time we—

Is zat so? Please, “oxcuse” me.
Go without me. Go.
It is regrettable. Oh well, I guess
It won’t matter. Choo-choo, bye-bye.

Wave your hand to Daddy.

ENVOY

What happened remains a secret.

Choo-choo, bye-bye, oxcuse me,
It’s ten o’clock. I have to go.
One set of sounds is as unreasonable as any other.

Choo-choo, bye-bye, goody-goody,
Goodness gracious! dear me! Lickspittle,
Dreadnaught, snub-nosed, red-bearded,
Chortle, kodak, and blurb.


*Today we play ball.