Talk:Language deprivation experiments

Latest comment: 2 years ago by Hoheolo in topic See also

[Untitled] edit

According to the link, it was James V of Scotland, not James IV who held experiments in language; also, he ruled BEFORE Akbar =). Elefuntboy 16:58, 3 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

We're not supposed to talk about this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.220.199.176 (talk) 19:40, 20 August 2013 (UTC)Reply

"Historical examples" edit

The term "historical" is a pretty loose description of these stories, which might better be termed semi-legendary. Furthermore, the category "Historical Linguistics" is pretty much of a stretch; "Psycholinguistics" might be closer. --Ziusudra 04:11, 4 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Taking this a little bit further:
  • As to the literal truth of Herodotus, critics ancient and modern accuse him of fabricating many outlandish stories (see Scrutiny of Herodotus' works).
  • As to Salimbene di Adam's acccount of such an experiment, which even the present article calls "alleged", it is to be found in his Chronicle among other "curiosities" or "excesses" of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, such as the amphibious "Nicholas the Fish", whom the emperor compelled to retrieve his golden cup from the bottom of Charybdis. Frederick had many enemies who were fond of villifying him, cruel though he might have been, so any such tales are to be take with several grains of salt. (BTW, the WikiSource for Salimbene's Chronicle to which the article links is missing. A paraphrase and translation from Latin is to be found at [1].)
  • As to the reference for James V of Scotland, the cited source states, "...the children were reported to have spoken good Hebrew." The witness impeacheth itself.
  • Finally, in the same reference (online class notes for an undergraduate linguistics course), no verifiable source for the alleged deeds of James or Akbar is given.
It seems to me that what these citations provide would be, not a verifiable history of experiments, but perhaps an indication that the idea has long been current, that only a cruel autocrat could order such an inhuman experiment. --Ziusudra 03:10, 5 February 2007 (UTC)Reply
Agree. btw I've found another source for the Akbar anecdote.--K.C. Tang 06:50, 5 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

The entry for King James IV claims he was responsible for the experiment not James V. Which entry is correct? Mathew Rammer (talk) 08:03, 9 September 2008 (UTC) They are the same person. King James the V of Scotland, later becoming James VI of England in 1603 (1566-1625)Reply

  • As to the reference for James V of Scotland, the cited source states, "...the children were reported to have spoken good Hebrew." This is not a good source and should not be referenced as a fact —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.128.239.66 (talk) 17:14, 24 February 2009 (UTC)Reply


shouldn't this reference more modern examples, like the children kept under the stairs who created their own pidgin languages? AaronSw (talk) 21:14, 26 November 2009 (UTC)Reply

While not strictly "experiments", they sound like they would be related enough for at least a paragraph dealing on their development. But I'm not sure I've seen a news story on a case where a child was raised without language, and developed one of their own -- do you have a link or something? Sherurcij (speaker for the dead) 21:29, 26 November 2009 (UTC)Reply

The reality of natural experiments edit

I seriously doubt that any of the experiments listed really happened. However, there are a number of tragic cases of children growing up with very little human contact. These children don't speak any foreign or ancient language. In fact, some of them don't speak at all. Those which eventually learn to speak understandably speak a limited and strange-sounding version of the surrounding culture's language. What I mean is that they don't follow the grammar or usage of the language in question. These are the real consequences of not having the chance to learn a language in time.

2009-12-08 Lena Synnerholm, Märsta, Sweden.

Merge with Language deprivation edit

Language deprivation (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs)
Language deprivation experiments (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs)
- largely overlapping in scope. Skullers (talk) 03:45, 27 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

I agree that merging them would make a lot of sense, with what is preserved of this article in a section like Early claims of experiments or similar. PaleoNeonate (talk) 08:25, 19 March 2017 (UTC)Reply

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See also edit

I suppose that the reference to Elon Musk and Grimes under “See also” is a joke. It should be deleted, unless motivated in the main text. --Hoheolo (talk) 13:22, 27 September 2021 (UTC)Reply