Caretaker Phrases: Peek-a-Boo

[Mark Vines <vinesm@wholefoods.com>]

coidoi lobypli

Our daughter (& thus-far only child) Erin is 6 months old
now.  As with all babies, almost everyone who talks to
Erin talks funny.  We choose funny words, pronounce them
in a funny way, & accompany our words with funny gestures
& facial expressions.  Linguists refer to this kind of talk
as "caretaker speech".  It may be instinctive, & probably
helps children to acquire language.

Caretaker speech is normally defined by _how_ things are
said, & not by _what_ is said.  Directive eye contact &
voice tone are more important than the words being used.
Even so, I've noticed that people who use caretaker speech
with Erin tend to say certain things to her with great
frequency.  Let us refer to such frequent utterances as
"Caretaker Phrases".  These vary from culture to culture &
maybe even from house to house.  However, some linguists
hypothesize that these utterances contain important cues &
clues which help children to master various grammatical
features of their mother tongue, as well as concepts,
vocabulary & so forth.

With that hypothesis in mind, I have been trying to
translate into Lojban some of the English-language
caretaker phrases that I've heard people use when they
talk to Erin.  I have the notion that a list of such
phrases might be useful for anyone interested in teaching
Lojban to young children ... especially if others will
contribute to the list, so it won't be limited to the
caretaker phrases from a single household.  I would
appreciate any comments, criticisms or suggestions on how
to improve &or expand the list.

Most of the phrases I've collected can be assigned to one
of several game-like interactions between caretaker &
child.  One of these is the interaction which is often
called "Peek-a-Boo".  In this interaction, the baby's face
is briefly covered up with a towel or blanket (or whatever)
& the caretakers then pretend they cannot find the baby.
Then the baby's face is uncovered & the caretakers pretend
to discover the baby.  Sometimes a caretaker is hidden &
then revealed in a similar routine.

Here are my tentative translations of Peek-a-Boo Caretaker
Phrases into Lojban:

PB01  Where are you?
        .ue do zvati vi ma

PB02  There you are!
        .ua do zvati vi ta

PB03  I see you!
        .ui mi viska do

PB04  Where's Erin?
        .ue la .erin. cu zvati vi ma

PB05  There she is!
        .ua la .erin. cu zvati vi tu

PB06  I see Erin!
        .ui mi viska la .erin.

PB07  Where's the baby?
        .ue le cifnu cu zvati vi ma

PB08  There's the baby!
        .ua le cifnu cu zvati vi tu

PB09  I see the baby!
        .ui mi viska le cifnu

PB10  Where is your mama?
        .ue ledo mamta cu zvati vi ma

PB11  Where is she?
        ledo mamta goi ko'a
        pau ko'a zvati vi ma

PB12  Can you see her?
        do xu viska ko'a

PB13  There she is!
        .ua ko'a zvati vi tu

PB14  I'm your mother.
        mi mamta do

PB15  Here I am!
        mi zvati vi ti

Of course, PB10-PB15 may be modified so as to specify a
caretaker other than the mother:

             father = le patfu
             sister = le mensi
            brother = le bruna
             cousin = le tamne
       aunt / uncle = le famti
              elder = le dzena
        grandmother = le mamymamta / le pafmamta
        grandfather = le mampa'u   / le pafpa'u
 nanny / babysitter = le verku'i
          wet-nurse = le cifku'i
      family friend = le lanzu pendo
        housekeeper = le zdaku'i

le jvoste defines {verku'i} as wet-nurse, but I feel
rather strongly that this term is better suited for a
nanny or babysitter.  For wet-nurse, I would suggest
{ladydu'a cifku'i}.  If a shorter word is desirable,
I'd suggest {cifku'i} for wet-nurse, & {verku'i} for
nanny or babysitter.

Any comments, criticisms & suggestions would be
greatly appreciated.

co'omi'e markl.