Twin talk: manifestations of twin status in the speech of toddlers

Abstract

ABSTRACT With the expectation that an examination of language between toddler twins in their home environment would reveal characteristics unique to the subjects' twin status, 31 hours of crib-talk between identical twin girls and diary records of their speech were examined. It was found that the subjects developed conventional syntax and vocabulary, but adapted them in ways which appropriately expressed their twin status. Three salient examplesinclude their use of a double name for themselves as a team, their use of singular verbs in reference to themselves together, and their use of the singular pronoun me in pronominal reference to themselves as a team.