Linguistic Phenomenon The quarterly Journal of Psychological Medicine publishes a very curious report about a little girl who substituted the language spoken around her, by a series of words and verbs forming a whole idiom that she uses and cannot stop using.
“The child is now almost five years old. Until the age of three, she remained silent and could only pronounce the words "dad" and "mum". When she approached her fourth year her tongue suddenly loosened, and today she speaks with all the ease and fluency of her age. But out of everything she says, the two words "dad" and "mum," that she first learned, are the only ones borrowed from the English language. All the others were born in her little brain and from her little lips, and have nothing to do with the childlike words that children usually play with.
In her dictionary, Gaan means God; migno-migno, water; odo, to send for, or take away, depending on the context; gar, horse.
One day, said Doctor Hun, it rained. The child was brought in and forbidden to go out before the rain had stopped. She went to the window and said:
- Gaan odo migno-migno, feu odo. (God, stop the rain, bring the fires of the sun)
The word “feu” (fire) applied in the same sense as in my own language struck me. I was told that the child had never heard French, which is a very strange thing, and that it would be interesting to investigate, because the child borrowed several words from the French language, such as "tout", "moi ", and the negation "ne pas".
The child has brother eighteen months older. She taught him her language, without borrowing any of the words he uses.
Her parents are devastated with this little phenomenon; they have often tried to teach her English, to tell her the English name of things that she designates otherwise in her idiom: she absolutely refuses to do so. They tried to keep her away from children her age, to put her in communication only with older people, speaking English and knowing nothing of her little idiom. There was reason to hope that a child who had shown herself as eager to communicate her thoughts as to invent a new language, would seek to learn English when surrounded by people speaking English only. But it did not happen. As soon as she finds herself with people she is not used to seeing, she immediately begins to teach them her language, and momentarily at least, her parents have given up trying to discourage her.”
Once this fact was discussed at the Spiritist Society of Paris, a Spirit explained it in the following communication:
Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, October 9th, 1969 – medium Mr. Nivard
“The phenomenon of the little Englishwoman, speaking a language unknown to those around her, and refusing to use theirs, is the most extraordinary fact that has occurred over many centuries.
Remarkable facts have taken place in all times, in all eras, that have astonished men, but they had similar or look-alike; that certainly did not explain them, but they were seen with less surprise. The one in question may be one of a kind. The explanation that can be given is neither easier nor more difficult than the others, but its singularity is striking; here is the essential.
I said striking; it is truly, not the cause, but the reason for the phenomenon. It strikes you with astonishment: that's why it happened. Now that progress has come a long way, people will not be content to speak of the fact, as one speaks of rain and good weather; people will want to look for the cause. Doctors have nothing to do with it; physiology is foreign to this singularity; if the child were dumb or could only articulate a few words with difficulty, that one would not understand due to the insufficiency of her vocal cords, the scientists would say that this is due to bad physiological dispositions, and that by making disappear these bad dispositions, the child would be given the free use of her speech. But this is not the case here; on the contrary, the child is chatty, talkative; she speaks easily, calls things her own way, expresses them in the form that suits her and goes further: she teaches her language to her mates, when it is proven that she cannot be taught her mother tongue, and that she doesn't even want to do it. Psychology is therefore the only science in which we must seek the explanation of this fact. The reason, the special goal, I have just said it: it was necessary to shock the spirits and to solicit their research. As for the cause, I will try to tell you.
The Spirit incarnate in the body of this child has known the language, or rather the languages that she speaks, because she mixes them up. Nevertheless, this mixture is done knowingly and constitutes a language whose various expressions are borrowed from those that this Spirit knew in other incarnations. In her last existence, she had the idea of creating a universal language to allow men of all nations to get along and thus increase the ease of relationships and human progress. To this end, she had begun to compose this language she formed from fragments of several of those she knew and liked best. The English language was unknown to her; she had heard English, but she found the language unpleasant and hated it. Once in erraticity, the goal she had set in that life pursued her there; she got back to work and composed a vocabulary that is peculiar to her.
She incarnated among the English with the contempt she had for their language, and with the firm determination not to speak it. She took possession of a body whose flexible organism allows her to keep her word. The ties that bind her to this body are elastic enough to keep her in a state of semi-detachment that gives her a distinct memory of her past and sustains her in her resolution. On the other hand, she is helped by her spiritual guide, who ensures that the phenomenon takes place with regularity and perseverance, to call the attention of men. The incarnate Spirit, moreover, was consenting in the production of the fact. At the same time as she displays the displeasure with the English language, she fulfills the mission of provoking psychological research.
L. Nirvad, father.”
Observation: If this explanation cannot be demonstrated, at least it has rationality and likelihood on its side. An Englishman who does not admit the principle of the plurality of existences, and who had no knowledge of the above communication, carried away by irresistible logic, speaking about this fact, said that it could only be explained by reincarnation, if it was true that one could live again on Earth.
Here then is a phenomenon that, by its very strangeness and captivating attention, provokes the idea of reincarnation, as the only plausible reason that can be given. Before this principle was in the order of the day, we would have found the fact quite bizarre, and in earlier times, we would certainly have regarded this child as bewitched. We wouldn't even swear that today this was not the opinion of some people. What isn’t less worthy of note is that this fact occurs precisely in a country that is still resistant to the idea of reincarnation, but to which it will be brought by the force of circumstances.
