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Talking backward: exceptional speech play in late childhood*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Nelson Cowan  and
Lewis A. Leavitt
Nelson Cowan
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Lewis A. Leavitt
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Abstract

The game of ‘talking backward’, invented independently by two boys aged 8; 10 and 9; 11, is studied with reference to the role of speech play in linguistic, cognitive, and social development. Case reports from 27 adult backward talkers suggest a lower limit of about 7 years for the onset of this ability. The backward speech of the two children illustrates how either phonology or orthography can be used as a basis for backward speech, and demonstrates the boys' knowledge of phonemic units and letter-to-sound correspondences. Talking backward belongs to a larger class of ‘secret’ language games that may be cognitively and pragmatically well suited to children of this age.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , June 1982 , pp. 481 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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Footnotes

[*]

Address for correspondence: Dr Lewis A. Leavitt, 553 Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, WI 53706, U.S.A.

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