Should Daddy give Amy a biscuit?

[pne]

I've noticed recently that I speak to Amy a lot in the third person, both when referring to herself and to me: "Daddy's going to do this"; "Amy is putting her doll into the shopping trolley"; "Should Daddy give Amy a biscuit?" etc.

In German, she's started using ich a fair bit, along with mein, while in English, it's Amy and Amy's most of the time. Since she seems to have grasped the concept of "I"-referring-to-who(m?)ever-is-currently-speaking (rather than always to the same person) in German, perhaps it's time for her to start using I and you more, rather than names.

Still, it's hard to break out of a habit that I've formed, unconsciously, for quite a while.

Comments

[elgrande.livejournal.com]

A few years ago, you asked on linguaphiles about languages where you use a certain grammatical person to actually mean a different one (like German third person plural for second person singular etc.) and you were still looking for a language that used the third person for the first person. Then either I or someone else pointed out the how some parents talk to their children.
I find it funny to read that you yourself are now using such expressions a lot.

[nitaq.livejournal.com]

I remember that too. Seems we have covered about everything now. What about 3rd person plural?