Miles's vocabulary page

As with Ella before him, most of Miles's early vocabulary consisted of animal noises, which meant that like Ella, he did not distinguish between the sounds that things make and their actual names. A dog, for example, was called a "woo woo" and a car was called a "vroo". But now Miles has started using nouns properly as well for some things (dogs, hats, maps), though other things are still known by the sounds they make (cars, lions). Now, on with the vocabulary!

Vocabulary as at 20 October 2006
Real words: Ella, Daddy, Mama, Ball, Bubble, This, What's This?

Miles's word	English	Notes
(blows out through mouth twice, whoo whoo)	Hot	Toast. Also what Miles says when food is hot. Hence hot things in general, such as the iron, the oven, and so on.
(smacks lips)	Fish	What a fish says, obviously. Now also seems to mean duck.
(clicks tongue)	Clock, watch, and duck	Clocks and watches go tick tock. Miles thinks any round shape on a wall (such as a plate or a sundial) is also a clock.
Aaah	Cat	What a cat says
Ah-ah	Mobile phone, bell, or chime	This is what a phone says when a text message arrives. Miles also says this when he hears a church bell or any kind of warning chime in the car.
Ah ooh ooh	Rooster	Ah-ooh-OOH is sort of what a rooster says, after all. Miles became obsessed with listening to roosters while in Italy.
At!	Hat	When pointing out a hat, said "Ah-at!"
(bah)	Sheep	Apparently sheep are very quiet, and prefer to whisper.
Baba	Baby	Or bye-bye
Bah-pih	Pushchair	We have no idea why. A kind of bus? Oddly, Ella's word for pushchair was "bah"
Bih	Beer, bread or biscuit	Refers to any drink that is not water or milk. Includes juice, wine, etc. Also refers to bottles of said drinks. Any green glass bottle is assumed to be beer.
Buh	Bus, book or butterfly
Boow	Ball, or balloon	Means balloons even if they are not round; also means round fruit (eg apple)
Da-da	Dinosaur	Or sometimes even da-da-da
Daddy	Daddy	Also means drumming or drum. (Miles is trying to say "dum ditty dum ditty")
Dah or dat	Cat	Cats say "aaah" (see Aaah)
Dah	Light	Also means light switch.
Deep deep	Bird	Said at the highest possible pitch. Cheep, cheep!
Dish	Fish	When not smacking lips
Doh	Dog	Also means frog. Miles thinks frogs are a kind of green dog.
Dooh	Shoe	Or shoes
Doot-doot	Train
Ella	Ella	Also means girl. Any girl in a book is assumed to be Ella.
Geesh	Keys	Actually, a bunch of keys
Mama	Mummy	Also means cuddle
Mah	Miles	What Miles calls himself
Mah	Map	We have a lot of framed maps on the walls. Also means anything in a frame on the wall.
Mee-law or Mee-naw	Fire engine, etc	Any emergency vehicle with a siren: fire engines, police cars, etc
Mih-mih-mih	Me me me!	Means Miles wants something
Meeee	Lee	What Miles calls Lee
Muh	Milk	Or bottle. Muh! Muh!
Nigh-nigh	Night-night	What Miles says when going upstairs to bed. He waves at the same time. Goodnight!
Oh-dih	Oh dear	What Miles says when something falls on the floor. So, by extension, anything on the floor is called an Oh-dih. The newspaper (which comes through the letterbox and falls on the floor) is also announced with the cry of Oh-dih.
Ooh-ooh	Monkey	Obviously
Raah	Lion or dinosaur	To be said with a big grin! Raah!
Ra-ra-ra	Round and round	What the wheels on the bus say; also means washing machine, wheel, or anything else that rotates
Rah-rah	Flower	Or flowers
Teh-deh	Teddy
'ter-'ter-'ter	Water	An abbreviation of "water", which Miles used to say properly. Also means bath or swimming. Mention either of these words and Miles will start saying "'ter-'ter".
Up-up	Aeroplane	Also known as a Vroo-up, since a plane goes Vroo, but up in the sky.
Vroo	Car	A car goes brrrm, or vroo, as Miles puts it. He says this almost every time he sees a car. Also refers to motorbikes, lorries, pushchairs and anything else with wheels.
Wah, dih, dih	One, two, three	Miles counting. All numbers after one are identical, it seems

Vocabulary as at 20 August 2006

Miles's word	English	Notes
(smacks lips)	Fish	What a fish says, obviously.
(clicks tongue)	Clock, watch, and duck	Clocks and watches go tick tock. And Miles thinks ducks make the same sound, too. He can now do a strange double-click that we adults cannot. Miles thinks any round shape on a wall (such as a plate or a sundial) is also a clock.
aaah	Cat	This is Miles's impersonation of Oscar, our cat. It's actually pretty good. The problem is that Miles thinks most dogs and sheep are cats, too.
ah-ah	Mobile phone, bell, or chime	This is what a phone says when a text message arrives. So a phone is an ah-ah. Miles also says this when he hears a church bell or any kind of warning chime in the car.
ah ooh ooh	Rooster	Ah-ooh-OOH is sort of what a rooster says, after all. Miles became obsessed with listening to roosters while in Italy.
(bah)	Sheep	Apparently sheep are very quiet, and prefer to whisper.
bwaah bwaah	Baby	The babies on the bus go "wah, wah, wah". This is the closest Miles can get. He sometimes says "beebee" for baby, too.
bwoo	Ball, or balloon	Balls do not say anything -- not even "ball" -- so Miles just says ball. But he doesn't say it very consistently. He seems to be confused by the fact that balls are silent.
deep deep	Bird	Said at the highest possible pitch. Cheep, cheep!
ooh ooh	Monkey	Obviously
raah	Lion or dinosaur	To be said with a big grin! Raah!
vroo	Car	A car goes brrrm, or vroo, as Miles puts it. He says this almost every time he sees a car; it is easily his most-used word. In a car park, he goes manic. Also refers to motorbikes, lorries, pushchairs and anything else with wheels.
vroo-ab	Plane	A plane goes brrrm, and it goes up in the air, too. When watching planes take off at Rome airport, Miles decided they were called vroo-abs. They go "ab, ab, ab" in the air.
Wor-toor	Water	Miles gets very excited when there is water around, in the bath, in a swimming pool, or even next to a running tap. Wor-toor! Wor-toor! As a result, other things that make Miles excited may also be called wor-toor.