When I read Rich Burridge's blog entry about Kids Use of English, I immediately thought of my own kid...   Ian.

Ian is an African Grey parrot who was born in the UK.   He is nearly 18 months old.   In parrot years, he's still a kid.   Yet, already, he knows several words and phrases quite well.

Ian's first word was "Hello". Then he learned "Fly", "Good boy", "Up top", "Drop it", and "Come here".   He also can do a meow, a woof-woof, a perfect car alarm, and a cuckoo clock.   He's also learning his body parts...   starting with "Beak" and "Foot".

Recently, we were away on holiday.   When we got back, Ian had developed a cough.   It was a smoker's cough.   We called the babysitter (no, she does not smoke in our house) and simply asked her how her cough was.   "Fine now," she said, "but how did you know I had a cough?"

Ian also snores (I don't know where he learned that!) and laughs along with the audience when watching TV.

Sure, this is what parrots do, you say.   It's just "parroted" sounds, nothing really in context...   or is it?

Ian's baby vocabulary is limited.   He knows the word "nut" means Pistachios, his favourite, but he can't say "nut" yet.   But he knows what "Come here" means.

When Ian sees a nut he can't get to, he tells it, "Come here".

When he is about to fly somewhere, he announces, "Fly".   When he arrives at his destination, he sometimes says, "Up top, good boy".   When he drops something (or is about to), he says, "Drop it"

Fortunately, Ian has not learned to lie or keep secrets.   When he is biting something he shouldn't, he usually announces it somehow, either by saying "Ouch!" or "No!".

I agree, English is interesting.   Watching a parrot work with it is even more fun!