Singaporean toddler refusal (originally written for Child Language Singapore)

American parents are well familiar with the NO phase-- a typical feature of toddler-hood.

My third experience of mothering a toddler is here in Singapore**. He has taken that step to be able to use verbal means to express REFUSAL. What's really funny is, he's learned to run right at the same time (as if he wants to refuse something and then run away from you).

But, Instead of "NO" what you'll hear over here is:

"DON'T WANT!"

Which with the unclear but ever so cute speech of a toddler sounds more like "duh-wan!"

WANT is typically considered an obligatorily transitive verb in English. Meaning, an explicitly stated direct object should follow if used in a grammatically correct manner, for standard English. Think of:
carry-- I carry [the bag].
take-- He takes [the bus].
wash, devour, wear, hold, say, etc etc
These verbs sound funny to an American ear if used without a direct object. It's like in Rocky Horror Picture Show, the open mouth there waiting with "Antici..........pation."

Other verbs are transitive, but not obligator-ily so. In other words, they can carry an object ("I'm eating candy") but they don't have to ("I'm eating"). That is, the direct object can be implied, and it's still considered grammatically correct.

When my little one says, "don't-want," part of the reason it sounds so cute is beccause want is usually one of those obligatorily transitive verbs. "I want it. I want that. I want some. I want [specific direct object]." But in Singaporean English, you will hear preschoolers eagerly repeating "I want! I want! I want!" with their hand up as they reach toward the desired object. Or, emphatically repeating "I don't-want! I don't-want!" arms crossed across the chest, a scowl on the face to refuse whatever is being offered or imposed.

Something else I notice about "don't want" is the use of PRO-drop. Singapore Colloquial English, like many other languages (ex. Spanish, Italian, and many more), uses PRO-drop, which is the dropping of the subject pronoun when the subject is obvious from the context. If I know you're talking about yourself, and you know that I know you're talking about yourself, you don't have to use I. PRO-drop can be truly confusing at times, and, I'll be frank, annoying when you hear older children do it (I'm like a broken record: "Let's try to talk using all the words. Let's say things in a way that our family will be able to understand when we go visit-- with all the words.").

But while the baby is still little and the novelty hasn't yet worn off, I think I will enjoy this cute little, Singaporean way to refuse things like wearing a diaper, eating dinner, or sharing toys with siblings.

** post written in Singapore, 2011