"Ta" or wait for "Thank you"

[kiwicath]

My son has just turned 11 months and I find myself saying "ta?" (as in "thank you?") when I give him things or take things from him. I've had a few murmerings from my husband that I shouldn't be talking to him in baby and should just say "thank you?" I'm thinking though that it's never too early to learn a few manners and in a few months he should be getting a handle on it as well as saying it. "Thank you" won't be in his vocab for ages!!!! Any thoughts??

I hate ta but will accept it for a bout a month till it gets on my nerves
I woudl never teach them it as some do

Nowt wrong with "ta" - all mine said it, including grandson - who ahs recently started saying thank you and now uses either one depending on his mood. Manners are manners, surely no one would think that Ta is a bad thing.

I still say ta, but it is a regional term aswell

I am afraid this is one of the many issues I can't be arsed to worry about.

!

no, i do think ta is a bad thing
funny eh?

personally I taught Lottie to say Thank you not Ta.

ah the voice of reason tc

hows officer dibble?

Alive and well Coddy, TA!

Afraid I can't stand ta either. Always taught thank you to dd's. Hated it if anyone else taught it to them .Thank you sounds much better and as has already been said is what they would eventually have used anyway. Always thought that 'kyou' sounded really cute anyway

he he - this was one of the the only things that really divided our post natal group it seemed! We were mixed bottle/breast feeders, dummy users or not, cloth and disposables and noone cared - but as soon as the word "ta" vs "thank you" came up, it was clear there was an issue!

I don't really like ta, but DD1 started using it, and I cannot quite remember whether I started it or not (my mum always uses it, but from a Lancs background - possibly why?). Friends DS would say ta, and then get told very sternly, NO it's THANK YOU!!!

But as SOON as her speech got better, we reverted to thank you.

Both DS and now DD were taught Ta at nursery - at first i wasn't happy but realised that they are being taught to respond - and for that Ta was OK. We have always said "Thank you" at home, so DS quickly moved from Ta to Thank you once he could manage it. DD not talking yet, but does do unprompted Ta's.

I say ta, never thought it bothered anyone. I don't say it if I'm trying to be extra polite but for general shopping, uni, public transport related thank yous it's fine. isn't it?

Ds has been taught 'ta' by nursery and I'm afraid it really grates on me. OK, I am a Northerner but my own mum was particular (snobby, I suppose) about this and I can't let it drop. Would far rather wait for 'thank you'.

To me this would be like wanting to wait till they say "mummy" rather than "ma" or "mama" or whatever they manage first. I was just bowled over whenever my dd opened her mouth to say anything

I HATE 'ta', mainly cos when used by adults I think it sounds common.

I waited for thank-you with my ds. for ages it just came out as 'Kew', but everyone understood him, and now he very rarely forgets to say thank you or thanks.

BTW, he came home from school yesterday, wearing a sticker that said "We like your table manners". I'm quite proud

of COURSE they say 'ta' at first! what baby can vocalise 'thank you' that comes later surely! When they're that little they're experimenting with sound and its fantastic to hear any 'real' word that is a response to something you do.

Where I come from in Ireland we say ta ta with babies but unlike ta it is not a general use word. Dp didnt like it when I first started using it as he hates ta. Think Ill be teach dd to say "cheers mate" in sarf lunnon accent specially for her Irish Grannie (he he).

But how do you wait for the "thank you"? Geuinely puzzled.

To me, for many "ta" is just a shortened version of the word - and is not taught as such. I always used "thank you" with her, but a version "ta" (as I said before sounding more like start of thank, without the h) came regardless, and it developed as she got older. Same as she called me "mumum" for a while before I got "mummy" and "nana" before "banana" These weren't taught, but learnt and used by DD regardless.

I certainly would never resort to saying "no, it's not that..it's this..." scenario. Seems really ungracious to a young child trying to express some form of manners, What on earth can that possible teach them about manners?

Ta isn't a shortening of thank you though ... it would need to be taught in its own right .. or alternatively when that sound develops ta.ta.ta taken as meaning thank you by the adult .. much as ma.ma.ma. and da.da.da is taken to mean mummy and daddy and appropriated as such

if all the child hears is thank you they don't use the word Ta at all IME they use something that seems an approximation of it .. I am not saying DS never said ta .. he probably did say that syllable but I never took it to mean thank you

I am probably completely wrong in how the language develops (and wait to be corrected) but that is my take on it

My sons never said 'ta'. My youngest who is speech delayed says 'tank oo' now but has never said 'ta'. My eldest just spoke well to start with, so that's no help!

I've always thought of it as a UK/Aus word.

Just wanted to add - always said ta with grandson - I've just been giving him his crayons and he took each one singly and said thank you for each one...I'm amazed ... so cute (god I'm getting all maternal in my old age!!).

Hula, I think the original question really meant "shout I use the word 'ta' to my child, or persevere saying 'thank you, until he gets it'

I must admit I said both so that they would be equated in DS's mind. He started off with Ta as it is nice and easy to say, and now always uses thank you not ta (almost 4 now)

I agree with Hulababy!