Killing Lincoln - Nat Geo (Reactions)

[RJNorton]

I also noticed that Tad addressed his father as "Papa-day" on the show.

Good morning, Mr. Hess. The research for this show was amazing. Regarding Tad's speech problem, John Hutchison writes:

"The available eyewitness accounts also provide insight into the specific articulation difficulties encountered in Tad's speech. Elizabeth Keckley wrote that Tad always called her "Yib," presumably substituting /y/ for /l/ in the nickname "Lib." Crook reported four articulation errors in his account. First, Tad pronounced Crook's name as "Took," substituting /t/ for /k/. Second, he omitted the /r/ in the /kr/ consonant cluster. Third, he called his father "Papa day," a substitution for "Papa dear." The second and third error patterns would suggest difficulty in pronouncing the liquid consonant /r/. Fourth, when referring to Tom Pendel, Tad dropped the non-stressed second syllable of Pendel. He would say "Tom Pen." Ruth Painter Randall recounts a story of Tad's referring to a neighbor, Mrs. Sprigg, in an "appealing lisp" as "Mith Spwigg."

The entire article is here.