Bye Bye I Love You: The Story of Our First and Last Words

Figure 0.1 As of this writing, the New Yorker’s cartoon archive contains twelve cartoons about last words—but only four about first ones. Others explore hypotheses about the afterlife: in fact, until recently, the overwhelming thrust of the story of last words has cast them in the broader story of death and the afterlife. The best demonstration of this is in linguist Deb Roy’s research on the emergence of early words by his son. See also Cultural decisions about first words; Cultural groups, linguistic milestones in individual; “Mama”; Styles of engagement with first words Cultural groups, linguistic milestones in individual.