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Baby talk

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This article is about speech directed at babies. For speech-like sounds produced by babies, see babbling. For other uses, see Baby talk (disambiguation).
"Whoopsie daisy" redirects here. For the song by Terri Walker, see L.O.V.E. (album).

Baby talk, also referred to as caretaker speech, infant-directed talk (IDT) or child-directed speech (CDS)[1][2][3][4] and informally as "motherese", "parentese", or "mommy talk"), is a nonstandard form of speech used by adults in talking to toddlers and infants. It is usually delivered with a "cooing" pattern of intonation different from that of normal adult speech: high in pitch, with many glissando variations that are more pronounced than those of normal speech. Baby talk is also characterized by the shortening and simplifying of words. Baby talk is also used by people when talking to their pets, and between adults as a form of affection, intimacy, bullying or condescension.

Terminology

  • Baby talk is a long-established and universally understood traditional term.[citation needed]
  • Motherese and parentese are more precise terms than baby talk, and perhaps more amenable to computer searches, but are not the terms of choice among child development professionals (and by critics of gender stereotyping with respect to the term motherese) because all caregivers, not only parents, use distinct speech patterns and vocabulary when talking to young children. Motherese can also refer to English spoken in a higher, gentler manner, which is otherwise correct English, as opposed to the non-standard, shortened word forms.
  • Child-directed speech or CDS is the term preferred by researchers, psychologists and child development professionals.[5]
  • Caregiver language is also sometimes used.

Possible purposes

Use with infants

Baby talk is more effective than regular speech in getting an infant's attention. Studies have shown that infants actually prefer to listen to this type of speech.[6] Some researchers, including Rima Shore (1997), believe that baby talk is an important part of the emotional bonding process. Other researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Wisconsin confirm that using basic “baby talk” helps babies pick up words faster than usual.[7] Infants actually pay more attention when parents use infant-directed language, which has a slower and more repetitive tone than used in regular conversation.

Colwyn Trevarthen studied babies and their mothers. He observed the communication and subtle movements between the babies and mothers. He has links to music therapy with other theorists.[8]

Aid to cognitive development

Shore and other researchers believe that baby talk contributes to mental development, as it helps teach the child the basic function and structure of language. Studies have found that responding to an infant's babble with meaningless babble aids the infant's development; while the babble has no logical meaning, the verbal interaction demonstrates to the child the bidirectional nature of speech, and the importance of verbal feedback. Some experts advise that parents should not talk to infants and young children solely in baby talk, but should integrate some normal adult speech as well. The high-pitched sound of motherese gives it special acoustic qualities which may appeal to the infant (Goodluck 1991). Motherese may aid a child in the acquisition and/or comprehension of language-particular rules which are otherwise unpredictable, when utilizing principles of universal grammar (Goodluck 1991). It has been also suggested that motherese is crucial for children to acquire the ability to ask questions.[9] Some[who?] feel that parents should refer to the child and others by their names only (no pronouns, e.g., he, I, or you), to avoid confusing infants who have yet to form an identity independent from their parents.

Questions regarding universality

Researchers Bryant and Barrett (2007) Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Examples in literature

  • The novelist Booth Tarkington, in Seventeen (1917), gives this example of baby talk, in this case, from a pet owner speaking to her dog:
...pressing her cheek to Flopit's, she changed her tone. "Izzum's ickle heart a-beatin' so floppity! Um's own mumsy make ums all right, um's p'eshus Flopit!"
  • George Orwell, in Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936), gives us another example addressed to a pet dog:
"A Peke, the ickle angel pet, wiv his gweat big soulful eyes and his ickle black nosie — oh so ducky-duck!"
  • Punch, April 23, 1919, in a humorous piece purporting to pose examination questions on "the interesting language known as Bablingo", quizzes the examinee on items such as "Wasums and didums, then? Was it a ickle birdie, then?" "Did he woz-a-woz, then; a Mum's own woz-man?" and "Did she try to hit her ickle bruzzer on his nosie-posie wiz a mug? Did she want to break him up into bitsy-witsies?"
  • In her famous New Yorker review of A.A. Milne's House at Pooh Corner (1928) Dorothy Parker, writing under the book reviewer pen name Constant Reader, purposefully mimics baby talk when dismissing the book's syrupy prose style: "It is that word 'hummy,' my darlings, that marks the first place in The House at Pooh Corner at which Tonstant Weader fwowed up."

See also

References

  1. ^ Matychuk, Paul (24 April 2004). "The role of child-directed speech in language acquisition: a case study" (PDF). Language Sciences (27).
  2. ^ "Gender Differences in Child-Directed Speech".
  3. ^ Herrera, E. and Reissland, N. and Shepherd, J. (2004). "Maternal touch and maternal child-directed speech : effects of depressed mood in the postnatal period". Journal of affective disorders. 81 (81): 29–39. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2003.07.001. PMID 15183597. {{cite journal}}: More than one of |work= and |journal= specified (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Ghada Khattab. "Does child-directed speech really facilitate the emergence of phonological structure? The case of gemination in Arabic CDS" (PDF).
  5. ^ Lawrence Balter, Robert B. McCall. Parenthood in America: A-M. ABC-CLIO. p. 75. ISBN 9781576072134. developmental psychologists refer to this kind of language to young children as child-directed speech
  6. ^ Kathy L. Reschke, Ph.D.(2002), Ohio State University, "Baby Talk"
  7. ^ Baby Talk May Help Infants Learn Faster
  8. ^ revised from Lindon, J (2005) Understanding Child Development - Linking Theory and Practice, Hodder Arnold, London. Added by S M Burnett, Scotland
  9. ^ Joseph Jordania (2006). Who Asked the First Question? The Origins of Human Choral Singing, Intelligence, Language and Speech. Tbilisi: Logos. ISBN 99940-31-81-3.
  • Ochs, Elinor and Bambi Schieffelin. (1984). "Language acquisition and socialization: Three developmental stories." Culture Theory Eds. R. Shweder and R. LeVine. 276-320.
  • Shore, Rima. (1997). Rethinking the brain: New insights into early development. New York: Families and Work Institute.
  • Evans, Chris ([1196-200]) Use on British Channel 4 program TFI Friday. e.g. the ickle drum kit.
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