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Baby talk

Baby talk is a type of speech associated with an older person speaking to a child or infant. It is also called caretaker speech, infant-directed speech (IDS), child-directed speech (CDS), child-directed language (CDL), caregiver register, parentese, or motherese.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

CDS is characterized by a "sing song" pattern of intonation that differentiates it from the more monotone style used with other adults e.g., CDS has higher and wider pitch, slower speech rate and shorter utterances.[7] It can display vowel hyperarticulation (an increase in distance in the formant space of the peripheral vowels e.g., [i], [u], and [a])[8] and words tend to be shortened and simplified. There is evidence that the exaggerated pitch modifications are similar to the affectionate speech style employed when people speak to their pets (pet-directed speech).[9] However, the hyperarticulation of vowels appears to be related to the propensity for the infant to learn language, as it is not exaggerated in speech to infants with hearing loss or to pets.[9][8][10]

Terminology

  • The first documented use of the word baby-talk, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, was in 1836.
  • 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.[citation needed] Critics of gender stereotyping also prefer parentese[11] to the term motherese, because all caregivers use distinct speech patterns and vocabulary when talking to young children.[12] 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.[13]
  • Child-directed speech (CDS) is the term preferred by researchers, psychologists and child development professionals.[14]
  • Infant-directed speech (IDS) is also used. The terms are interchangeable.
  • Caregiver language is sometimes used.

Characteristics

CDS is a clear and simplified strategy for communicating to younger children, used by adults and by older children. The vocabulary is limited, speech is slowed with a greater number of pauses, and the sentences are short and grammatically simplified, often repeated.[15] Although CDS features marked auditory characteristics, other factors aid in development of language. Three types of modifications occur to adult-directed speech in the production of CDS[16]

  • linguistic modifications, particularly prosody, including the simplification of speech units as well as the emphasis on various phonemes.
  • modifications to attention-gaining strategies, providing visual cues through body language (kinesics), particularly movements of the face, to more effectively maintain the attention of their infants.
  • modifications to the interactions between parents and infants. Parents use CDS not only to promote language development but to foster a positive relationship with their infants.

The younger the child, the more exaggerated the adult's CDS is. The attention of infants is held more readily by CDS over normal speech, as with adults.[17] The more expressive CDS is, the more likely infants are to respond to this method of communication by adults.[18]

A key visual aspect of CDS is the movement of the lips.[19] One characteristic is the wider opening of the mouth present in those using CDS versus adult-directed speech,[20] particularly in vowels. Research suggests that with the larger opening of the lips during CDS, infants are better able to grasp the message being conveyed due to the heightened visual cues.[19]

Through this interaction, infants are able to determine who positive and encouraging caregivers will be in their development. When infants use CDS as a determinant of acceptable caregivers, their cognitive development seems to thrive because they are being encouraged by adults who are invested in the development of the given infants.[21] Because the process is interactive, caregivers are able to make significant progress through the use of CDS.[19]

Purpose and implications

Use with infants

Studies have shown that from birth, infants prefer to listen to CDS, which is more effective than regular speech in getting and holding an infant's attention.[22] Some researchers[23] believe that CDS is an important part of the emotional bonding process between the parents and their child, and helps the infants learn the language. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Wisconsin found that using basic “baby talk” may support babies in picking up words faster.[24] Infants pay more attention when parents use CDS, which has a slower and more repetitive tone than used in regular conversation.

CDS has been observed in languages other than English.[25]

Purposes and benefits of CDS include support the ability of infants to bond with their caregivers.[19]

Children that learn the fastest are those who receive the most acknowledgement and encouragement of what they say, are given time and attention to speak and share, and who are questioned.[26] Infants are able to apply this to larger words and sentences as they learn to process language.[16]

CDS aids infants in bonding to caregivers. Although infants have a range of social cues available to them regarding who will provide adequate care, CDS serves as an additional indicator as to which caregivers will provide developmental support. When adults engage in CDS with infants, they are providing positive emotion and attention, signaling to infants that they are valued.[21]

CDS can also serve as a priming tool for infants to notice the faces of their caregivers. Infants are more sensitive to the pitch and emphasized qualities of this method. Therefore, when caregivers use CDS, they expand the possibility for their infants to observe and process facial expressions. This effect could in part be due to infants associating CDS with positive facial expressions such as smiling, being more likely to respond to CDS if they expect to receive a positive response from their caregiver.[27]

CDS may promote processing of word forms, allowing infants to remember words when asked to recall them in the future. As words are repeated through CDS, infants begin to create mental representations of each word. As a result, infants who experience CDS are able to recall words more effectively than infants who do not.[25]

Infants can pick up on the vocal cues of CDS and will often pattern their babbling after it.[28]

Children of depressed mothers, who do not regularly use CDS, display delayed language development. Even when depressed mothers provide their infants with positive faces, infants do not respond to their attempts at CDS, and in turn do not benefit from this important route for language acquisition. Infants are unable to create the link between speech and visual face movements in situations such as these. When fathers who are not depressed are able to provide the stimulation of CDS, infants respond well and are able to compensate from the deficit left by their mothers. This too can inhibit language and speech development. Therefore, this deficit can be especially harmful to infants with depressed mothers and little contact with male caregivers.[29] Socioeconomic status has been found to influence the development of vocabulary and language skills. Lower-status groups tend to be behind the development of children in higher-status families. This finding is thought to be due to the amount of time parents spend with the child and the ways they interact; mothers from higher-status groups are found to say more to their children, use more variety, and speak in longer sentences.[30]

Aid to cognitive development

Shore and others believe that CDS contributes to mental development as it helps teach the child the basic function and structure of language.[23] 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 young children solely in baby talk, but should integrate some normal adult speech as well. The high-pitched sound of CDS gives it special acoustic qualities which may appeal to the infant.[31] CDS may aid a child in the acquisition and/or comprehension of language-particular rules which are otherwise unpredictable;[31] an example is the reduction or avoidance of pronoun reversal errors.[32] It has been also suggested that motherese is crucial for children to acquire the ability to ask questions.[33]

Use with non-infants

The use of baby talk is not limited to interactions between adults and infants, as it may be used among adults, or by people to animals. In these instances, the outward style of the language may be that of baby talk, but is not considered actual "parentese", as it serves a different linguistic function (see pragmatics).

Patronizing / derogatory baby talk

Baby talk and imitations of it may be used by one non-infant to another as a form of verbal abuse, in which the talk is intended to infantilize the victim. This can occur during bullying, when the aggressor uses baby talk to assert that the victim is weak, cowardly, overemotional, or otherwise inferior.[34]

Flirtatious baby talk

Baby talk may be used as a form of flirtation between sexual or romantic partners. In this instance, the baby talk may be an expression of tender intimacy, and may perhaps form part of affectionate sexual roleplaying in which one partner speaks and behaves childishly, while the other acts motherly or fatherly, responding in "parentese".[35] One or both partners might perform the child role. Terms of endearment, such as poppet (or, indicatively, baby), may be used for the same purpose in communication between the partners.

Baby talk with pets

Many people speak to their dogs as if they were another human being. These actions are not providing communication with the dog, but social interactions for the speaker, usually in order to solve some problem.[36]: 304–306  The speaking style people use when talking to dogs is very similar to CDL and has been referred to as Doggerel.[37] People tend to use sentences of around 11 words when talking to another adult; this is reduced to four words when speaking to a dog. People employ more imperatives or commands to a dog, but ask twice as many questions of the dog as of other humans, even though they do not expect the dog to answer. Recordings show that 90% of pet-talk is spoken mostly in the present tense because people talk to dogs about what is happening now rather than the past or the future, which is twice as much as with humans. Also, people are 20 times more likely to repeat or rephrase themselves to dogs than they do to humans.

A significant difference is that CDL contains many more sentences about specific bits of information, such as "This cup is red," because they are intended to teach children about language and the environment. Pet-speech contains perhaps half the sentences of this form, as, rather than instructive, its primary purpose is as a social function for humans; whether the dog learns anything does not seem to be a major concern.[36]: 308–310  However, dogs are capable of recognizing specific words and responding accordingly, which means that some information can be transmitted when a human talks to a dog.

As well as the raised vocal pitch, pet-speech strongly emphasizes intonations and emotional phrasing. There are diminutives such as walkie for walk and bathie for bath.

Foreigner talk

When addressing a listener not skilled in the speaker's language, people may simplify their spoken language in an attempt to improve understanding. Some use sign language to communicate with others, especially if they have a hearing problem, although this is not always understood by people, as some signs in sign language may be difficult to interpret by some people, especially if gestures have different meanings from place to place, so they may use a baby talk-like language to communicate, skipping out small words and possibly using demonstratives instead of pronouns, for example Do not cross the road becoming No cross road. While this kind of simplifications could be helpful for, say, foreign tourists, this type of communication is perceived as rude or offensive in some societies, because it may cause the foreigner to feel infantilized. It can also be considered insulting if the foreigner is skilled in the speaker's language. While not considered to be actual parentese,[original research?] it has aspects which make the two language styles similar.[38]

Universality and differences by region

Researchers Bryant and Barrett (2007)[39] have suggested (as have others before them, e.g., Fernald, 1992[40]) that CDL exists universally across all cultures and is a species-specific adaptation.[41] Other researchers contend that it is not universal among the world's cultures, and argue that its role in helping children learn grammar has been overestimated, pointing out that in some societies (such as certain Samoan tribes),[23] adults do not speak to their children at all until the children reach a certain age. Furthermore, even where baby-talk is used, it has many complicated grammatical constructions, and mispronounced or non-standard words.

Other evidence suggests that baby talk is not a universal phenomenon: for example Schieffelin & Ochs (1983) describe the Kaluli tribe of Papua New Guinea who do not typically employ CDS.[42] Language acquisition in Kaluli children was not found to be significantly impaired.

The extent to which caregivers rely on and use CDS differs based on cultural differences. Mothers in regions that display predominately introverted cultures are less likely to display a great deal of CDS, although it is still used.[citation needed] Further, the personality of each child experiencing CDS from a caregiver deeply impacts the extent to which a caregiver will use this method of communication.[19]

CDS has been seen in languages such as Japanese, Italian, Mandarin, British English, American English, French, and German.[43] This is the basis[improper synthesis?] for claims that CDS is a necessary aspect of social development for children.[16] Although found in many cultures, CDS is far from universal in terms of style and amount of use.[44] A factor found to influence the way adults communicate with children is the way the culture views children. For example, if they view children as helpless and unable to understand, adults tend to interact with children less than if they believe that children are capable of learning and understanding. Often, cultures lacking a form of CDS make up for it in other ways, such as involving the children more in everyday activities, though the reverse might also be a valid assessment.[15]

Vocabulary and structure

Vocabulary

With respect to English-speaking parents, it is well-established[45] that Anglo-Saxon or Germanic words tend to predominate in informal speech registers, whereas Latinate vocabulary is usually reserved for more formal uses such as legal and scientific texts. Child-directed speech, an informal speech register, also tends to use Anglo-Saxon vocabulary. The speech of mothers to young children has a higher percentage of native Anglo-Saxon verb tokens than speech addressed to adults.[46] In particular, in parents’ CDS the clausal core[47] is built in the most part by Anglo-Saxon verbs, namely, almost all tokens of the grammatical relations subject-verb, verb-direct object and verb-indirect object that young children are presented with, are constructed with native verbs.[48] The Anglo-Saxon verb vocabulary consists of short verbs, but its grammar is relatively complex. Syntactic patterns specific to this sub-vocabulary in present-day English include periphrastic constructions for tense, aspect, questioning and negation, and phrasal lexemes functioning as complex predicates, all of which occur also in CDS.[citation needed]

As noted above, baby talk often involves shortening and simplifying words, with the possible addition of slurred words and nonverbal utterances, and can invoke a vocabulary of its own. Some utterances are invented by parents within a particular family unit, or are passed down from parent to parent over generations, while others are quite widely known and used within most families, such as wawa for water, num-num for a meal, ba-ba for bottle, or beddy-bye for bedtime, and are considered standard or traditional words, possibly differing in meaning from place to place.[citation needed]

Baby talk, language regardless, usually consists of a muddle of words, including names for family members, names for animals, eating and meals, bodily functions and genitals, sleeping, pain, possibly including important objects such as diaper, blanket, pacifier, bottle, etc., and may be sprinkled with nonverbal utterances, such as goo goo ga ga. The vocabulary of made-up words, such as those listed below, may be quite long with terms for a large number of things, rarely or possibly never using proper language, other times quite short, dominated by real words, all nouns. Most words invented by parents have a logical meaning, although the nonverbal sounds are usually completely meaningless and just fit the speech together.[citation needed]

Sometimes baby talk words are used in adult vocabulary, for example nanny for "children's nurse" or "nursery governess".[citation needed]

Diminutives

Moreover, many words can be derived into baby talk following certain rules of transformation. In English, adding a terminal /i/ sound at the end, usually written and spelled as ‹ie›, ‹y›, or ‹ey›, is a common way to form a diminutive which is often used as part of baby talk. Many languages have their own unique form of diminutive suffix (see list of diminutives by language for international examples).[citation needed]

Duplications

Still other transformations, but not in all languages, include elongated vowels, such as kitty and kiiiitty, (emphasized /i/) meaning the same thing. While this is understood by English-speaking toddlers, it is not applicable with Dutch toddlers as they learn that elongated vowels reference different words.[49]

See also

  • Babbling – sounds that babies make before they learn to talk
  • Crib talk – toddlers talking to themselves
  • Developmental psychology
  • Elderspeak – the style of speech used by younger people when talking to older people
  • Mama and papa – the early sounds or words commonly used by babies
  • Girneys – sounds similar to baby talk that are used by some large monkeys
  • Hypocorism - diminutive shortening of titles such as pet names and reductions of longer words to a single syllables by adding -y or -ie to the end
  • Difference Between Newborn, Infant, and Toddler - Knowing the difference between newborn, infant, and toddler is important. Learn the exact terms used for children under a specific age group in this article.

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External links

  • The Uses of Baby Talk by Naomi S. Baron of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics

baby, talk, this, article, about, speech, directed, babies, speech, like, sounds, produced, babies, babbling, other, uses, disambiguation, whoopsie, daisy, redirects, here, song, terri, walker, album, type, speech, associated, with, older, person, speaking, ch. 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 is a type of speech associated with an older person speaking to a child or infant It is also called caretaker speech infant directed speech IDS child directed speech CDS child directed language CDL caregiver register parentese or motherese 1 2 3 4 5 6 CDS is characterized by a sing song pattern of intonation that differentiates it from the more monotone style used with other adults e g CDS has higher and wider pitch slower speech rate and shorter utterances 7 It can display vowel hyperarticulation an increase in distance in the formant space of the peripheral vowels e g i u and a 8 and words tend to be shortened and simplified There is evidence that the exaggerated pitch modifications are similar to the affectionate speech style employed when people speak to their pets pet directed speech 9 However the hyperarticulation of vowels appears to be related to the propensity for the infant to learn language as it is not exaggerated in speech to infants with hearing loss or to pets 9 8 10 Contents 1 Terminology 2 Characteristics 3 Purpose and implications 3 1 Use with infants 3 1 1 Aid to cognitive development 3 2 Use with non infants 3 2 1 Patronizing derogatory baby talk 3 2 2 Flirtatious baby talk 3 2 3 Baby talk with pets 3 2 4 Foreigner talk 4 Universality and differences by region 5 Vocabulary and structure 5 1 Vocabulary 5 2 Diminutives 5 3 Duplications 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksTerminology EditThe first documented use of the word baby talk according to the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1836 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 citation needed Critics of gender stereotyping also prefer parentese 11 to the term motherese because all caregivers use distinct speech patterns and vocabulary when talking to young children 12 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 13 Child directed speech CDS is the term preferred by researchers psychologists and child development professionals 14 Infant directed speech IDS is also used The terms are interchangeable Caregiver language is sometimes used Characteristics EditCDS is a clear and simplified strategy for communicating to younger children used by adults and by older children The vocabulary is limited speech is slowed with a greater number of pauses and the sentences are short and grammatically simplified often repeated 15 Although CDS features marked auditory characteristics other factors aid in development of language Three types of modifications occur to adult directed speech in the production of CDS 16 linguistic modifications particularly prosody including the simplification of speech units as well as the emphasis on various phonemes modifications to attention gaining strategies providing visual cues through body language kinesics particularly movements of the face to more effectively maintain the attention of their infants modifications to the interactions between parents and infants Parents use CDS not only to promote language development but to foster a positive relationship with their infants The younger the child the more exaggerated the adult s CDS is The attention of infants is held more readily by CDS over normal speech as with adults 17 The more expressive CDS is the more likely infants are to respond to this method of communication by adults 18 A key visual aspect of CDS is the movement of the lips 19 One characteristic is the wider opening of the mouth present in those using CDS versus adult directed speech 20 particularly in vowels Research suggests that with the larger opening of the lips during CDS infants are better able to grasp the message being conveyed due to the heightened visual cues 19 Through this interaction infants are able to determine who positive and encouraging caregivers will be in their development When infants use CDS as a determinant of acceptable caregivers their cognitive development seems to thrive because they are being encouraged by adults who are invested in the development of the given infants 21 Because the process is interactive caregivers are able to make significant progress through the use of CDS 19 Purpose and implications EditUse with infants Edit Studies have shown that from birth infants prefer to listen to CDS which is more effective than regular speech in getting and holding an infant s attention 22 Some researchers 23 believe that CDS is an important part of the emotional bonding process between the parents and their child and helps the infants learn the language Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Wisconsin found that using basic baby talk may support babies in picking up words faster 24 Infants pay more attention when parents use CDS which has a slower and more repetitive tone than used in regular conversation CDS has been observed in languages other than English 25 Purposes and benefits of CDS include support the ability of infants to bond with their caregivers 19 Children that learn the fastest are those who receive the most acknowledgement and encouragement of what they say are given time and attention to speak and share and who are questioned 26 Infants are able to apply this to larger words and sentences as they learn to process language 16 CDS aids infants in bonding to caregivers Although infants have a range of social cues available to them regarding who will provide adequate care CDS serves as an additional indicator as to which caregivers will provide developmental support When adults engage in CDS with infants they are providing positive emotion and attention signaling to infants that they are valued 21 CDS can also serve as a priming tool for infants to notice the faces of their caregivers Infants are more sensitive to the pitch and emphasized qualities of this method Therefore when caregivers use CDS they expand the possibility for their infants to observe and process facial expressions This effect could in part be due to infants associating CDS with positive facial expressions such as smiling being more likely to respond to CDS if they expect to receive a positive response from their caregiver 27 CDS may promote processing of word forms allowing infants to remember words when asked to recall them in the future As words are repeated through CDS infants begin to create mental representations of each word As a result infants who experience CDS are able to recall words more effectively than infants who do not 25 Infants can pick up on the vocal cues of CDS and will often pattern their babbling after it 28 Children of depressed mothers who do not regularly use CDS display delayed language development Even when depressed mothers provide their infants with positive faces infants do not respond to their attempts at CDS and in turn do not benefit from this important route for language acquisition Infants are unable to create the link between speech and visual face movements in situations such as these When fathers who are not depressed are able to provide the stimulation of CDS infants respond well and are able to compensate from the deficit left by their mothers This too can inhibit language and speech development Therefore this deficit can be especially harmful to infants with depressed mothers and little contact with male caregivers 29 Socioeconomic status has been found to influence the development of vocabulary and language skills Lower status groups tend to be behind the development of children in higher status families This finding is thought to be due to the amount of time parents spend with the child and the ways they interact mothers from higher status groups are found to say more to their children use more variety and speak in longer sentences 30 Aid to cognitive development Edit Shore and others believe that CDS contributes to mental development as it helps teach the child the basic function and structure of language 23 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 young children solely in baby talk but should integrate some normal adult speech as well The high pitched sound of CDS gives it special acoustic qualities which may appeal to the infant 31 CDS may aid a child in the acquisition and or comprehension of language particular rules which are otherwise unpredictable 31 an example is the reduction or avoidance of pronoun reversal errors 32 It has been also suggested that motherese is crucial for children to acquire the ability to ask questions 33 Use with non infants Edit The use of baby talk is not limited to interactions between adults and infants as it may be used among adults or by people to animals In these instances the outward style of the language may be that of baby talk but is not considered actual parentese as it serves a different linguistic function see pragmatics Patronizing derogatory baby talk Edit Baby talk and imitations of it may be used by one non infant to another as a form of verbal abuse in which the talk is intended to infantilize the victim This can occur during bullying when the aggressor uses baby talk to assert that the victim is weak cowardly overemotional or otherwise inferior 34 Flirtatious baby talk Edit Baby talk may be used as a form of flirtation between sexual or romantic partners In this instance the baby talk may be an expression of tender intimacy and may perhaps form part of affectionate sexual roleplaying in which one partner speaks and behaves childishly while the other acts motherly or fatherly responding in parentese 35 One or both partners might perform the child role Terms of endearment such as poppet or indicatively baby may be used for the same purpose in communication between the partners Baby talk with pets Edit Many people speak to their dogs as if they were another human being These actions are not providing communication with the dog but social interactions for the speaker usually in order to solve some problem 36 304 306 The speaking style people use when talking to dogs is very similar to CDL and has been referred to as Doggerel 37 People tend to use sentences of around 11 words when talking to another adult this is reduced to four words when speaking to a dog People employ more imperatives or commands to a dog but ask twice as many questions of the dog as of other humans even though they do not expect the dog to answer Recordings show that 90 of pet talk is spoken mostly in the present tense because people talk to dogs about what is happening now rather than the past or the future which is twice as much as with humans Also people are 20 times more likely to repeat or rephrase themselves to dogs than they do to humans A significant difference is that CDL contains many more sentences about specific bits of information such as This cup is red because they are intended to teach children about language and the environment Pet speech contains perhaps half the sentences of this form as rather than instructive its primary purpose is as a social function for humans whether the dog learns anything does not seem to be a major concern 36 308 310 However dogs are capable of recognizing specific words and responding accordingly which means that some information can be transmitted when a human talks to a dog As well as the raised vocal pitch pet speech strongly emphasizes intonations and emotional phrasing There are diminutives such as walkie for walk and bathie for bath Foreigner talk Edit Main article Creole language Foreigner talk and baby talk When addressing a listener not skilled in the speaker s language people may simplify their spoken language in an attempt to improve understanding Some use sign language to communicate with others especially if they have a hearing problem although this is not always understood by people as some signs in sign language may be difficult to interpret by some people especially if gestures have different meanings from place to place so they may use a baby talk like language to communicate skipping out small words and possibly using demonstratives instead of pronouns for example Do not cross the road becoming No cross road While this kind of simplifications could be helpful for say foreign tourists this type of communication is perceived as rude or offensive in some societies because it may cause the foreigner to feel infantilized It can also be considered insulting if the foreigner is skilled in the speaker s language While not considered to be actual parentese original research it has aspects which make the two language styles similar 38 Universality and differences by region EditResearchers Bryant and Barrett 2007 39 have suggested as have others before them e g Fernald 1992 40 that CDL exists universally across all cultures and is a species specific adaptation 41 Other researchers contend that it is not universal among the world s cultures and argue that its role in helping children learn grammar has been overestimated pointing out that in some societies such as certain Samoan tribes 23 adults do not speak to their children at all until the children reach a certain age Furthermore even where baby talk is used it has many complicated grammatical constructions and mispronounced or non standard words Other evidence suggests that baby talk is not a universal phenomenon for example Schieffelin amp Ochs 1983 describe the Kaluli tribe of Papua New Guinea who do not typically employ CDS 42 Language acquisition in Kaluli children was not found to be significantly impaired The extent to which caregivers rely on and use CDS differs based on cultural differences Mothers in regions that display predominately introverted cultures are less likely to display a great deal of CDS although it is still used citation needed Further the personality of each child experiencing CDS from a caregiver deeply impacts the extent to which a caregiver will use this method of communication 19 CDS has been seen in languages such as Japanese Italian Mandarin British English American English French and German 43 This is the basis improper synthesis for claims that CDS is a necessary aspect of social development for children 16 Although found in many cultures CDS is far from universal in terms of style and amount of use 44 A factor found to influence the way adults communicate with children is the way the culture views children For example if they view children as helpless and unable to understand adults tend to interact with children less than if they believe that children are capable of learning and understanding Often cultures lacking a form of CDS make up for it in other ways such as involving the children more in everyday activities though the reverse might also be a valid assessment 15 Vocabulary and structure EditVocabulary Edit With respect to English speaking parents it is well established 45 that Anglo Saxon or Germanic words tend to predominate in informal speech registers whereas Latinate vocabulary is usually reserved for more formal uses such as legal and scientific texts Child directed speech an informal speech register also tends to use Anglo Saxon vocabulary The speech of mothers to young children has a higher percentage of native Anglo Saxon verb tokens than speech addressed to adults 46 In particular in parents CDS the clausal core 47 is built in the most part by Anglo Saxon verbs namely almost all tokens of the grammatical relations subject verb verb direct object and verb indirect object that young children are presented with are constructed with native verbs 48 The Anglo Saxon verb vocabulary consists of short verbs but its grammar is relatively complex Syntactic patterns specific to this sub vocabulary in present day English include periphrastic constructions for tense aspect questioning and negation and phrasal lexemes functioning as complex predicates all of which occur also in CDS citation needed As noted above baby talk often involves shortening and simplifying words with the possible addition of slurred words and nonverbal utterances and can invoke a vocabulary of its own Some utterances are invented by parents within a particular family unit or are passed down from parent to parent over generations while others are quite widely known and used within most families such as wawa for water num num for a meal ba ba for bottle or beddy bye for bedtime and are considered standard or traditional words possibly differing in meaning from place to place citation needed Baby talk language regardless usually consists of a muddle of words including names for family members names for animals eating and meals bodily functions and genitals sleeping pain possibly including important objects such as diaper blanket pacifier bottle etc and may be sprinkled with nonverbal utterances such as goo goo ga ga The vocabulary of made up words such as those listed below may be quite long with terms for a large number of things rarely or possibly never using proper language other times quite short dominated by real words all nouns Most words invented by parents have a logical meaning although the nonverbal sounds are usually completely meaningless and just fit the speech together citation needed Sometimes baby talk words are used in adult vocabulary for example nanny for children s nurse or nursery governess citation needed Diminutives Edit Moreover many words can be derived into baby talk following certain rules of transformation In English adding a terminal i sound at the end usually written and spelled as ie y or ey is a common way to form a diminutive which is often used as part of baby talk Many languages have their own unique form of diminutive suffix see list of diminutives by language for international examples citation needed Duplications Edit Still other transformations but not in all languages include elongated vowels such as kitty and kiiiitty emphasized i meaning the same thing While this is understood by English speaking toddlers it is not applicable with Dutch toddlers as they learn that elongated vowels reference different words 49 See also EditBabbling sounds that babies make before they learn to talk Crib talk toddlers talking to themselves Developmental psychology Elderspeak the style of speech used by younger people when talking to older people Mama and papa the early sounds or words commonly used by babies Girneys sounds similar to baby talk that are used by some large monkeys Hypocorism diminutive shortening of titles such as pet names and reductions of longer words to a single syllables by adding y or ie to the end Difference Between Newborn Infant and Toddler Knowing the difference between newborn infant and toddler is important Learn the exact terms used for children under a specific age group in this article References Edit Kubanik Pavel 2017 BABY TALK In Karlik Petr Nekula Marek Pleskalova Jana eds Novy encyklopedicky slovnik cestiny in Czech Matychuk Paul May 2005 The role of child directed speech in language acquisition a case study Language Sciences 27 3 301 379 doi 10 1016 j langsci 2004 04 004 Berey Adam March 18 2005 Gender Differences in Child Directed Speech Lawrence University Archived from the original on 2017 08 08 Herrera Eisquel Reissland Nadja Shepherd John July 2004 Maternal touch and maternal child directed speech effects of depressed mood in the postnatal period PDF Journal of Affective Disorders 81 1 29 39 doi 10 1016 j jad 2003 07 001 PMID 15183597 Ghada Khattab Does child directed speech really facilitate the emergence of phonological structure The case of gemination in Arabic CDS PDF Archived from the original PDF on November 27 2006 Pinker Steven 2010 The Language Instinct How The Mind Creates Language Harper Collins p 28 ISBN 978 0 06 203252 2 Fernald Anne April 1985 Four month old infants prefer to listen to motherese Infant Behavior and Development 8 2 181 195 doi 10 1016 s0163 6383 85 80005 9 a b Lam C Kitamura C 2012 Mommy speak clearly induced hearing loss shapes vowel hyperarticulation Developmental Science 15 2 212 221 doi 10 1111 j 1467 7687 2011 01118 x PMID 22356177 a b Burnham D Kitamura C Vollmer Conna U 2002 What s New Pussycat On Talking to Babies and Animals Science 296 5572 1435 doi 10 1126 science 1069587 PMID 12029126 S2CID 27313730 Lam C Kitamura C 2010 Maternal interactions with a hearing and hearing impaired twin similarities in pitch exaggeration but differences in vowel hyperarticulation Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research 53 3 543 55 doi 10 1044 1092 4388 2010 09 0126 PMID 20220028 Talk to Me in Parentese PDF earlyliteracylearning org Retrieved 18 April 2023 Phayes Donald October 1988 Speaking and writing Distinct patterns of word choice Journal of Memory and Language 27 5 572 585 doi 10 1016 0749 596X 88 90027 7 Newport E L Gleitman L 1977 C E Snow amp C A Ferguson ed Talking to children Language input and acquisition pp 109 150 Lawrence Balter Robert B McCall 2000 Parenthood in America A M ABC CLIO p 75 ISBN 978 1 57607 213 4 developmental psychologists refer to this kind of language to young children as child directed speech a b Harley Trevor 2010 Talking the Talk Language Psychology and Science Psychology Press pp 60 62 ISBN 978 1 84169 339 2 a b c McLeod Peter J 1993 What studies of communication with infants ask us about psychology Baby talk and other speech registers Canadian Psychology 34 3 282 292 doi 10 1037 h0078828 Fernald Anne Mazzie Claudia 1991 Prosody and focus in speech to infants and adults Developmental Psychology 27 2 209 221 doi 10 1037 0012 1649 27 2 209 Singh Leher Morgan James L Best Catherine T 1 July 2002 Infants Listening Preferences Baby Talk or Happy Talk Infancy 3 3 365 394 CiteSeerX 10 1 1 511 8150 doi 10 1207 s15327078in0303 5 PMID 33451217 a b c d e Green Jordan R Nip Ignatius S B Wilson Erin M Mefferd Antje S Yunusova Yana December 2010 Lip Movement Exaggerations During Infant Directed Speech Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research 53 6 1529 1542 doi 10 1044 1092 4388 2010 09 0005 PMC 3548446 PMID 20699342 Child directed speech and its role in language acquisition Report 2016 p 15 unreliable source a b Schachner Adena Hannon Erin E 2011 Infant directed speech drives social preferences in 5 month old infants Developmental Psychology 47 1 19 25 doi 10 1037 a0020740 PMID 20873920 Kathy L Reschke Ph D 2002 Ohio State University Baby Talk Archived November 22 2006 at the Library of Congress Web Archives Archived copy at the Library of Congress November 22 2006 a b c Shore Rima 1997 Rethinking the brain New insights into early development New York Families and Work Institute Boyles Salynn March 16 2005 Baby Talk May Help Infants Learn Faster WebMD a b Singh Leher Nestor Sarah Parikh Chandni Yull Ashley November 2009 Influences of Infant Directed Speech on Early Word Recognition Infancy 14 6 654 666 doi 10 1080 15250000903263973 PMID 32693515 Waterson Natalie Snow Catherine E 1978 The development of communication Wiley pp 199 216 ISBN 978 0 471 99628 6 Kaplan Peter S Jung Paula C Ryther Jennifer S Zarlengo Strouse Patricia 1996 Infant directed versus adult directed speech as signals for faces Developmental Psychology 32 5 880 891 doi 10 1037 0012 1649 32 5 880 Goldstein Michael H Schwade Jennifer A May 2008 Social Feedback to Infants Babbling Facilitates Rapid Phonological Learning Psychological Science 19 5 515 523 doi 10 1111 j 1467 9280 2008 02117 x PMID 18466414 S2CID 17373701 Kaplan Peter S Dungan Jessica K Zinser Michael C 2004 Infants of Chronically Depressed Mothers Learn in Response to Male But Not Female Infant Directed Speech Developmental Psychology 40 2 140 148 doi 10 1037 0012 1649 40 2 140 PMID 14979756 Hoff Erika October 2003 The Specificity of Environmental Influence Socioeconomic Status Affects Early Vocabulary Development Via Maternal Speech Child Development 74 5 1368 1378 CiteSeerX 10 1 1 324 4930 doi 10 1111 1467 8624 00612 PMID 14552403 a b Goodluck Helen 1991 Language Acquisition A Linguistic Introduction Wiley ISBN 978 0 631 17386 1 page needed Kaznatcheev Artem 27 May 2010 A Connectionist Study on the Interplay of Nouns and Pronouns in Personal Pronoun Acquisition Cognitive Computation 2 4 280 284 doi 10 1007 s12559 010 9050 7 S2CID 24218139 Jordania Joseph 2006 Who Asked the First Question The Origins of Human Choral Singing Intelligence Language and Speech ISBN 978 99940 31 81 8 Green Alison May 2018 Ask a Manager Ask a Manager Leon F Seltzer Ph D 2013 The Real Reason Why Couples Use Baby Talk Psychology Today Evolution of the Self a b Coren Stanley 2000 How to Speak Dog Mastering the Art of Dog human Communication ISBN 978 0 684 86534 8 Hirsh Pasek Kathy Treiman Rebecca 26 September 2008 Doggerel motherese in a new context Journal of Child Language 9 1 229 237 doi 10 1017 s0305000900003731 PMID 7061632 S2CID 43212598 Ferguson Charles A 1971 Absence of Copula and the Notion of Simplicity A Study of Normal Speech Baby Talk Foreigner Talk and Pidgins In Hymes Dell ed Pidginization and Creolization of Languages pp 141 150 Bryant Gregory A Barrett H Clark 6 May 2016 Recognizing Intentions in Infant Directed Speech Psychological Science 18 8 746 751 doi 10 1111 j 1467 9280 2007 01970 x PMID 17680948 S2CID 14371346 Fernald Anne 1992 Human maternal vocalizations to infants as biologically relevant signals In Barkow Jerome H Cosmides Leda Tooby John eds The Adapted Mind Evolutionary Psychology and the Generation of Culture Oxford University Press pp 391 428 ISBN 978 0 19 510107 2 Grieser DiAnne L Kuhl Patricia K 1988 Maternal speech to infants in a tonal language Support for universal prosodic features in motherese Developmental Psychology 24 1 14 20 doi 10 1037 0012 1649 24 1 14 Ochs Elinor Schieffelin Bambi B 2009 Language Acquizition and Socialization Three Developmental Stories and Their Implications In Duranti Alessandro ed Linguistic Anthropology A Reader John Wiley amp Sons pp 296 328 ISBN 978 1 4051 2633 5 Cooper Robin Panneton Aslin Richard N October 1990 Preference for Infant Directed Speech in the First Month after Birth Child Development 61 5 1584 95 doi 10 2307 1130766 JSTOR 1130766 PMID 2245748 Lieven Elena V M 1994 Crosslinguistic and crosscultural aspects of language addressed to children In Gallaway Clare Richards Brian J eds Input and Interaction in Language Acquisition pp 56 73 doi 10 1017 CBO9780511620690 005 ISBN 978 0 521 43725 7 Quirk R 1974 The linguist and the English language London Arnold p 138 Phillips Juliet R March 1973 Syntax and Vocabulary of Mothers Speech to Young Children Age and Sex Comparisons Child Development 44 1 182 185 doi 10 2307 1127699 JSTOR 1127699 Foley W A Van Valin R D Jr 1984 Functional syntax and universal grammar Cambridge Cambridge University Press page needed Ninio A 2011 Syntactic development its input and output Oxford Oxford University Press page needed Introduction accessible at Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on 2012 11 01 Retrieved 2012 07 15 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Native Language Governs Toddlers Speech Sounds therapytimes com 2007 10 23 Archived from the original on 2008 02 02 Retrieved 2007 11 02 External links EditThe Uses of Baby Talk by Naomi S Baron of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Baby talk amp oldid 1152123897, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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