Baby talk

Baby talk, motherese, parentese, or child-directed speech (CDS) is a nonstandard form of speech used by adults, particularly mothers, in talking to children. It is usually delivered with a "cooing" pattern of inflection which is different from normal adult speech: high in pitch, and with many glissando-like rises and falls in pitch which are exaggerated by comparison with normal speech. Baby talk is also used by pet owners when talking to their pets, and between adults as a form of affectionate intimacy.

"Baby talk" is a long-established and universally understood traditional term.
"Motherese" is a term, more precise than "baby talk," which is very amenable to computer searches. The word motherese is disliked by child development professionals (and by critics of gender stereotyping) because all caregivers, not just mothers, use distinct speech patterns and vocabulary when talking to young children. Alternatives such as parentese have not caught on.
Child-directed speech or CDS is the term preferred by researchers, psychologists, and child development professionals.

Researchers such as Rima Shore (1997) believe that baby talk is an important part of the emotional bonding process, and contributes to mental development. They say it plays a role in teaching the child the basic function and structure of language. Studies have found that even replying to babble with meaningless babble aids language acquisition, because even though the babble itself conveys no logical meaning, the interaction teaches infants that speech is bidirectional communication. Some experts advise that parents should not talk to infants and young children solely in baby talk, but include some normal adult speech as well.

Other researchers have pointed out that "motherese" is not universal among the world's cultures, and argue its role in "helping children learn grammar" has been overestimated. In some societies (such as certain Samoan tribes; see first reference) adults do not speak to their children at all until they have reached a certain age. In others, it is more usual to speak to children as one would speak to anyone else, with some vocabulary simplifications. Furthermore, even where baby-talk is used, it is full of complicated grammatical constructs, mispronounced or non-existent words, and tends to refer only to objects and events in the immediate vicinity. Baby-talk often has the parent repeating the child's utterances back to him/her, and since children employ a wide variety of phonological and morphological simplifications (mostly distance assimilation or reduplication) in learning to speak, this results in "classic" baby-words like "na-na" for "grandmother" or "din-din" for "dinner", where the child has seized on a stressed syllable of the input and then repeated it to make a word.

In any case, the child normally acquires the local language without difficulty, regardless of the degree or type of exposure to baby-talk.

Vocabulary

The vocabulary of baby talk includes nonverbal sounds and slurred or simplified versions of ordinary words, but it also includes a vocabulary of its own. Some of these are handed down from parent to parent or invented by parents and are not known outside of a particular family, but others are more or less widespread.

A fair number of baby-talk and nursery words refer to bodily functions or private parts, partially because the words are easier to pronounce, partly to reduce adult discomfort when using them, and partly to make it possible for children to discuss these topics without breaking adult taboos.

Some examples of widely-used baby talk words and phrases in English that are not in standard dictionaries include:

beddy-bye (go to bed)
binkie (pacifier)(blanket)
boo-boo (wound)
bubby (brother)
didee (diaper)
din-din (dinner)
ickle (little)
icky (disgusting)
jammies (pyjamas)
nana (grandmother)
poo-poo (defecation)
oopsie-daisy (small accident)
sissy (sister)
stinky (faeces)
wawa (water)
wee-wee (urination)
widdle (little)
wuv (love)
yucky (disgusting)

Examples

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?

At early points in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter's cousin, Dudley, is the subject of frequent baby talk by Harry's "non-magic" relatives, while Harry is always spoken to sternly and seriously. This technique is used to show how much that part of the family dotes on "Ickle Duddykins".

TV Sitcom

Baby Talk was also the name of an ABC sitcom, which aired from 1991 until 1992. The show was a follow-up to the popular Look Who's Talking movie series and featured the adventures of Baby Mickey (voiced by Bruce Willis in the films but by Tony Danza in the sitcom). Mickey's mother, Maggie Campbell, was played by three different actresses -- Connie Sellecca, Julia Duffy, and Mary Page Keller -- at different points during the show's short existence. It also featured Scott Baio and George Clooney, three years before ER (which debuted in 1994) would make him famous.

Magazine

Baby Talk is also the name of a magazine aimed at new parents, distributed free to its target audience.

References

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 (^*) Use on British Channel 4 program TFI Friday. e.g. the ickle drum kit.

External link

Ba-Ba-Ba. Baby Talk: Perfect! by Karen Blaha

Language varieties and styles | Infancy

Babysprache | Linguaxe de nai | 幼児語 | Babyspråk | Mowa matczyna