Baby talk
Baby talk, motherese, 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 popular 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 Shore (1997) believe that baby talk is an important part of the emotional bonding process, and contributes to mental development. It plays a role in teaching the child the basic function and structure of language. Studies have shown 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. Dr. David Miall of the University of Alberta has found surprising connections between the structure of baby talk and that of poetry. He is quoted as saying "Baby talk is full of poetic features, such as metrics and phonetics; I was surprised by how systematic it is, and how it works to shape and direct attention."
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 give make it possible for children to discuss these topics without breaking adult taboos.
Some examples of widely-used baby talk words and phrases that are not in standard dictionaries include:
- beddy-bye (go to bed)
- binkie (pacifier)
- boo-boo (small painful bump or bruise)
- din-din (dinner)
- doo-doo (feces, defecation)
- ickle (little)
- icky (disgusting)
- jammies (pajamas)
- nana (grandmother)
- pee-pee (urination; or penis)
- oopsie-daisy (or whoopsie-daisy) (small accident or fall; from "upside-down?"; or to be slightly tossed up in the air & caught by an adult)
- stinky (soiled with feces)
- tinkle (urination)
- wee-wee (urination)
- yucky (disgusting)
The novelist Booth Tarkington, in Seventeen, 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, 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?
References
Shore, Rina. (1997). Rethinking the brain: New insights into early development. New York: Families and Work Institute
