Baby talk

.
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 pat

• Baby talk is a long-established and universally understood

traditional term.
• 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.
• Caregiver language is also sometimes used.
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.Some researchers, including Rima Shore (1997),
believe that baby talk is an important part of the emotional bonding
process.

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.

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). 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

Some researchers have pointed out that baby talk is not universal
among the world's cultures, and argue that 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 until the children reach a certain age. In other societies, it is
more common to speak to children as one would to an adult, but with
simplifications in grammar and vocabulary. In order to relate to the
child during baby talk, a parent may deliberately slur or fabricate some
words, and may pepper the speech with nonverbal utterances. A
parent might refer only to objects and events in the immediate vicinity,
and will often repeat the child's utterances back to them. Since
children employ a wide variety of phonological and morphological
simplifications (usually distance assimilation or reduplication) in
learning speech, such interaction results in the "classic" baby-words
like na-na for grandmother or din-din for dinner, where the child seizes
on a stressed syllable of the input, and simply repeats it to form a
word.

In any case, the normal child will eventually acquire the local language
without difficulty, regardless of the degree of exposure to baby talk.
However, the use of motherese could have an important role in
affecting the rate and quality of language acquisition.

/derogatory baby talk

Baby talk may be used by one noninfant 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 bully uses baby talk to assert that the
victim is weak, cowardly, overemotional, or otherwise submissive.
Flirtatious baby talk

Baby talk may be used as a form of flirtation between sex partners. In

this instance, the baby talk may be an expression of tender intimacy,
and may form part of affectionate role play in which one partner
speaks and behaves childishly, while the other acts motherly or
fatherly, responding in parentese. One or both partners might perform
the child role.

Baby talk with pets

Many people use falsetto, glissando and repetitive speech similar to

baby talk when addressing their pets. Such talk is not commonly used
by professionals who train working animals, but is very common
among owners of companion pets. This style of speech is different from
baby talk, despite intonal similarities, especially if the speaker uses
rapid rhythms and forced breathiness which may mimic the animal's
utterances. Pets often learn to respond well to the emotional states
and specific commands of their owners who use baby talk, especially if
the owner's intonations are very distinct from ambient noise. For
example, a dog may recognize baby talk as his owner's invitation to
play (as is a dog's natural "play bow"); a cat may learn to come when
addressed with the high-pitched utterance, "Heeeeere kitty- kitty-kitty-
kitty- kitty- kitty!"

Vocabulary
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 passed down
from parent to parent over generations, while others are quite widely
known.

A fair number of baby talk and nursery words refer to bodily functions
or private parts, partly because the words are relatively easy to
pronounce. Moreover, such words reduce adults' discomfort with the
subject matter, and make it possible for children to discuss such things
without breaking adult taboos.

Some examples of widely-used baby talk words and phrases in English,

many of which are not found within standard dictionaries, include:

• baba (blanket or bottle)

• beddy-bye (go to bed, sleeping, bedtime)
 • binkie (pacifier (dummy) or blanket)
• blankie (blanket)
• boo-boo (wound or bruise)
• bubby (brother)
• dada (dad, daddy)
• didee (diaper)
• din-din (dinner)
• doedoes (In South African English, the equivalent of beddy-bye)
• googoogaga
• num nums (food/dinner)
• ickle (little (chiefly British))
• icky (disgusting)
• jammies (pajamas)
• nana (grandmother)
• oopsie-daisy (accident)
• owie (wound or bruise)
• passie or paci (pacifier (dummy))
• pee-pee (urinate or penis)
• poo-poo or doo-doo (defecation)
• potty (toilet)
• sissy (sister)
• sleepy-bye (go to bed, sleeping, bedtime)
• stinky (defecation)
• tummy (stomach)
• wawa (water)
• wee-wee (urination or penis)
• widdle (urine (chiefly British))
• widdle (little (chiefly American))
• wuv (love)
• yucky (disgusting)
• yum-yum (meal time)
• mama (mother)
• uppie (wanting to be picked up)

Moreover, many words can be derived into baby talk following certain
rules of transformation, in English adding a terminal /i/ sound is a
common way to form a diminutive which is used as part of baby talk,
examples include:

• horsey (from horse)

• kitty (from cat or kitten)
• potty (originally from pot now equivalent to modern toilet)
• doggy (from dog)
("Puppy" is often erroneously thought to be a diminutive of pup made
this way, but it is in fact the other way around: pup is a shortening of
puppy, which comes from French popi or poupée.)

Other transformations mimic the way infants mistake certain

consonants which in English can include turning /l/ into /w/ as in wuv
from love or widdo from little or in pronouncing /v/ as /b/ and /ð/ or /t/
as /d/.

Still other transformations, but not in all languages, include elongated

vowels, such as kitty and kiiiitty, 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.
The transcript of record sound between Tania and
Winda.

W : Halo.
N : Halo.
W : Nyak haga pandai, namamu sapa dek?
N : Tania.
W : Tania sapa?
N : Tania Davesa
W : Tania skula didipa?
N : Patoman
W : Skula api?
N : Skula TK
W :TK api geh?
N : TK Aisiah
W : Klas Pikha?
N : TK
W : Klas O besar api O kecil?
N : Nol Besar
W : Tkhus api khasan Tania jama khik-khik ni di sekula
N : Belannya
W : Belannya api belajar?
N : Belannya.
W : Oh Be lanya,….mak belajakh mawat?
N : Yu belajakh muneh.
W : Api sai dipelajari di sekoulahan kidah dek?
N : Belajakh tulis-tulisan jama angka-angkaan.
W : Sapa guruni sai ngelajakh?
N : Bu yuli, bu endang.
W : Bangik ngat gukhu ni?
N : Bangik.
W : khadu belajakh-belajakh api munih khasani, nyanyi-nyanyi
mawat.
N : Ngat istrahat gawoh.
W : Khadu hina?
N : Belannya.
W : Khadu belannya?
N ; Kuhuk luwot
W : Khadu hina api khasanni?
N : Mulang.
W : Mulang, ki diskulaan Tania senang mawat di dudi?
N : Senang.
W : Khamk yu.
N : Iyu.
W : Cita-cita Tania kik kak balak nanti jadi api?
N : Gukhu.
W : Ulah api jadi gukhu.
N : Ngat
W :Yu ulah api
N : Sekula Tk hina
W : Khadu SD?

N : Aduh apa ya.

W : Tania Gekhing nonton Tv Mawat?
N : Gekhing
W : Gekhing nonton acara api?
N : Brita-brita.
W : Brita-brita, brita gawoh
N : Yu
W : Sai bakhikhni api?
N : Berita gawoh.
W : Tania tegi gemuk pasti gekhing mengan yu?
N : Iyu.
W : Makanan api sai digekhingi Tania?
N : Kangkung.
W : Api lagi?
N : Telor
W : Tahluy
N : Yu.
W : Tania wat khik pikha diskulaan ni?
N : Sepuluh
W : Sapa-sapa gih namani?
N : Eeee,khpa ya,
W : Masa mak pandai,sai khedik jama Tania sapa?
N : Febi gawoh.
W : Febi gawoh.
N : Iyu.
W : Febi hina sekelas jama Tania.
N : Iyu
W : Kik khadu mulang sekula api khasan Tania di mahan.
N : Mengan khadu hina salin.
W : Khadu salin?
N : midokh.
W : Mulang jam pikha?
N : Magrhib.
W : Maghrib, mak ngaji mawat?
N : Ngat.
W : Ulah api mak kung nagji?
N : Mak kung.
W : Tania gekhing nyanyi mawat?
N : Gekhing
W : Coba nyanyi kidah! Asing ko ka Tania khaga nyany api.
N : Apa ya. Nyany lagu balonku………………..
W : Hina gawoh laguni sai dipandai’i tania
N : Iyu.
W : Kik di mahan khik Tania sapa gawoh?
N : Fani, mela lagi lamon sai bakhikh.
W : Tania gekhing makai baju api?
N : Warna merah jambu..
W : Khadu merah jambu api lagi ?
N : Warna kuning..
W : Kik nanti Tania jadi gukhu , haga jadi gukhu sai betik api sai
jahat?
N : Sai betik,.
W : Sai betik ha gehpa?
N : Apa yaa.. ngajarin yang benar.
W : kik ngelajakh sai betik ha gegoh gehpa ? mak makhah-
makkhah..?
N : Mawat
W : Emang gukhu Tania betik unyin ya .?
N : iyya
N : Gukhu sai paling betik saapa?
W : Bu Yuli..
N : Emang ni Bu Yuli ha gehpa? Gaya, gemuk,,atau gehpa.?
W : khayang..
N : Makai jilbab?
W : Iyuu,,tapi gaya, cantik..
N : Tania nanti kik mak jadi gukhu haga jadi api ?
W : Haga jadi polisi
N : haga jadi polisi/
W : Eeee bukan denk, haga jadi Dokter
N : Dokter api? Dokter hewan atau api?
W : Tania gekhing jajan?
N : Gekhing!!!
W : Gekhing jajan api Tania? Api sai paling Tania gekhing?
N : Gekhing jajan ciki-ciki jama es muneh..
W : Kik Tania lapah sekula jam pikha dek?
N : Jam 8
W : Sapa sai ngantak ko sekula?
N : Ayah..
W : Ganta umur Tania pikha dek.
N : Lima tahun.
W : Lma tahun
N : Iyu.
W : Khadu sekula TK haga sekula dipa?
N : Patoman
W : Jama apa sekula didudi?
N : Jama Asya.
W : Sapa khina yay Asya.
N : Kiyayku.
W : Makasih ya Ania saying.
N :Iyu.