Lorraine Costa lovingly repeats sweet nothings in a high-pitched singsong voice to her 2-month-old granddaughter, Brook Lynn. "Her face lights up and she smiles back," says the proud grandma, who lives in New Rochelle, New York.
Amazingly enough, millions of moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings and caregivers all over the world use the same melodic intonation and higher pitch when they talk with their babies. "We have Hispanic, African-American, and Caucasian women in our practice, and they all talk to their babies with the same lilting tone of voice," says Joyce Wilder, CNM, MSN, a certified nurse-midwife based in Watertown, New York.
This universal baby talk is commonly called "motherese" and referred to as "infant directed speech" by the experts. What is baby talk and why do we use it? Baby talk is a simplification of language that adults and even children use instinctively to communicate with babies. "We use this type of speech when we want to get a baby's attention, when we want to be understood," explains Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, PhD, director of the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University, in Philadelphia, and co-author of How Babies Talk.
While some parents start talking baby talk to their baby right way, others wait until their infant is three to six months old and able to coo, babble, and respond verbally to what he hears. "And as naturally as it comes to us, it goes away," says Hirsh-Pasek. By the time a child is capable of holding a lengthy conversation, somewhere between the ages of three and four, parents tend to adjust their tone of voice and engage in more complex speech.
MORE ABOUT BABY TALK
Baby talk differs from adult speech and includes the following distinctions:
A higher pitch. Men, women, and even children all raise the pitch of their voice when addressing a baby.
Low to high intonation. When adults speak to a baby, they often use a rising intonation at the end of a sentence. This tells the baby the sentence is coming to an end and it will be baby's turn to respond.
Simple vocabulary. Motherese tends to include fewer modifiers than adult speech and focuses on objects the baby can see or is familiar with.
Shorter sentence length. To keep a toddler's attention, caregivers generally stick with sentences of three to five words.
Exaggerated expressions. Caregivers tend to widen their eyes, zoom in close, smile and use exaggerated mouthing when speaking with a baby. These physical signals help keep the baby's attention.
A slower tempo. Adults speak rather quickly with each other, but they purposely slow down so babies can follow along and come to understand key words.
Repetition. One of the hallmarks of baby talk is that it encourages babies to respond. Caregivers often repeat and expand on what the baby says or signals. Here's a typical exchange: "It's time for Suzie's bath." Suzie excitedly says "bath." "Bath. Yes. Suzie loves baths. Let's get ready for the bath."
Generalities. Adults also tend to use generalities so toddlers can learn language more readily. For example, a mother won't differentiate between a poodle and a collie but will call both breeds "dogs."
DOES IT REALLY WORK?
Not surprisingly, babies prefer hearing a language that's made for them over the more complicated, fast-paced speech adults use with each other. "The babies seem to love it," says Wilder. "They look right at their mom and smile or laugh and their eyes keep coming back to their mom."
Baby talk seems to promote parent/child bonding, but also a give-and-take quality to the relationship as well. "This abbreviated language helps moms get some nice reinforcement back from their babies," notes Karla Stovall, a speech and language pathologist in the Child Development Unit at Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.
"One of the interesting things about infant-directed speech is that it conveys how you feel," adds Hirsh-Pasek. "The high-pitched variations, the elongated words, the exaggerated pauses all convey emotion." She points out that if you say something nasty in a beautiful tone, your baby will smile. Similarly, if you say something wonderful in a harsh tone your baby will respond with a pout or a cry. In other words, your baby responds not so much to what you say but how you say it.
Of course, the six million dollar question is whether baby talk helps children learn language more readily. "Some people think that this kind of speech helps babies learn words faster and understand sooner when sentences begin and end," says Hirsh-Pasek.
Of course, the advice of all experts when it comes to promoting language with your child is to talk naturally, sing, play games, talk about your day, and most importantly, enjoy your baby.
* taken from "Motherese" by Colleen Davis Gardephe, Every Baby magazine, Issue Three.
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