‘Baby talk’ has similar features across many languages, study finds

Some features of “baby talk”, or the animated way in which caregivers speak to infants, such as pitch and melody have the same properties across most of the world’s languages, according to a new study.

Researchers, including those from the University of York in the UK, say the findings shed more light on how children grasp language and also on their cognitive development.

In the study, published last week in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, they assessed previous research on the sound properties of baby talk, and asked what these revealed about its function in child language development.

Overall, scientists analysed data from 88 unique studies on speech parameters, including frequency and its variability, vowel use and articulation rate.

Scientists found that some features of baby talk, including pitch, melody, and articulation rates remain similar across most of the world’s languages.

But how caregivers exaggerate differences between vowel sounds varied significantly across languages, they say.

Citing an example, researchers say people use a higher pitch, more melodious phrases, and a slower articulation rate when talking to infants compared to how we talk to adults, and this appears to be the same across most languages.

“In the English language, caregivers typically exaggerate the difference in vowel sounds in infant directed speech, but this seemed to vary across other languages,” study co-author Christopher Cox said in a statement.

However, scientists say further research is needed to understand why this is so, adding that studies also need to focus more on non-Western languages.

Researchers also found that baby talk changes over time as infants get a better grasp on language, with its features gradually becoming more similar to adult speech style.

But some features, such as the high pitch melodic sounds as well as exaggerated vowels continue into early life, they say.

“These results really highlight the interactive nature of this speech style, with caregivers providing dynamic and tailored feedback to their children’s vocalizations and reacting to infants’ changing developmental needs,” Riccardo Fusaroli, another co-author of the study from Aarhus University in Denmark said in a statement.