Part of the reason we articulate more when talking to babies is because of our emotions.
- We talk differently when we talk to babies.
- This would be related to the positive emotions we feel when talking to them.
- But it could also be a way to help them decipher our words.
An enthusiastic voice, a bit shrill and singsong, this is how we could describe the tone with which we address babies. This manner of speaking interested a research team. In Journal of child languagethe authors explain that this way of communicating with the little ones is linked to our emotional state.
How to analyze the language of mothers?
Their work is based on a study carried out with ten mothers and their six-month-old babies. The authors studied their vocal behavior to understand why mothers articulate more when talking to infants. All participants were asked to talk to their baby for about ten minutes. To compare different parameters, the mothers also turned to puppies and adults. All their words were recorded and then analyzed, in parallel, the emotions expressed by the mothers were also evaluated. The scientists dissected the pronunciation of each vowel and studied their acoustic characteristics.
Communicating with babies generates more positive emotions
“The team found that mothers articulate better and express more positive emotions when talking to their babies or puppies, conclude the authors. In both situations, the mothers displayed a range of positive emotions, correlated with changes in their vocalizations.” This finding provides a new interpretation of hyperarticulation. “This finding encourages looking at maternal discourse from a multi-faceted perspective that includes emotional state.”, conclude the authors. According to other scientists, this phenomenon allows a clearer pronunciation of words, and is explained by a desire to “make speech easier to process for infants“.
Babies: our way of talking helps them develop their language
A study published in December 2021 precisely showed that our way of talking to children could help them better decipher language. The generally higher pitch, slower speech rate and exaggerated pronunciation helps children learn speech, its authors believe. “En mimicking the sound of a smaller vocal apparatus, we teach babies how words should sound when they come out of their own mouths”, they observe. “It seems to stimulate speech motor production, not just speech perception“, underlined Matthew Masapollo, co-author of this research. With his colleagues, he encourages parents to communicate with their children, even if they have the impression of being gaga, they accompany their babies towards the formulation of their first words.
