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Baby talk and the emergence of first words

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2005

Peter F. MacNeilage  and
Barbara L. Davis
Peter F. MacNeilage*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas, Austin, TX78712
Barbara L. Davis*
Affiliation:
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Texas, AustinTX78712
*
macneilage@psy.utexas.edu
babs@mail.utexas.edu
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Abstract:

Words denoting “mother” in baby talk and in languages usually include nasal sounds, supporting Falk's suggestion that infant nasalized demand vocalizations might have motivated a first word. The linguistic contrast between maternal terms and paternal terms, which favor oral consonants, and the simple phonetic patterns of parental terms in both baby talk and languages also suggest parental terms could have been first words.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , August 2004 , pp. 517 - 518
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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