Why motherese?

Posted on October 17, 2013 | 1 Comment

My latest article for TheWeek.com is on motherese, a.k.a. infant-directed speech, a.k.a. baby talk. Specifically, does it do any good? I mean aside from making the person speaking that way feel all parental and letting them project childish enthusiasm. If that’s any good. Find out what research says… and what I think:

What’s the point of baby talk?

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One response to “Why motherese?”

  1. Robyn Groth's avatar Robyn Groth | October 25, 2013 at 8:10 am | Reply

    There’s also the distinction between the two common ways of speaking to children – pitch and vowel length aside: asking questions and naming things. “What’s that?” versus “There’s a dog.” Early on, children whose parents primarily name things tend to grow their vocabulary faster than the children whose parents primarily ask questions. But it all gets evened out pretty quick.

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