Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-xtgtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T21:50:29.112Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)