motherese

Nursery rhymes rely on meter and rhyme to stick into our memories. When we remember them, we do not remember just the words; we remember them in time, sometimes even with their pitch. Before children acquire words and syntax, parents naturally talk to them in a particular style. In the late 1980s, psychologist Deborah Kemler-Nelson proved that mothers all over the world speak to their …

“Baby needa burpie?! Yeees?? [burp] Oh! WHOOOZa good baby? YOU are! Yeeesssssyouare!” Whether you find this adorable or aggravating, gaggles of parents around the world speak to their infants in singsong “goos” and “gahs.” The style has diverse names, from baby talk and motherese (but what about Dad?) to the neutral and more official-sounding child- or infant- directed speech. Whatever you choose to call it, …