Baby talk is real: Adults speak differently to babies in at least 10 different languages
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 29-Jun-2025 16:10 ET (29-Jun-2025 20:10 GMT/UTC)
Baby talk, more formally referred to as infant-directed speech (IDS), often differs from adult-directed speech (ADS) in both pitch and vocabulary. The existing scientific evidence for the presence of vowel hyperarticulation in IDS is conflicting, however. Researchers recently performed a meta-analysis of all existing IDS vowel hyperarticulation research studies and found that the exaggeration of vowels in IDS is present in at least 10 different languages.
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