Origins of baby talk / motherese / CDS / caregiver talk

[Dan I. Slobin]

I've started to use the term "exposure language," for several reasons:
    * "input" assumes that the child takes everything in
    * "motherese" and "caregiver talk" exclude 
talk from non-parents and non-caregivers (siblings, peers, other adults, etc.)
    * "child directed speech" excludes what 
children learn from overheard speech
    * "baby talk" is ambiguous: could mean talk produced by or for babies
"Exposure language" or "ambient language" allow 
one to consider characteristics of talk that 
children are exposed to or surrounded by,
without prejudging any of the issues mentioned above.

Dan Slobin


At 02:08 AM 12/4/2006, Matthew Saxton wrote:
>Dear All,
>
>Could anyone please help me trace the provenance 
>of the terms we have for how adults talk to 
>young children? I’m thinking in particular of 
>motherese, baby talk, Child Directed Speech and 
>caregiver talk. (If I’ve missed any obvious 
>ones, do please let me know this also).
>
>My guess for baby talk is Charles Ferguson 
>around 1971, though a specific reference would 
>be helpful. The earliest use of motherese I can trace is:
>
>Vorster, J. (1975). Mommy linguist – the case 
>for motherese. Lingua, 37/4, 281-312.
>
>Catherine Snow does not seem to use the term 
>motherese in her 1972 article, but I would 
>imagine there is an earlier source than Vorster 
>(1975) (given Vorster’s acknowledgement of Snow).
>
>For Child Directed Speech (with a hyphen),  I go back as far as:
>
>Warren-Leubecker, A. & Bohannon, J.N. (1984). 
>Intonation patterns in child-directed speech – 
>mother-father differences. Child Development, 55/4, 1379-1385.
>
>As for caregiver talk, this phrase throws up 
>precisely no references in a standard search. 
>Julian Pine talks about “the language of primary 
>caregivers” in 1995, but that’s not quite the same thing:
>
>Pine, J. (1995). The language of primary 
>caregivers. In C. Gallaway & B.J. Richards 
>(eds.) Input and interaction in language acquisition. Cambridge: C.U.P..
>
>Maybe no-one has actually used the phrase 
>caregiver talk and I should strike it from the 
>record. In any event, any help tracing these 
>terms back to their various sources would be very much appreciated.
>
>Regards,
>
>Matthew Saxton.
>
>*********************************************************************
>
>Matthew Saxton MA, MSc, DPhil
>School of Psychology and Human Development,
>Institute of Education,
>25 Woburn Square,
>London,
>WC1H 0AA.
>U.K.
>
>Tel: +44 (0) 20 7612 6509
>Fax: +44 (0) 20 7612 6304
>
><http://ioewebserver.ioe.ac.uk/ioe/cms/get.asp?cid=4578&4578_0=10248>http://ioewebserver.ioe.ac.uk/ioe/cms/get.asp?cid=4578&4578_0=10248
>www.ioe.ac.uk
>

 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dan I. Slobin, Professor of the Graduate School
Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Linguistics

Department of Psychology          email: slobin at berkeley.edu
3210 Tolman #1650                 phone (Dept):  1-510-642-5292
University of California               phone (home): 1-510-848-1769
Berkeley, CA 94720-1650           fax: 1-510-642-5293
USA                                         http://ihd.berkeley.edu/slobin.htm
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