babbling/first words

[Carol Stoel-Gammon]

As as been noted by many of the respondents, the first word of many  
children (including mine) is something other than daddy. It is true,  
however, that for American children, daddy is among the very first  
words. Based on data from the CHILDES data base, daddy is produced by  
50% of children at age 11.48 months, while mommy is produced by 50%  
of children at 11.64 months. Other words on the CHILDES list reach  
the 50% criterion after 12.28 months.


************************************
Carol Stoel-Gammon, Ph.D.
Professor, Speech and Hearing Sciences
University of Washington
1417 N.E. 42nd Street
Seattle, WA 98105-6246

Phone: 206-543-7692
Fax: 206-543-1093
************************************




On Sep 12, 2006, at 12:40 AM, Annette Karmiloff-Smith wrote:

> Someone has asked me whether it is true that babies' first word is  
> Daddy and whether this is because the articulation position of D is  
> easiest?  not sure either is true but would appreciated comments  
> from those who study this area.  Are the words for Daddy/Papa etc.  
> and Mummy/Maman etc. easier because there is no change of place of  
> articulation?  All thoughts on the topic most appreciated.
> thanks
> Annette K-S
>
>
> -- 
> ________________________________________________________________
> Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, CBE, FBA, FMedSci,
> Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit,
> Institute of Child Health,
> 30 Guilford Street,
> London WC1N 1EH, U.K.
> tel: 0207 905 2754
> sec: 0207 905 2334
> http://www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/ich/html/academicunits/neurocog_dev/ 
> n_d_unit.html
>
>

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