What is "baby talk"

n. (context linguistics Danish) The form of speech used by adults in talking to very young children.

1. n: an adult's imitation of the speech of a young child [syn: babytalk, motherese]

2. the developing speech of a young child [syn: babytalk]

Baby talk, also referred to as caretaker speech, infant-directed speech (IDS), child-directed speech (CDS) or motherese, is usually delivered with a "cooing" pattern of intonation different from that of normal adult speech: high in pitch, with many glissando variations that are more pronounced than those of normal speech. It frequently displays hyperarticulation, which is an increase in the distances between peripheral vowels (such as [i], [u], and [a]). Baby talk is also characterized by the shortening and simplifying of words. Baby talk is similar to what is used by people when talking to their pets (pet-directed speech). When adults talk to each other using baby talk it is generally to either show affection by emulating the fondness shown by adults for children, or as a form of bullying or condescension as children are much less cognitively developed than adults, implying that the adult receiving the baby talk is less intelligent than the adult talking to them.

Baby Talk is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from March 8, 1991 until May 8, 1992 as part of ABC's TGIF lineup. The show was loosely based on the Look Who's Talking movies and was adapted for television by Ed Weinberger. Amy Heckerling created original characters for the series while using key creative and script elements from Look Who's Talking, which she had written and directed. Weinberger served as executive producer during the first season, and was replaced by Saul Turteltaub and Bernie Orenstein in the second season.

Baby talk is a simplified form of language used by adults when speaking to babies.

Baby talk may also refer to:

"Baby Talk" is a 1985 freestyle dance/pop single by Alisha. Originally recorded and released by Gregg Brown in 1984, Alisha's version was popular in the dance clubs and reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart in December 1985.

"Baby Talk" is a 1959 song by Jan and Dean which was a Top 10 hit for them on Dore Records. Jan Berry worked on the song with friends and Dore Records staffers Lou Adler and Herb Alpert. Alpert recalled recording the song in Jan's garage. Later that year it was also covered by Simon and Garfunkel who were known as Tom and Jerry at the time. While not usually considered part of the "surf pop" genre, it contains many elements of what would become the signature sound of southern California in the early 60's such as the close vocal harmonies combined with falsetto sounds.

In 1962, Jan & Dean released a second version as a single of "Baby Talk" naming the newer version "She's Still Talking Baby Talk".

"Baby Talk" is the sixth episode of the sixth season of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and the 118th episode overall. It aired on October 25, 2010.