Do Babies Around The World Babble In The Same Language?

What does it mean when babies make sounds like “da-da-da” or “ga-ga-ga”? Do babies from different countries make the same sounds? And are the sounds made by babies universal? Or does the sound made by an Indian baby or a German baby differ in any way? There are countless questions that go through a parent’s mind.

Baby Babble

Babies make different sounds as they are going through different phases of growth. It indicates that there is vocal development happening. Babies love to play with sounds and they also use these sounds to convey something that they may need. Mostly, babies can understand what you are saying to an extent, long before they start forming words. They can figure out what you are saying based on the emotional tone of your voice.

Most babies usually start making sounds with similar consonants by the time they are around 6 months old. You might hear them making canonical sounds which have a consonant and a vowel. That is the reason most babies make sounds like da-da-da and ga-ga-ga. So, if you thought that your baby was calling you dada, we are sorry to burst your bubble. Once the baby grows out of that stage, you can hear them making sounds that almost sound like words.

Word And Intonation Babies

Babies can differ in the type of babble they make. There are babies who try out different words and are interested in making more words. And then, there are intonation babies who are more interested in playing with intonation sounds, trying out different sounds and getting to the depth of it. If you have a baby who is more than a year old, you may be able to understand if he/she is a word baby or an intonation baby by listening to their sounds.

Is Babble A Language In Its Own?

Some of us might have thought that it’s nothing but sounds they make which are meaningless, and there are others who think that babbling is indeed a way of communication. The one thing babies quickly absorb regardless of any approach we use is pragmatics.

So, what is pragmatics? It is the social skill that is used in language to interact with others on a daily basis. It includes everything from the way we say something, how we choose to say it, and the non-verbal forms of communication such as facial expressions, body language and the most important, eye contact. All these conclude how appropriate an interaction is in a given situation. Babies, in the same way, are trying to get the hang of pragmatics for their wants and needs. By trying out different ways of babbling, they are finding out which is the most effective way to get the response that they need. But that doesn’t mean babies only babble for their needs, they are also trying out or playing with different sounds.

Do Babies Babble Differently?

Have you ever wondered if babies are trying to convey something or talk to us when they babble?

Just like how the tone of your voice helps to get the message across to the other person, babies learn from what they hear. So, they will be more familiar with the specific phonemes, consonants and the vowels that their parents use, or they most often hear from the people around them. These can be different in every language and even dialect.

So, after a while, you can hear babies trying out sounds they hear often around them, as well as the intonation patterns. The parents, if they listen closely, can understand when a baby is making sounds in their language from the specific kind of sounds and intonations used. Similarly, if the baby is deaf and is exposed to sign language, you can see them babble using gestures.

So, if you thought your baby is just babbling some random sounds, now you know that there’s more to it than you thought. If you have a baby at home, we would love to hear the sounds he/she is making in the comment section below.

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