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baby talk

noun

  1. the speech of children learning to talk, marked by syntactic differences from adult speech and by phonetic modifications like lisping, lalling, and the omission and substitution of sounds.
  2. Also called 貹·Գ· [pair-, uh, n-, teez, -, tees, par-]. a style of speech used by adults in addressing children, pets, or sweethearts, and formed in imitation of the voice and pronunciation of children learning to talk: it is generally characterized in English by the addition of diminutive endings to words, the use of special words and pet names, and the systematic distortion of certain words, as dolly for doll, teensy-weensy for tiny, oo for you, and twain for train.


baby talk

noun

  1. the speech of very young children learning to talk
  2. an adult's imitation of this
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Usage Note

Baby Talk is used as a label in this dictionary for well-known terms traditionally thought to exemplify the type of baby talk used by adults.
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yvlog History and Origins

Origin of baby talk1

First recorded in 1830–40
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Example Sentences

Other parents said their children have been having potty accidents again, speaking in baby talk or gibberish, sleeping in their parents’ bed and throwing tantrums over small changes in routines.

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The Collinses frequently speak at pro-natalist events, which also do a poor job of concealing the true, bigoted agenda under all this happy baby talk.

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McVay making faces and cooing baby talk on a video call.

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His train of thought was idiotic, but it wasn't derailing into "ding boom" or baby talk.

From

Research shows that young children are attracted to “parentese” or “motherese” — the kind of “baby talk” that the videos predominantly feature, in which the voice gets higher and facial expressions are exaggerated, Dr. Moyle said.

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