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The speech of two- and three-year-olds to infant siblings: ‘baby talk’ and the context of communication*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2008

Judy Dunn  and
Carol Kendrick
Judy Dunn
Affiliation:
MRC Unit on the Development and Integration of Behaviour, University of Cambridge
Carol Kendrick
Affiliation:
MRC Unit on the Development and Integration of Behaviour, University of Cambridge
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Abstract

Adjustments in speech made by 2- and 3-year-old children when talking to their 14-month-old siblings are described and compared with those made by mothers addressing their babies. ‘Clarification’ adjustments were made by all the children, but there were marked individual differences in the frequency of questions and ‘affective-expressive’ features – differences related to the quality of the relationship between the siblings. The pattern of speech adjustments reflected the social contexts in which the children addressed their siblings; within these contexts (prohibitory and playful) children as young as 2 make appropriate use of communicative devices. The individual differences between the children indicate two sources of influence on the adjustments made – pragmatic and emotional.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Child Language , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , October 1982 , pp. 579 - 595
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

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Footnotes

[*]

This work was supported by the Medical Research Council. We are grateful to the families in the study for their generous help, and to Colin Fraser and Elena Lieven for their helpful comments on the manuscript. Address for correspondence: MRC Unit on the Development and Integration of Behaviour, University Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA.

References

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