baby talk
3
5.8
- noun
- /ˈbeɪbi tɔk/
:
hablar de bebé
- She slips another morsel into Anouk's mouth, murmurs baby talk, and allows the dog to take a bit of chicken from between her teeth.
- mothers use baby talk
- use baby talk
My my dad's baby talk voice is like, where did this come from?
- My my dad's baby talk voice is like, where did this come from?
Examples
-
Of course, Corinne acknowledged that the older boys had long ago begun to resist her hugs, kisses, and crooning baby talk.
Fiction book (1997) -
Sometimes she spoke to him in baby talk; it was a kind of game.
Fiction book (2001) -
Everything else she said to me was baby talk, too.
Fiction book (1993) -
According to researchers, babies really do prefer baby talk and pay more attention when people speak to them in an exaggerated sing song voice.
-
Phoebe speaks baby talk.
Fiction book (1998) -
Mum preferred it that way; she liked Mel to use the baby talk and the grunting, which had been all Mel could manage for most of her life.
Fiction book (2001) -
She must have been one of those people who couldn't bear sitting by while other people worked—unlike her aunt, who was off in the parlor happily talking baby talk to Tatters.
Fiction book (1998) -
Despite her stubbornness, her impertinence, and her bland self-assurance, Kato had developed a fondness for baby talk; she liked to be sung to, cooed at, and called by her nickname.
Fiction book (1993) -
When she spoke to her puppy, she used baby talk to make it feel loved.
-
Parents often use baby talk to engage with their infants and encourage communication.
Synonyms
1
9.0
Speech adults use when talking to babies and young children with simple words and a slow, high voice
A way adults speak to young children using simple words and a higher voice
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'speech of a very young child' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'baby' (a very young child) with 'talk' (speech), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer the MWE. The noun+noun composition is a common, cross-linguistic pattern mapping straightforwardly to the intended meaning, making it immediately comprehensible.
Etymology
Baby talk comes from how adults change their voice when they speak to a baby: they use a higher pitch, slow words and very simple sentences to get the baby's attention and show love. So baby talk means adults imitating that simple, caring way of speaking to comfort or teach.