baby talk

Analyzing Baby Talk
by : sekardini 0713042011


I. INTRODUCTION

Baby Talk
Baby talk referred to as caretaker speech, infant-directed speech or child-directed speech and informally as "motherese",

"parentese", or "mommy talk", is a nonstandard form of speech used by adults in talking to toddlers and infants. It 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. 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),

and between adults as a form of affection, intimacy, bullying or condescension.
In this paper, we will analyze baby talk and the input of modifictions from the conversation between a baby and adult. I

recorded videos, which contain of conversation between a baby (two years old) and adult. In this video there is a baby named

Nala. He is a daughter of Mr. andi and Mrs. Niken.Shee is 2 years old. In those videos, we can see Nala’s interaction. She

talked with the members of her family, her mother, her aunt, and her cousin. Here are the conversation scripts.



II. DIALOG TRANSCRIPTION

VIDEO I :
Cousin : Nala, dimana senternya?
Nala : nyih unya nini (ini punya nini)
Cousin : coba idupin
Nala : nti (mati)
Cousin : oh mati.. yuk idupin..
Nala : di aoo aja (di taro aja)
Cousin : ia ditaro. Coba matiin dulu
Nala : ncet
Cousin : Ia pinter di pencet. Udah?
Nala : dah..
Cousin : kalo abis main dita..
Nala : yo
Cousin : jangan nanti ru...
Nala : cak
Cousin : kalo rusak dimarah siapa?
Nala : rah mba nini.. (marah mba nini)
Nala : ada nde.. (ada bude..)
Cousin : mana?
Nala : nyih.. (ini)
Cousin : budenya gendut ya?
Nala : ndut
Cousin : kaya siapa?
Nala : ya ala (kaya nala)
Cousin : ada njing
Nala : bukan, itu pinguin
Cousin : gimana klo anjing? Helii..
Nala : guk..
Cousin : kemari
Nala : guk..
Cousin : ayo lari2.. Nala mam yuk.. udah mam belum?
Nala : ndak au, dah ( tidak mau, sudah)
Cousin : sama apa tadi mamnya?
Nala : itan (ikan)
Cousin : wah ada kepala ini. Kepala siapa ya?
Nala : ala Ala..
Cousin : siapa itu?
Nala : mama
Cousin : mama siapa?
Nala : mama ken (mama niken)
Cousin : ada berapa ini. Itung.
Nala : atu..
Cousin : abis itu du..
Nala : ua.. iga.. (dua.. tiga)
Cousin : ia tiga.. terus..
Nala : empap
Cousin : li...
Nala : ma..
Cousin : habis itu enam.. terus
Nala : njuh.. (tujuh)

VIDEO II:
In this video we can see Nala talked to his aunt and his mother
Aunt : siapa itu yang makan permen?
Nala : ala.. (Nala)
Aunt : siapa yang kasi de?
Nala : di aci nde.. (dikasi bude)
Aunt : enak gak?
Nala : nyak..
Nala : da nini (ada nini)
Aunt : mana mba dini?
Nala : tu..
Nala : ngket.. lap.. (lengket.. lap..)
Aunt : ia lengket permennya. Lap ya..
Nala : da bayon..
Aunt : ya balon.. apa warna balonnya?
Nala : meyah..
Aunt : ya merah.. ada warna apalagi.. kuning ya
Nala : uning.. njo... (kuning.. ijo)
Aunt : pinter.. ada berapa balonnya?
Nala : ua.. (dua)
Aunt : salah, ada sepuluh.. ambil coba balonnya..
Nala : ya.. mbil (ya ambil)
Mom : Nala jelek apa cantik?
Nala : eyek
Mom : kok jelek? Gak cantik?
Nala : ndak eyek..
Aunt : dimana mas nunu?
Nala : nunu owah (nunu sekolah)
Aunt : ini gambar siapa?
Nala : mbar nala.. (gambar nala)
Nala : mah, guk (mama guguk)
Mom : ia ada anjing ya?
Nala : ia heyi (ya heli)
Mom : gimana bunyinya?
Nala : guk..guk..
Nala : mah uwang yok (mah pulang yuk)
Mom : kok pulang? Nanti aja..
Nala : yok uwang.


VIDEO III
Mom : ini siapa?
Nala : ni nini (ini dini)
Mom : ya mba dini..
Cousin : yang mana mba dininya?
Nala : yang nyih.. (yang ini)
Nala : da bembem..
Cousin : bukan itu mobil..
Nala : bembem..
Cousin : mana mas ardi?
Nala : gi bobok
Cousin : bobo ya? Dimana?
Nala : uwah (rumah)
Cousin : wah ada foto Nala ya.
Nala : ya..
Cousin : lucu ya..
Nala : ya.. Nala..
Mom : Nala udah mandi belum?
Nala : dah
Mom : Kapan?
Nala : di agi (tadi pagi)
Mom : harum gak?
Nala : yum..


III. DISCUSSION

Analyzing baby talk
From those three videos, which show the conversation among Nala, his mom, his aunt, and his cousin, first, we can analyze the

baby (Nala) characteristics when he talked to adults.

Nala used short and simple word to communicate. He used about two or three word sentences. For example, nyih unya nini

or mama ncis.
Besides that, from the conversations, we can see that in his age, Nala already can understand what the other persons say

or ask him. It is shown by his response when he talked or communicated with the adults ( his mom, aunt, and cousin).
He also could answer the simple open-ended question which require more than “yes” or “no” answers.

For example: Cousin`: Nala mam yuk.. udah mam belum?
Nala : ndak au, dah (tidak mau, sudah)

Then, Nala could process fairly short or concise instructions from the adult.

For example: when his cousin asked Nala to switch on the lightning, he switched it on.

In the adults’ side (Nala’s mom, aunt, and cousin), we also can analyze their characteristics when they communicated or

talked with the Nala.
1. The adults tried to communicated with Nala in short, simple and clear terms in order to make Nala understand easily. For

example, sudah mam belum? bukan itu pinguin.
2. The adult sometimes could not get what Nala wanted to said. They asked Irja once again to know what he said. So, as an

adult we should use patience when toddler is trying to say something you do not understand. If the child tries several times

to communicate something to you and you still do not understand him, ask him to show you what he means.
3. Besides that, we also can analyze that they tried to attract Nala’s attention when they began to communicate with him.

This helped him heard what the adults were saying, and helped him learned to pay attention when others talked to him. Besides

that, the adults were kneeling or sitting on a low while talking to Nala because getting down to his level to talk

face-to-face with toddler will also get his attention, and indicate that you are interested in him and in what he has to say.
4. Then, the adults encouraged Irja to talk by asking open-ended questions, which require more than “yes” or “no” answer, for

example, Nala, mana senternya? siapa itu yang makan permen? sudah mam belum?

Analyzing input of modifications from the conversation in the video
Besides that, from those videos, we can analyze the input of modifications which appear in the conversation between the baby

(Nala) and adults (his mom, cousin, and aunt). In analyzing the input of modification, we consider that the adult as the

native speaker and Irja as the nonnative speaker.
a. Modification in speech rate, intonation, and speech sound articulation.
In the conversation between Nala and the adults, we can see that there are some modification in speech rate, intonation, and

speech sound articulation. The adults talked to Nala in the slower rate of speech. The adults also exaggerated the

intonation, used fewer contracctions of verb phrase and more careful articulation.
For example: Adult: ya balon.. apa warna balonnya?
When the adult said this sentence, she exaggerated the intonation, and more careful articulation.
The other example is when the adult said, “bukan, itu penguin”. The adult said in the slower rate of speech and used fewer

contractions of verb phrase.
b. Modification of morphology and syntax
We also can find some modifiction of morphology and syntax in the conversation between Nala and adults. We can see it in

those videos that the adults used simple sentences with simple gramatical sructure in their conversation with the baby.
For exampe : Aunt : enak gak?
In that sentence, Nala’s aunt used that simpe sentence with the simpe gramatical. The sentence must be : Bagaimana? Enak atau

tidak? But she simpified it became Enak gak? in order to make Nala easier to understand the sentence.
c. Modification in vocabulary
There are also some modification in vocabulary that we can find in the conversation between Nala and the adults. We can see

that the aduts used less varied of vocabulary to talk to Nala. It is the less number of vocabulary then they usually used to

talk to the adult.
For example: aunt : Nala udah mam?
From that sentence, we can see that Nala’s aunt used less vocabulary. The complete sentence should be “Nala sudah makan atau

belum?


IV. CONCLUSION
We can conclude that toddlers (two years old) communicate with a combination of gestures and grunts, used short and simple

word to communicate, usually used two or three word sentences. They already can understand what the other persons say or ask

him. It is shown by his response when he talked or communicated with the adults. In this age, they also can answer the simple

question and do what the adults instruct them to do.
From the adult’s side, we also can conclude that adults can interact with toddler (in this case two years old) by talking

with and listening to them. Adult usually use short, simple and clear terms to communicate with toddler in order to make them

understand easily. The adults also should get the baby or toddler attention when they want to talk with the toddler. It could

be done by getting down to his level to talk face-to-face with toddler, showing a thing to the toddler when they want to talk

about that thing, and using gesture. This will help the toddler hear what the adults are saying, and help him learned to pay

attention when others talked to him. Next, the adults can encourage toddler to talk by asking open-ended questions, which

require more than “yes” or “no” answers. Through these daily interactions, toddler and adults can develop relationships that

help toddler to learn about themselves and the world. Besides that, there are some inputs of modification such as,

modification in speech rate, intonation, and speech sound articulation, modification of morphology and syntax, and

modification in vocabulary that usually appear in the conversation between adult and baby, in which the adult is like the

native speaker and baby is like nonnative speaker. The adult use some input of modification to make the baby easily to

understand and get the messege from the conversation.
Adults who care for children have a responsibility to create and maintain positive and healthy relationships with them. One

of the most practical and mutually rewarding ways to achieve this goal is through positive communication.




A Discussion of Baby Talk



By

Name : Sekardini
SRN : 0713042011
Subject : Second Language Acquisition






ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
ARTS AND LANGUAGE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND PEDAGOGY
THE UNIVERSITY OF LAMPUNG
2011