Baby talk, also called babbling or twaddling, is what infants utter. They seem to be experimenting by uttering sounds in order to acquire language. They are not yet able to utter recognizable words. The larynx descends during the first year allowing the pharynx to develop with all the sounds that make up the speech. When the infant is 5 to 7 months old, the baby talk begins with the making of noise. Recognizable words begin to be produced when the child is about a year old. The baby repeats syllables which are called reduplicative babbling. The baby babbles with a mix of syllables which is called variegated babbling. Children babble more when they are calm rather than when they are upset or excited. Babbling is also the way babies attempt to prepare themselves with the basic sounds required to speak the language. Even deaf babies babble indicating that babbling is inherent to humans.
Gurgling and cooing begins at birth up to 4 months. Babbling starts when the baby is 4 to 6 months old. Babbling is enjoyed by the baby up to 12 months or so. Between 12-18 months babbling turns to being meaningful when the toddlers begins to imitate sounds and words. The toddlers begin to repeat words at the age of 18 to 24 months. That is when babbling takes on to becoming meaningful words. They are able to use about 50 words. But they understand many more. They then begin to form short sentences. They may use familiar words incorrectly. The baby begins with crying and begins to coo moving on to vocal play. This is followed by canonical babbling and then on to conversational babbling.
Babies also use sign language too as an effective means of communication. Teaching sign language is said to assist the babies to avoid frustration at not being able to find suitable sound to express itself. Priscilla Dunstan came out with the hypothesis that babies use a set of five words universally with each having a specific meaning. In 2006 she released The Dunstan Baby Language DVD to teach how to recognize these sounds.
Babbling of babies, when responded to with babbling by adults is beneficial to the development of babies. Integrating this with some normal adult speech will assist the baby in the development of vocabulary. It assists in the cognitive development of the baby. Eventually the baby will achieve the ability to normally speak the local language no mater what.