“父母语”可以促进婴儿的语言发展

“父母语”可以促进婴儿的语言发展

True baby talk, which a new study shows can boost infant brain and speech development, is actually proper adult speech, just delivered in a different cadence.

一项新的研究表明，真正的婴儿语言可以促进婴儿的大脑和语言发展，实际上是成年人的正常语言，只是语调不同。

"It uses real words and correct grammar, but it does use a higher pitch, a slower tempo and an exaggerated intonation," said Naja Ferjan Ramirez, an assistant professor at the department of linguistics at the University of Washington.

华盛顿大学语言学系助理教授娜娅·费扬·拉米雷斯说:“它使用真实的单词和正确的语法，但确实使用了更高的音调、更慢的节奏和夸张的语调。”

"What people think of as baby talk is a combination of silly sounds and words, sometimes with incorrect grammar," Ferjan Ramirez explained.

费尔扬·拉米雷斯解释说：“人们认为婴儿说话是愚蠢的声音和单词的组合，有时语法不正确。

'Not just listening but talking'

不只是听，而是说

A parenting speaking style that is used in nearly every language in the world, true "baby talk" became known as "motherese" and today is called "parentese" -- because, after all, it's not just moms who use it. Many dads, grandparents, older siblings, aunts, uncles and babysitters speak parentese, intuitively aware that it helps the baby tune in socially and respond, even if only through babbling.

这是一种几乎在世界上每一种语言中都使用的育儿语言，真正的“婴儿语”后来被称为“母亲语”，今天被称为“父母语”--因为，毕竟，使用这种语言的不仅仅是母亲。许多爸爸、祖父母、哥哥姐姐、阿姨、叔叔和保姆都会说父母的话，他们直觉地意识到这有助于婴儿融入社交并做出反应，即使只是通过咿呀学语。

"Parentese has three characteristics," said Patricia Kuhl, the co-director of the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington, who has been studying children's early language learning for decades.

华盛顿大学学习与脑科学研究所联席主任帕特里夏·库尔说：“父母语有三个特点。”库尔几十年来一直在研究儿童的早期语言学习。

"One of them is that it has a higher overall pitch, about an octave higher," Kuhl said. "Another is that intonation contours are very curvy; the highs are higher, the lows are lower, and it sounds excited and happy.

“其中之一是它的整体音高更高，大约高一个八度，”库尔说。“另一个是语调的轮廓非常曲折;高点更高，低点更低，听起来很兴奋和快乐。

"And then it's slower, with pauses between phrases to give the baby time to participate in this social interaction," Kuhl said.

库尔说:“婴儿的语速会变慢，因为他们会在几个词之间停顿一下，以便有时间参与到社交互动中来。”

As it turns out, encouraging the "social brain" is key to boosting a baby's speech and language development, said Kuhl, an internationally known pioneer in the use of brain imaging.

结果证明，鼓励“社交大脑”是促进婴儿说话和语言发展的关键，国际知名的脑成像先驱库尔说。

And babies instinctively prefer it -- as if they are wired to respond. Maybe they are.

婴儿本能地喜欢它——就好像他们天生就会做出反应。也许他们是。

Kuhl shared a video from an older experiment starring 7-month-old "Paul" to illustrate a baby's preference for parentese.

库尔分享了一段由7个月大的“保罗”主演的旧实验视频，以说明婴儿对父母语的偏好。

In the black and white video, Paul sits on his mother's lap in an enclosed space. On Paul's left side, out of site behind a wall, a woman speaks eight seconds of parentese. On his right, a woman speaks in a normal adult tone. Paul samples both, then consistently prefers the voice speaking parentese.

在这段黑白视频中，保罗坐在母亲的腿上，身处一个封闭的空间。在保罗的左边，墙外，一个女人说着八秒钟的父母语。在他的右边，一个女人用正常的成人语调说话。保罗对这两种语言都进行了测试，然后一直更喜欢说父母话的声音。

Kuhl's lab has done studies which show when infants listen to speech, "not only does the auditory cortex area in their brain light up, but the motor areas that will eventually speak light up," she said, showing the baby is getting ready to talk back.

库尔的实验室已经做了一些研究，表明当婴儿听讲话时，“不仅他们大脑中的听觉皮层区域会活跃起来，最终说话的运动区域也会活跃起来，”她说，这表明婴儿已经准备好回应。

"The more parents naturally use parentese in their homes when speaking to their children, the better and faster those language skills develop," Kuhl said. "So, it turns out that parentese is a social catalyst for language. It gets kids not just listening but talking."

库尔说:“父母在家里对孩子说话时自然地使用父母语越多，他们的语言技能发展得就越好、越快。”所以，事实证明，父母语是语言的社会催化剂。它不仅让孩子们听，而且让他们说。”