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Thursday, November 19, 2009 at

Baby talk

Oh my goodness, my mom just heard the cutest study on NPR: Apparently, babies, even as newborns, mimic their parents' accents. For example, German babies' cries gravitate to lower pitches, and French babies melodically lilt up at the end of their cries. How sweet is that?

(Photo of Elizabeth and Elodie by Our Labor of Love)
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74 comments:

  1. Yes! I read about this on bbc news, you can even listen to the cries here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8346058.stm. So fascinating!

    And that baby is precious!

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  2. i wonder what my buffalo kids cries sound like to other people! probably terrible!!! haha

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  3. Goodness me, this made me smile so big! I can't think of anything sweeter. Thanks for the post, darling.

    Cheers.

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  4. That's a beautiful bit of news. I love the sound of people with different accents and languages. Whether it's someone from Mobile, Alabama or Paris, France. It is lovely to hear the little song disguised in people's voices. =)

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  5. Fascinating...
    I want to squeeze both cheeks!!!
    xo*

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  6. I heard that too! So interesting. :)

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  7. That's so fascinating! I love NPR. Also, I noticed the momma and daughter in the photo are named Elizabeth and Elodie... which are two of the sweetest most darling names in all of history. What a cute pair :)

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  8. I love that! Way too cute and fascinating. What an adorable baby. NPR rocks.

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  9. That's adorable and detrimental to my "no more babies" rule right now.

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  10. i know! i heard that on the radio last week. so cute...and it totally makes sense! :)

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  11. that is precious...

    look at that baby! oh my.

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  12. i adore that family. too cute!

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  13. RIght after reading my daily Cup of Jo, I saw this story on Huffington Post: http://tinyurl.com/yfhxozy. Dad only spoke Klingon to his son for the first 3 years of his life. Wonder how his son mimicked that?

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  14. aw what a sweet and interesting study.

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  15. I've heard that! And what a sweet photo!!
    <3

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  17. Hi Jo,
    Thought you might be interested in this Audrey Hepburn auction happening in London next month.
    Cheers,Sara xx

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  18. Might help if I posted the link (dumbo me!)
    http://www.cricketwife.com/2009/11/audrey-hepburn-auction.html

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  19. so awesome. babies are smart!

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  20. That is precious and that baby in the picture is adorable!

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  21. When my little one first started talking she had a British accent. It was so cute.
    Soon slipped away into Daddy's American Drawl though (heehee), but how lovely her voice is still!

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  22. That baby is too cute!
    Lots of good stuff to learn from NPR.

    Come check out my $100 giveaway:

    http://underfundedheiress.blogspot.com/

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  23. that's sooooooooo cute! i wonder if our baby wound mimic the hubby's new jersey accent? lol

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  24. So cool! Babies arrive fully equipped!!

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  25. Awwwwww! melt my heart already!

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  26. Wonderful, beautiful, miraculous, little sponges! I just spent the last three weeks with a newborn and my heart is still as soft as a cloud.

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  27. Ive always wondered why people have accents.

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  29. Oh, I heard that story! Awesome!!!

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  30. As a mother of (only) three I have long suspected that crying IS language to the baby, and the accent study would support this.

    By the way, Elodie is lovely name and that baby is so scrumptious I am seriously considering having another one. My baby just turned 1. It's time to start thinking.

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  31. Wow! that is so interesting (: You always have the most lovely things to share, thank you!

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  32. Change of subject, just read (on facebook) that your friend Porter won the contest and will receive a walk-on role on Mad Men... very cool!

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  33. There is so sound I like more, than that of a babies voice. Too sweet....

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  34. Jo - you are baby obsessed, I love it lol

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  35. I heard the same story!

    that baby is so cute!

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  36. Anonymous4:32 PM

    Hmm... I wonder if my baby will cry in twang!!!

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  37. it2s definitely true!! i saw and heard it personally..

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  38. Oh, what a beautiful picture of that mama and baby!

    Too precious.

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  39. what a wonderful photo!

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  40. adorable! i wonder if someday my kids will mimic kiwi's new zealand accent?

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  42. SERIOUSLY?! wow that is amazing! ...and THAT baby?! ADORABLE!!

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  43. I totally heard that story a few days ago! So amazing how we are made:)

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  45. Hands down cutest baby EVER! Love that photo!

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  46. Very sweet! I had no idea.

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  47. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  48. Babies cried accents? I'll try to be more attentive with international babies... Funny!

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  49. You are not helping my current case of baby fever....Expect an angry letter from my husband. :)

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  51. I'll test this with my little boy!!!

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  52. my daughter started to frown like her new-zealander Dad and shrug like her French mum when she was a baby :-)

    http://bodieandfou.blogspot.com/2009/11/house-tour-in-amsterdam.html

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  53. Oh my gosh...I honestly just did a double take. This little girl looks A LOT like my own little love. So sweet!

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  54. Even better: very young babies show NO preference for any particular language and accent. After a few months though, they learn to prefer that of their parents. I always thought that was cool.

    Amanda

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  55. I never stop being amazed about the brilliance of the cycle of life!

    xCharlotta

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  56. I studied linguistics at some point in college and learned that tiny babies make all 100-and-something noises that the human vocal apparatus can make, but by about 6 months, they are already limiting those noises to the family of dipthongs, etc, in their mother tongue. Which is to say -- they baby-talk in their parents' accent.

    But then I read more recent studies that negate the theory. Still, I prefer to believe that infants speak the ur-language of the human race....

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  57. ok, if this can make the heart of someone who does NOT have baby fever (that would be me) melt then it is automatically very dangerous for your to expose yourself to - i'm just sayin' xx

    -a

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  64. I'm read it about it is so funny because one day I tried to check it with my little brother and every time that I said something He move his mouth.

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  65. I am a graduate student studying school counseling. I learned in my child development class that a baby's babble produces sounds that are found in all languages in the world. Eventually when the baby begins to learn his or her home language, the sounds that are not common in their native language dissapear. Pretty cool to think that we each had the capaticy to speak any language perfectly when we are babies.

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  71. Anonymous4:03 AM

    Here what i found -> vision correction

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  72. woww... a wonderful photo

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