Ardela Saraswati 0713042016

Analyzing Baby Talk

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 Irja. He is a son of Mr. Yadi and Mrs. Sis. He is 2 years old. In those videos, we can see Irja’s interaction. He talked with the members of his family, his mother, his aunt, and his cousin.  Here are the conversation scripts.

II.      DIALOG TRANSCRIPTION

VIDEO I :

Cousin : Irja, dimana senternya?

Irja       : nyih unya yaya (ini punya lala)

Cousin : coba idupin

Irja       : nti (mati)

Cousin : oh mati.. yuk idupin..

Irja       : di aoo aja (di taro aja)

Cousin : ia ditaro. Coba matiin dulu.

Irja       : ncet

Cousin : Ia pinter di pencet. Udah?

Irja       : dah..

Cousin : kalo abis main dita..

Irja       : yo

Cousin : jangan nanti ru

Irja       : cak

Cousin : kalo rusak dimarah siapa?

Irja       : rah mba yaya.. (marah mba lala)

Irja       : ada nde.. (ada bude..)

Cousin : mana?

Irja       : nyih.. (ini)

Cousin : budenya gendut ya?

Irja       : ndut

Cousin : kaya siapa?

Irja       : ya nja (kaya Irja)

Cousin : ada njing

Irja       : bukan, itu pinguin

Cousin : gimana klo anjing? Helii..

Irja       : guk..

Cousin : kemari

Irja       : guk..

Cousin : ayo lari2.. Irja mam yuk.. udah mam belum?

Irja       : ndak au, dah ( tidak mau, sudah)

Cousin : sama apa tadi mamnya?

Irja       : itan (ikan)

Cousin : wah ada kepala ini. Kepala siapa ya?

Irja       : ala inja..

Cousin : siapa itu?

Irja       : mama

Cousin : mama siapa?

Irja       : mama ncis (mama sis)

Cousin : ada berapa ini. Itung.

Irja       : atu..

Cousin : abis itu du..

Irja       : ua.. iga.. (dua.. tiga)

Cousin : ia tiga.. terus..

Irja       : empap

Cousin : li...

Irja       : ma..

Cousin : habis itu enam.. terus

Irja       : njuh.. (tujuh)

VIDEO II:

In this video we can see Irja talked to his aunt and his mother

Aunt    : siapa itu yang makan permen?

Irja       : nja.. (Irja)

Aunt    : siapa yang kasi de?

Irja       : di aci nde.. (dikasi bude)

Aunt    : enak gak?

Irja       : nyak..

Irja       : da yaya (ada lala)

Aunt    : mana mba lala?

Irja       : tu..

Irja       : ngket.. lap.. (lengket.. lap..)

Aunt    : ia lengket permennya. Lap ya..

Irja       : da bayon..

Aunt    : ya balon.. apa warna balonnya?

Irja       : meyah..

Aunt    : ya merah.. ada warna apalagi.. kuning ya

Irja       : uning.. njo... (kuning.. ijo)

Aunt    : pinter.. ada berapa balonnya?

Irja       : ua.. (dua)

Aunt    : salah, ada sepuluh.. ambil coba balonnya..

Irja       : ya.. mbil (ya ambil)

Mom    : Irja jelek apa ganteng?

Irja       : eyek

Mom    : kok jelek? Gak ganteng?

Irja       : ndak eyek..

Aunt    : dimana mas nunu?

Irja       : nunu owah (nunu sekolah)

Aunt    : ini gambar siapa?

Irja       : mbar nja.. (gambar nja)

Irja       : mah, guk (mama guguk)

Mom    : ia ada anjing ya?

Irja       : ia heyi (ya heli)

Mom    : gimana bunyinya?

Irja       : guk..guk..

Irja       : mah uwang yok (mah pulang yuk)

Mom    : kok pulang? Nanti aja..

Irja       : yok uwang.

VIDEO III

Mom    : ini siapa?

Irja       : ni yaya (ini lala)

Mom    : ya mba lala..

Cousin : yang mana mba lalanya?

Irja       : yang nyih.. (yang ini)

Irja       : da bembem..

Cousin : bukan itu mobil..

Irja       : bembem..

Cousin : mana mas ivan?

Irja       : gi bobok

Cousin : bobo ya? Dimana?

Irja       : uwah (rumah)

Cousin : wah ada foto Irja ya.

Irja       : ya..

Cousin : lucu ya..

Irja       : ya.. nja..

Mom    : Irja udah mandi belum?

Irja       : dah

Mom    : Kapan?

Irja       : di agi (tadi pagi)

Mom    : harum gak?

Irja       : yum..

III.  DISCUSSION 

           

Analyzing baby talk

From those three videos, which show the conversation among Irja, his mom, his aunt, and his cousin, first, we can analyze the baby (Irja) characteristics when he talked to adults.

1. Irja used short and simple word to communicate. He used about two or three word sentences.  For example, nyih unya yaya or mama ncis.
2. Besides that, from the conversations, we can see that in his age, Irja 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).
3. He also could answer the simple open-ended question which require more than “yes” or “no” answers.

For example: Cousin`: Irja mam yuk.. udah mam belum?

                                  Irja       : ndak au, dah (tidak mau, sudah)

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

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

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

1. The adults tried to communicated with Irja in short, simple and clear terms in order to make Irja understand easily. For example, sudah mam belum? bukan itu pinguin.

2. The adult sometimes could not get what Irja 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 Irja’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 Irja 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, Irja, 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 (Irja) 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 Irja and the adults, we can see that there are some modification in speech rate, intonation, and speech sound articulation. The adults talked to Irja 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 Irja 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, Irja’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 Irja easier to understand the sentence.

c.         Modification in vocabulary

There are also some modification in vocabulary that we can find in the conversation between Irja and the adults. We can see that the aduts used less varied of vocabulary to talk to Irja. It is the less number of vocabulary then they usually used to talk to the adult.

For example: aunt : Irja udah mam?

From that sentence, we can see that Irja’s aunt used less vocabulary. The complete sentence should be “Irja 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.