Walk the Talk

Walk the Talk
Babbling and First Words

Some infants go through a silent period around the same they begin to walk, which led some researchers to believe that babbling and early word production were two entirely different, unrelated systems. This may be an issue of cognitive load, however, suggested by Werker et al. (2002) with regards to word learning. Research has also found that an infant's preferences when babbling "predict quite accurately" their first words and probable deformations (Stark, 1980).

At this point, only 11 consonants account for almost all the consonant sounds babbled by American English-learning 12 month olds: [h, w, j, p, b, m, t, d, n, k, g] (Hoff, 2013).

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, have a seat."

"Thank you."

"Fei Yen's been rather quiet as of late; the pediatrician says it's typical at this stage--"

"But you want an opinion from someone who you're not paying or isn't potentially a 'yes person'?"

Xiong gives her a Look.

Miyahira winces. "Permission to speak freely?"

"And you interrupted me."

"Oh. Sorry."