Diageo Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 I always thought when watching Rugrats, that Angelica could become really rich if she translated what all the babies were saying to the parents. Well apparently, babies do have their own reflexive language, and a woman with a special gift for sound, has found 5 key words babies all over the world use to communicate. Here's a video that explains it:
The Bard Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Calling it a language is a little misleading tbh, its not like it's a vast system of interpenetrating referential forms, its just the vocal equivalent of a myoclonic jerk. Still, very impressed that she managed to figure this out simply through observation.
Cube Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 What The Bard said. It's no different to animals. (although some animals do have a "language" of sorts that is a bit more than what she is describing for babies)
Diageo Posted January 8, 2012 Author Posted January 8, 2012 I think the fact they called it a language is the least important part of this research. The fact that it allows mothers to understand exactly what their child wants is amazing, and will allow for much easier early parenting.
MoogleViper Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 I think the fact they called it a language is the least important part of this research. The fact that it allows mothers to understand exactly what their child wants is amazing, and will allow for much easier early parenting. What the fuck are you talking about?!?! This is the internet! Have you no idea how important pedantry is???
Dannyboy-the-Dane Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 Incredibly fascinating! Just a shame the host is a bit annoying.
Supergrunch Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 What the fuck are you talking about?!?! This is the internet! Have you no idea how important pedantry is??? Here we go then... Nobody really agrees on a definition of "language," so it's impossible to say whether something is or isn't, but this sort of thing is excluded by most defintions, and I can't see a defintion that includes it being a particularly useful one to have. One key thing that's missing here is communication - after all, these sounds clearly aren't being used to communicate with (untrained) mothers, and it seems very unlikely that there's any communication with peers going on. Which isn't to say that communication has to be part of the definition of language - it's perfectly possible to exclude these baby sounds using, for instance, a more structural defintion. Well apparently, babies do have their own reflexive language What do you mean by reflexive? Calling it a language is a little misleading tbh, its not like it's a vast system of interpenetrating referential forms, its just the vocal equivalent of a myoclonic jerk. Exactly (although it's debateable how referential human language is). And it's even simpler than a myoclonic jerk - as you can tell from the "explanations" for the hunger and tiredness sounds, it's basically just the result of an instinctive reflex (e.g. yawning) combined with vocalising. You could presumably extend this to things like the discomfort sound, which might result from heavy breathing, and so on, all though all this is speculative and should really be scrutinised by phoneticists and others to confirm it. (although some animals do have a "language" of sorts that is a bit more than what she is describing for babies) I guess you're thinking of things like vervet monkeys, which have different calls to alert the group about different types of predators, which does seem more like human language, albeit still very far off. And there aren't very many examples like this. I think the fact they called it a language is the least important part of this research. The fact that it allows mothers to understand exactly what their child wants is amazing, and will allow for much easier early parenting. Yeah, although it does misrepresent things a bit, which isn't a good way of doing science. The research has potential to be interesting/useful though.
Mr_Odwin Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 You don't really need to understand what a baby says as it's all just either I'm in pain/discomfort I'm hungry I'm tired I'm bored That's pretty much it for the first 6 months. You get nothing back and just have to give all the effort you have. Babies/Kids aren't really that much fun until they can talk. \terriblefather I've not watched the video. 16mins28secs is 16mins too long for me.
Supergrunch Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 You don't really need to understand what a baby says as it's all just either I'm in pain/discomfort I'm hungry I'm tired I'm bored That's pretty much it for the first 6 months. You get nothing back and just have to give all the effort you have. Babies/Kids aren't really that much fun until they can talk. \terriblefather I've not watched the video. 16mins28secs is 16mins too long for me. And Odwin successfully uncovers the contents of the video without watching it.
Ramar Posted January 8, 2012 Posted January 8, 2012 The woman claimed to have photographic hearing just to find out babies say "heh", "neh" & "eair". I'd want a refund on that super power.
Diageo Posted January 8, 2012 Author Posted January 8, 2012 That's not the only thing she does/can do. That is just one use she found for it.
Iun Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 The woman claimed to have photographic hearing just to find out babies say "heh", "neh" & "eair". I'd want a refund on that super power. Hah "photographic hearing" there's a misnomer if ever I smelled one.
The Bard Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Well she did say she had the equivalent of a photographic memory, except for hearing. It was just explaining it to the invariably retarded demographic of the Oprah Winfrey show by way of analogy.
Jimbob Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 I think the fact they called it a language is the least important part of this research. The fact that it allows mothers to understand exactly what their child wants is amazing, and will allow for much easier early parenting. Then the kids learn to speak. It goes downhill from that point on. The Simpsons did it. True, where's Herbs invention when you need it most.
Diageo Posted January 9, 2012 Author Posted January 9, 2012 And Odwin successfully uncovers the contents of the video without watching it. He only got about 3 right. He forgot the lovely gas related ones.
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