baby talk

Noun

1. The form of speech used by adults in talking to very young children.

   linguistics · Topics: human sciences, linguistics, sciences

   • Meronym: babble word
   • [...] while not a super-goof like some of the female goofs I'd met, she was quite goofy enough to be going on with. Her whole aspect was that of a girl who at the drop of a hat would start talking baby talk. - 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter III, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins

   Synonyms: babyese caregiver register child-directed speech hypocorism motherese parentese

   Coordinate Terms: childspeak adultspeak

2. The prelanguage, and subsequent developing language, used by small children, incorporating crying, cooing, and babbling in sequence before the acquisition of adult language capabilities.

   linguistics · Topics: human sciences, linguistics, sciences

   • Meronyms: babble word, goo goo ga ga

   Coordinate Terms: child language childspeak