'Baby talk' is the same in every language, study reveals

We've all been there – you meet an adorable baby and immediately find yourself using an exaggerated, high-pitched, singsong voice. Now, a study has revealed that this'baby talk' is the same in every language, with people around the world transforming their voices when they speak to infants. Researchers from the University of York and Aarhus University studied baby talk across 36 languages and found similarities in pitch, melody, and articulation rates. Christopher Cox, who led the study, said: 'We use a higher pitch, more melodious phrases, and a slower articulation rate when talking to infants compared to how we talk to adults, and this appears to be the same across most languages.' We've all been there – you meet an adorable baby and immediately find yourself using an exaggerated, high-pitched singsong voice Baby talk is a style of speech employed by adults when talking to an infant.