The speech style of an infant is quite interesting. A young child is capable of speaking gibberish very convincingly. They alter their pitch, slow down at points, and pause between phrases just like if they were speaking actual sentences. The only clue we have that this isn’t a real language is the fact that no one can understand it.
When a child is new to the world, he doesn’t have access to the same communication skills as adults. We develop those parts of our brains over time, and language is much more complex than most people realize. Still, babies quickly understand the objective of verbal communication, and their attempts to master it are adorable.
As parents speak to children, the young ones start to remember certain sounds. At first, they only remember single syllables. This is why children often repeat a single sound multiple times, such as “ma ma ma.” The baby is trying out his skills at spoken language.
Of course, some parents mistake this attempt to master the sound as a fully formed word. Often the first time a child says “mama” or “dada” he doesn’t understand that these are the names of his parents. He is simply repeating a set of sounds he has heard multiple times.
As the child further develops, he will start to put different syllables together, making more complex phrases that sound closer and closer to fully-fledged sentences. The child practices making all these different sounds and shapes with his mouth, securing his ability to create the noises that he hears from the adults around him.
This practice period is extremely important. Not only does it help children begin to understand spoken language in general, it has a huge impact on the child’s accent and what type of sounds he will be able to make. For example, anyone who has not practiced clicking in between words from a young age will find the task exceptionally difficult.
Parents are predisposed to marvel at everything their child does, so it makes sense that they fall in love with their baby’s strange speech style. Even when the young one is using these newfound communication skills to argue, it is absolutely adorable. If you like watching babies talk, you won’t be able to get enough of this child arguing with the family Bulldog.
The baby walks right up to the couch where the dog is sitting and begins to make his case. He speaks loudly as if he is trying to get a point across. He even moves his hands to emphasize certain “words”. If you didn’t know any better, you could swear that he is actually saying something. Who knows, in his mind he probably is.
The child pauses for a moment, leaning in closer to the dog. It is almost as if he is giving the pup an opportunity to respond. The dog says nothing, of course, and the baby continues on his rant.
His tone gets louder and louder. The dog shifts his gaze to the side, so the baby reaches out his hand and touches the pup’s furry face. It is clear that he wants his pet to look at him when he is being addressed.
He then turns around and gestures to the rest of the room. This conversation is so realistic it’s hard to believe. He glances at the camera for a moment, then turns back to the dog.
By this time the baby is exasperated. His voice is loud and his hand gestures are pointed. The dog switches between looking him in the eye and glancing off to the side. He is obviously not used to being spoken to in this way, but he is patient with the tiny human. One day, the boy will look back on this video and laugh.
It is obvious that the baby is copying the communication style he has seen around him. How else would he know to time his gestures to match his syllables? He might be speaking gibberish, but he is already showing an advanced understanding of language.
Babies make any activity super cute, and arguing is no exception. This video will definitely have you chuckling, if not laughing out loud. His parents will have to enjoy the silliness while it lasts. After all, every baby grows up one day.
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