A new study has found that mothers all the world speak to their babies the same way. The research is the Baby Lab Princeton University the USA. The researchers who did the study said "motherese" is a universal language. They said baby talk is not just lots cute noises and coochy-coos. The words and sounds that mothers say to their babies are quite complex. They form a special form communication that mothers use the same way across the world. These sounds are very important helping the language development in infants. Dr Elise Piazza, co-author of the research, said baby talk is a lot more important than we thought. She said: "It is not something to be embarrassed about all."
The researchers recorded 24 different mothers talking to their babies. The babies were aged seven months and one year. The mothers spoke to their children 10 different native languages, English, Spanish, Mandarin, Russian and Hebrew. Dr Piazza said: "We basically brought mothers the lab and had them play and read to their own babies, just like they would home." She added: "We found that mothers [change the] basic quality their voices when speaking to infants, and they do so a [very similar] way across many diverse languages." The study didn’t look fathers' talk, but Piazza said that it is likely fathers would also speak in a similar way the world.
