German researchers say babies begin to pick up the nuances of their parents’ accents while still in the womb.The researchers studied the cries of 60 healthy babies born to families speaking French and German.
The French newborns cried with a rising “accent” while the German babies’ cries had a falling inflection.
Writing in the journal Current Biology, they say the babies are probably trying to form a bond with their mothers by imitating them.
The findings suggest that unborn babies are influenced by the sound of the first language that penetrates the womb.
Cry melodies
It was already known that foetuses could memorise sounds from the outside world in the last three months of pregnancy and were particularly sensitive to the contour of the melody in both music and human voices.
Earlier studies had shown that infants could match vowel sounds presented to them by adult speakers, but only from 12 weeks of age.
Kathleen Wermke from the University of Wurzburg, who led the research, said: “The dramatic finding of this study is that not only are human neonates capable of producing different cry melodies, but they prefer to produce those melody patterns that are typical for the ambient language they have heard during their foetal life.
“Contrary to orthodox interpretations, these data support the importance of human infants’ crying for seeding language development.”
Dr Wermke’s team recorded and analysed the cries of 60 healthy newborns when they were three to five days old.
Their analysis revealed clear differences in the shape of the infants’ cry melodies that corresponded to their mother tongue.
They say the babies need only well-co-ordinated respiratory-laryngeal systems to imitate melody contours and not the vocal control that develops later.
Dr Wermke said: “Newborns are highly motivated to imitate their mother’s behaviour in order to attract her and hence to foster bonding.
“Because melody contour may be the only aspect of their mother’s speech that newborns are able to imitate, this might explain why we found melody contour imitation at that early age.”
Debbie Mills, a reader in developmental cognitive neuroscience at Bangor University, said: “This is really interesting because it suggests that they are producing sounds they have heard in the womb and that means learning and that it is not an innate behaviour.
“Many of the early infant behaviours are almost like reflexes that go away after the first month and then come back later in a different form.
“It would be interesting to look at these babies after a month and see if their ability to follow the melodic contours of their language is still there.”
[BBC]
Interesting facts from Würzburg. I knew some Zambian students who studied there way back in the mid-90s, I wonder what has become of them?
Honestly there are better things to spend research money on that this nonsense. So if we we know that then what? Of what benefit to us is it if we know that our baby cries in chilapalapa? Besides, even the evidence is spurious what controls are they using to ensure that their observations are accurate?Honestly speaking crying patterns and laughter are unversal.I have heard whites who laugh just as funnily as my villager uncle in Lundazi Zambia. Even the cries we see in movies will be the same.Why isnt there a difference in these patterns when people grow up? When their language skills are supposedly well developed? THIS B.S.!!!!
whoever funded this research has money to through away!
#### 2 Shame on you, you are complaining about money spent on research, firstly are you aware that most of the things you have enjoyed on this life or even you getting in this country without walking from your village in Lundazi Zambia that someone took time to do some research, nhala zeee if you have nothing to talk about
Ya ya ya so my coming junior is already crying in the language yaba madam um.
I would like to see my friend’s Tonga baby cry. Would be such a thrill. And for the semin-monkeys that do not see the reason for research, pity on you bro! After all, they could either research or create a better weapon to KILL you. Let them look at babies man!
Now, now, that explains why my nine-month-old baby cries like my wife!!!!
Man, do they also irritate you!!! So, they do that on purpose, they cry just to get one’s attention and affection, huh? Clever little rascals.Â
Nice research, NAZI docs!
I suspect that someone will come out with a good critique of this study. Did they rule out geographical geneological elements? The size and shape of the nasal and oral cavities as it varies from ethnicity? These to me are more important variables.
Linguists have long known that the characteristics of languages are very closely associated with specific physical traits associated with vocal expression, That’s why it’s so difficult for some people to pronounce certain foreign words correctly, not just unfamiliarity with the language.
which accent? what about babies born from dump/deaf parents?.this is all rubbish!
# 7 how did you know how your wife cries. Did you kick her hard for you to know
# 9 you are proving to be a better scientist than this chaps. This is in born. Nature. We dont expect a dog speak. it all down from the blood genes
Mushe, I do appreciate research & FYI I am a PhD student who has studied research methods and critique of reserch.My concern is that research for issues that affect the poor such as AIDS dont receive as much funding as those affecting the rich e.g. cancer.My questions: 1 even if we know that babies cry in different languages, does that improve their health in anyway? 2 what controls did they use to ensure internal and external validity? Look at # 8 who raises possible confounders such as physiological differences – if these concerns are valid then the research is B.S. Please justify their research approach and its utility, then you and I can have a meaningful debate.The research approach for this study was my point not the value of research in general.
#12 research is often influenced by what the researchers is interested in not what you think is more important priorities of a poverty striken people and that of wealth people are very far apart. thats why this guy would rather research on how babies cry than your concern of HIV by the way maybe if you searched further you would find what you want to hear just from another reseacher not just this one…
# 13 interests of the researcher do not fund research.Interest is not equivalent to money period! Researchers have bills to pay and will research on issues that are sponsred, have the interest of big money. 95% of research pursuit is money motivated. Besides I requested that you address the methodological validity of the study which you keep circumnavigating.Additionally the poverty HIV issue was an illustration to the orientation of my arrgument not its geist.
On a positive note, I respect how #s 7, 8 , 9 and 11 approach the methodological aspect of this debate