From the frontiers of research
Considering that the immediate family has one toddler just past the infant stage, and another infant scheduled to appear in early March, then readers will need to be aware of the latest scientific news. Here, from the frontiers of science, is a report on the latest discovery:
Comparisons between French and German babies show that newborns cry in their native language, demonstrating that the ability to produce language is present much earlier than previously assumed.
In their first few days, French and German babies cry differently. The former tend to have a rising melody contour, while the latter have falling contours, reflecting the different intonation patterns in the two languages.
"We are the first to prove that language begins with the very first cry melodies," claims Kathleen Wermke from the University Hospital Würzburg and Werner Mende from the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
"It was thought that newborns could not actively influence their sound production," says Wermke, "and that the cry melody was determined simply by rises and falls in respiratory pressure rather than by the brain."
The scientists studied German and French babies because the languages differ widely in intonation, melody and rhythm. "In French, many words stress the end, with a rising melody, while in German it is usually the other way round," explains Angela Friederici from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. For example, French children call for 'Papá' while Germans shout for 'Pápa.' Kathleen Wermke discovered a similar pattern in her analysis of more than 20 hours of recorded cries.
Early sensitivity to melodic features could help infants later when learning their native language, say researchers. "The melodies used in crying are building blocks for later sounds, from cooing and babbling to first words," says Wermke. This could help the early detection of language development disorders and so improve treatment. Whether newborns cry in their native language from day one is something that Wermke and her colleagues now want to study in greater detail. They have collected recordings of cries from other countries and have started the analysis.
Source: www.research-in-germany.de
Comparisons between French and German babies show that newborns cry in their native language, demonstrating that the ability to produce language is present much earlier than previously assumed.
In their first few days, French and German babies cry differently. The former tend to have a rising melody contour, while the latter have falling contours, reflecting the different intonation patterns in the two languages.
"We are the first to prove that language begins with the very first cry melodies," claims Kathleen Wermke from the University Hospital Würzburg and Werner Mende from the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
"It was thought that newborns could not actively influence their sound production," says Wermke, "and that the cry melody was determined simply by rises and falls in respiratory pressure rather than by the brain."
The scientists studied German and French babies because the languages differ widely in intonation, melody and rhythm. "In French, many words stress the end, with a rising melody, while in German it is usually the other way round," explains Angela Friederici from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. For example, French children call for 'Papá' while Germans shout for 'Pápa.' Kathleen Wermke discovered a similar pattern in her analysis of more than 20 hours of recorded cries.
Early sensitivity to melodic features could help infants later when learning their native language, say researchers. "The melodies used in crying are building blocks for later sounds, from cooing and babbling to first words," says Wermke. This could help the early detection of language development disorders and so improve treatment. Whether newborns cry in their native language from day one is something that Wermke and her colleagues now want to study in greater detail. They have collected recordings of cries from other countries and have started the analysis.
Source: www.research-in-germany.de
posted by Papa, aka Don at 1:39 PM
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