Today I overheard a teacher giving a stern reminder to her class. "...you should all know what to do when you come into this classroom. The rules are the same whether Mrs. X is in the room or not." Now, Mrs. X was the one speaking, and it struck me as odd to hear her refer to herself in the third person. I don't know why it caught my attention today, as this practice is common among teachers. It's sort of like the "Royal We," which implies that regular personal pronouns do not carry enough clout to represent our identity in a sentence.
My mind skipped ahead a few steps to the other group of people who almost always refer to themselves in the third person: parents.
"Junior, come to Mommy..."
"Junior, you must obey Mommy."
"Junior, please don't pull on Mommy's earrings."
I thought of these examples in a slightly mocking tone of thought, until I realized that I myself fell in this category. Flashbacks to my own words came back with embarassing clarity:
"Callie, please don't jump on Mommy's legs when she's wearing hose."
"Phoebe, you may not jump on the table and eat Mommy's food."
Ahem, so anyway...on a related subject, I have been wondering about baby talk. Does anyone NOT use it? I'm listening to a book on tape that involves a baby, and the reader always uses a very high-pitched, baby-talk voice whenever she reads dialogue that is directed at the baby. It's kind of annoying. But I think this is actually how people talk to babies. Why are we so compelled to do that?
In theory, I believe in helping babies develop good language habits by speaking to them in intelligent sentences from their earliest days. I plan to read Pride and Prejudice aloud to my own baby (at least the firstborn) before he is a year old, and I hope that his first sounds are actually English phonograms. But just last week, when I got to hold my new almost-nephew, I find my own voice rising several octaves and I hear myself asking questions over and over, as if Owen will actually answer: "Are you a hungry boy? Are you hungry? Are you?" It seems that baby-talking stems from some deep-seated, primal instinct that we all posess. I wonder if people speak baby talk in other languages??
If any faithful readers or lurkers have insight into this phenomenon, please post a comment for Lindsey.
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9 comments:
It was funny, I noticed how this summer, in another culture, people were even more fascinated with kids than we are here. You would be in a public place, such as a restaurant, and the restaurant owner would come pick up Nate and carry him off to say hi to all the other workers. And this was a normal experience. I don't remember how they talked to him, but I have a feeling it involved high pitched noises.
I've taken some videos of our kitten, and I hear myself in them talking to him. I don't even think it sounds like me... but yes, it is baby talk and annoying to me. But we all do it.
I wonder if new parents get sick and tired of everyone talking to them and the baby in high pitched inquisitive voices. Seems like it would get annoying, but what do you do?
I've heard that baby talk is actually beneficial to babies, that they respond to the high pitches more than other things. I just looked it up on Wikipedia, and the article says some researchers agree, and others think it's uneccessary. Figures.
It is kind of weird how baby talk just comes out. I don't talk that way around anyone else. Why do I suddenly hear, "Aren't you a little cutie? Yes you are! You are!" when I enter the presence of a baby. I think they've got some kind of mind power over us. :)
Wikipedia also says that baby talk is used "between adults as a form of affectionate intimacy." Gross.
I know people who do that!! In front of other people!! It's so weird! I want to say, "Excuse me...I'm right here...."
OK, so the high pitch talking doesn't bother me as much as the people who "goo goo gah," know what I mean? Or they say a word and something that rhymes... "Aren't you a cutie patootie?"
Hey, I use "cutie patootie!" I think it's a perfectly normal phrase! But I have no idea why!
Its a normal phrase if not said in a high pitched voice. :)
OK, well maybe I meant more like calling them Johnny Wonny or Suzie Woozie and stuff...
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