When we talk to babies or toddlers, we instinctively change the pitch and the way we talk. But not only people use the so-called “baby talk”. Dolphins also communicate differently with their offspring than they do with adults.
Baby talk, also called baby talk or motherese, is the typical way people talk to a baby or toddler. According to studies, the special way of speaking can help with language acquisition, among other things. There is very little evidence for similar behavior in animals, write an international team of researchers in the journal Proceedings of the US Academy of Sciences (“PNAS”).
Changed whistles when communicating with the boy
In dolphins, the “baby talk” is shown by modified whistles. These whistling tones can differ greatly due to the sometimes pronounced changes in frequency. In this way they partly resemble the function of human language. The study’s authors, who work in the US, Italy, UK and Denmark, believe that mother dolphins’ special way of communicating with their offspring may serve to increase attention, create emotional bonding and enhance vocal learning in children. encourage the calves. promote.
A population of bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, a lagoon on the west coast of Florida, was studied by researchers led by Laela S. Sayigh. For this, the dolphins were temporarily captured. The mothers were then housed alternately with their calves or other adult animals. During the meetings, calves and mothers exchanged whistles almost continuously. The researchers noticed that the mothers whistled at their calves at significantly higher maximal frequencies and greater frequency deviations.
Source: Krone
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