Baby Babbling and First Words: Infant Communication Explained
What is Baby Babbling?
“Baba”, “mama”, “egoo” These sounds (baby jargon) are known as babbling. Babbling is an essential phase of speech development in a child. In this stage, an infant appears to be experimenting with creating first words but is not quite ready.
Babbling is one way to measure how a child's language is developing. Language milestones are progress recorded as a child goes through the various stages of language development. These developmental milestones involve hearing, understanding, and the ability to speak (i.e., receptive and expressive language skills).
Stages of Language Development - When Do Babies Talk?
Parents and caregivers often ask questions such as: “When do babies start making sounds?”, “When do babies start giggling?”, “When do babies start cooing?”, “When do babies start babbling?”, "When do babies talk?"
Speech Milestones involve a series of stages that begin with crying, cooing, and forming a few words and culminate in sentences. Note that the following dates overlap and vary from one child to the next and should not be interpreted too rigidly.
BIRTH
Babies communicate pain and pleasure by making sounds.
0-3 MONTHS
The pre-talking stage is the baby's first sound production (besides crying and sucking). Babies laugh or giggle in response to things in their world. This period also involves the cooing phase; cooing refers to the baby producing vowel-like sounds. The sounds like Oooooooooooo and Aaaaaaaaaaaa are noticeable. Infants make these coos when having face-to-face interactions with caregivers. Babies may cry differently for different situations.
4-6 MONTHS
In this stage, babies begin to use babbling to include consonant and vowel combinations such as “da, da, da.” They may use their babbling to gain attention and make different sounds to express feelings.
7-12 MONTHS
During this period, a baby's speech uses a broader range of sounds and syllable combinations in babbling. Young children may attempt to imitate sounds that they hear. They may use simple gestures such as shaking their head no. As they approach their first birthday, first words may emerge.
1- 2 YEARS
In this stage, babies utter their first one word as a means of expressing their emotional state. The child’s vocabulary continues to grow. Here children begin to form words and two-word sentences such as “Baby go” or “More ball.” Your baby's grammar will not be perfect in the beginning, but as they develop, their sentences will become longer and sound more adult-like.
2-3 YEARS
In this period, the child’s vocabulary is expanding rapidly. A child goes from a few words to producing statements that are one, two, or three words in length.
The Phases of Babbling
There are three main phases (types) of babbling, with each stage overlapping with the next as the child develops. These phases are:
MARGINAL BABBLING
This babbling usually occurs between 4-6 months of age. During this period, the infants put together consonant-vowel or vowel-consonant sound combinations like “baa,” “maaa,” or “uuum.” Marginal babbling is also called pre-canonical vocalization. It is also accompanied by squealing and cooing.
CANONICAL BABBLING
The canonical babbling period usually spans between 6-10 months of age. This phase can be further divided into two subtypes:
Reduplicated Babbling: The period when infants repeat the same syllable over and over, such as “babababa” or “mamamama” or “gagagaga”.
Non-Reduplicated Babbling: In this phase of babbling, the sounds are now more varied. Instead of producing the same syllable over and over, they start to combine different sounds and syllables like “magaga,” “gagamee,” or “gababama”. This type is also called variegated babbling.
CONVERSATIONAL BABBLING
The final period of babbling typically begins at approximately 10 months of age. Babies enter a stage called conversational babbling (baby jargon), including pauses, turn-talking, rhythm, and intonation. It can appear as an adult conversation, e.g., a form of pseudo dialogue. This stage often overlaps with a child’s first word.
Babies First Words
When do babies start talking? Every parent dreams of the day their child will utter that first meaningful word. Soon after the conversational babbling phase, most babies start talking around their first birthday. When babies say their first word, it often becomes a sign of the child’s emerging personality.
Once they start talking, it can become overwhelming for parents to understand what their baby is saying. It is difficult because there are so many words to learn, and they often use short sentences or even one word, such as “Mommy” or “Daddy.” Even though they say words, babies may not understand the meaning yet.
The first words are usually one-word utterances. For instance, a child may hear the word “dog” and unconsciously pick it up to refer to a specific dog. Or they may learn it from their parents and caregivers in context. That is why it can be difficult for parents to determine when their baby truly understands how to use a word.
First words are usually grammatically correct because children learn them from people around them who speak with proper grammar. Babies learn to copy everything they hear, so be careful about what you say to your child. Although this may seem like a blessing for parents, it also means that babies pick up bad habits in speaking too. That is why parents need to provide their children with age-appropriate and positive input. This will help them learn to speak properly.
First Word Combinations
Intrinsic Combination: They make up their combination of two words (e.g., “bye-boo”).
Extrinsic Combination: When a child uses the first word to modify another word or sentence, such as “mama milk” or “gaga night.”
The Most Common First Words: List of 10 Popular Baby Words
When do babies start saying mama and dada? Babies learn at their own pace, but more than likely, your child will say these simple words before any others. These words are very common and expected!
Baby babble beginning words:
Mama: According to linguists, this word is on top of the list of first words that babies learn before any other words. It seems to be instinctive for them to call their mother “mama.”
Dada (Daddy): Dada is equally likely to be a baby's first word as Mama. Why do babies say dada first? Saying dada is easy to sound out for babies.
Dog: Another common word in baby babbling, dog or doggie. A baby’s first words are likely tied to how they see the world around them. A child living with a dog is likely to have "dog" as one of their first words since language is related strongly to their visual experiences.
Ball: Soon after learning the word for dog, many infants learn the word for ball. They then use it to refer to anything round, such as a bead or an apple.
Kitty: Another favorite animal of babies is a kitty! This first word refers to both cats and kittens. When your child starts to talk, you may notice they are using their own terms for a cat or kitten.
Bye: Babies pick up the word bye or bye-bye because of their frequent exposure to adults saying goodbye to each other. It usually has no special meaning or connotation, except that it marks the end of an activity.
Hi: They learn this word in much the same way they learn bye. The difference is that hi is used as a greeting instead of bye.
No: This is one of the simplest first words for babies to learn since it only has one syllable and follows the pattern of “yes,” which most children pick up before age 1.
Mommy: It is good that “mama” was the first word because this one follows right behind it in popularity too! You will hear babies even use this word to call other caregivers.
Banana: Bananas are often the first food, and babies may see the fruit eaten and shared by caregivers. Babies' first words usually involve concrete objects in their immediate surroundings, making banana or just nana a popular first word.
The Significance of Babbling in Language Milestones
Babies are one of life's most precious gifts. However, it seems almost as soon as your little bundle of joy is born, you begin to ask questions like:
“Is my child's speech development on track?”, “Is it too early for my baby to start talking?”, “When will my baby say mama or when will my baby say dada?”, the questions are endless and, of course, compelling.
Babbling is a prelinguistic tool, and it serves as a stepping stone to actual words and a key marker of speech and language development. Babbling is vital, and research suggests that when parents/caregivers respond to these initial attempts at communication, it:
Shows the child what communication is genuinely about. Communication is a two-way affair; one person speaks, the other person listens, and then gives an appropriate response.
Motivates the infant to continue trying to make sounds.
It helps the child realize the importance of first words. Babbling indicates that the infant's first word is near.
Lastly, there is evidence that canonical babbling is an essential precursor to later language development. Some research points out that delays in canonical babbling can sometimes predict later disabilities like language and speech delays or learning disabilities.
Causes of Delayed Speech or Language Acquisition in Infants
If your baby does not seem to be using their voice to make early communication attempts, you should speak to your pediatrician. A wide range of factors may contribute to speech delays. Some factors may include hearing impairment, communication delay, or neurological impairment, and often the cause is unknown. A lack of babbling can be predictive of later language delays. Parents should remain diligent about language developmental delays because with early awareness comes early intervention.
Early intervention can often make a tremendous difference in language or speech delay outcomes.
If your pediatrician suspects that there has been a delay in your baby's speech and language acquisition, you will be referred to a speech-language pathologist. They will work with you and your child to pinpoint the reason for the delay. The treatment plan may include concentrating on different areas of development:
Motor skills (tongue rolling, lip movement, and articulation)
Vocalizations (including canonical babbling and early words)
Hand skills (demonstrating awareness of the mouth for feeding and talking as well as hand movements that complement speech)
Social interaction (interaction with caregivers, peers, or objects)
Ways to Encourage Communication in Infants
To aid both receptive and expressive language development, it is important to always respond to your little ones. Studies show that infants acquire communication skills faster when their parents react to their babbling with supportive language cues. Some things that you can do now include:
Maintain eye contact with your infant while they are having a “conversation” with you.
Imitate your child's babble. When adults mimic babies' vocalization, it increases the likelihood that babies will make the sounds again. So even though it may feel a little silly, bring out the baby sounds. Babies exposed to this will love the back-and-forth game, and it will be an exciting practice.
Give your baby a toy and talk about it with them.
Sing and read to your baby and ask a lot of questions too.
Do not interrupt. Infants need to hear themselves make these sounds; the auditory feedback they receive after making babbling noises is good for proper language development. A slight nod and a smile will serve as a form of encouragement.
Diets: Babies use the same oral muscles to speak as they use to eat. Each time they graduate to a new category of solid foods, they use their muscles in more robust, more coordinated ways. Solid food will also help them to make more complicated speech sounds. A well-fed infant is a happy Infant, and a happy infant is a chatty infant.
With enough practice and encouragement from you, your baby's babbling will eventually lead to their first essential real words.
Reliable Approach to Teach Your Toddler to Talk
Conclusion
During a baby’s first year, you should expect to hear vocalizations like crying, babbling (like “coo” and “goo”, “mama” and “dada”), and vocal exploration like squealing and yelling.
A baby’s first babbling sounds are usually made around 4-6 months of life, as infants practice the speech sounds used later to form syllables, words, or sentences.
In time, the syllables they form become more complex, and by the end of the first year, infants may begin producing their actual first words.
If your baby hasn’t started making these early developing sounds, we recommend consulting with your pediatrician because early recognition of delayed speech and language is essential.
When is it the Right Time for a Speech-Language Evaluation?
Free Consultation
Do you have questions or want to learn more about our early intervention program? At Connected Speech Pathology, we provide an early intervention service to parents and children approximately 16 months or older. Set up a free phone consultation with our lead speech pathologist.
About the Author
Allison Geller is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) and the owner of Connected Speech Pathology. She obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Florida in Speech-Language Pathology. Allison has practiced speech therapy in a number of settings including telepractice, acute care, outpatient rehabilitation, and private practice. She has worked extensively with individuals across the lifespan including toddlers, preschoolers, school-aged children, and adults. She specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of a variety of communication disorders including receptive/expressive language disorders, articulation disorders, voice disorders, fluency disorders, brain injury, and swallowing disorders.
Allison served as the clinical coordinator of research in aphasia in the Neurological Institute at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. She is on the Board of Directors for the Corporate Speech Pathology Network (CORSPAN), a Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) certified clinician, and a proud Family Empowerment Scholarship/Step-Up For Students provider. Allison is passionate about delivering high quality-effective treatment remotely because it’s convenient and easy to access. What sets us apart from other online speech therapy options is—Allison takes great care to hire the very best SLPs from all over the country.
