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Child Development & Early Education vocabulary · Language and Communication

Babbling

Meaning in child development & early education, with examples

/ˈbæblɪŋ/nounCommon term

In child development & early education, babbling means: The repeated speech-like sounds babies make before their first words, such as 'bababa' or 'dadada', usually starting in the second half of the first year.

In Turkish: babıldama, heceleme, hece tekrarları

How it is used

Used by parents, health professionals and in language milestone charts. The verb is babble. Babbling comes after cooing, the soft vowel sounds of the first months, and is an important early sign of language development.

Example sentences

  1. At eight months she was babbling 'mamama' all day long.

  2. We respond to his babbling as if it were a real conversation.

Common collocations

  • start babbling
  • canonical babbling
  • babble and coo
  • babbling sounds
  • language developmentThe process by which children learn to understand and use language, from crying and babbling to words, sentences and conversation.
  • expressive languageA child's ability to use language to communicate, through words, sentences, gestures or signs, in order to ask for things, share ideas and describe events.
  • child-directed speechThe way adults often talk to babies and young children, with a higher, more musical voice, simple words, short sentences and a lot of repetition.
  • milestoneA skill that most children learn within a typical age range, such as smiling, sitting without support, walking or saying first words, used to follow a child's progress.

More terms: Language and Communication

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