Analysis of the sounds of the child in the first year of age and a comparison to the language.
This study has the aim to analyze the acoustic characteristic features of cries and babbling in the course of the ontogenetical development of babies from the 3rd to 5th day on up to the age of 1 year and to compare the results to the acoustic characteristics of the adult language. The mean fundamental frequency of crying increased considerably from 441.8 to 502.9 Hz and the mean fundamental frequency of babbling decreased remarkably from 389.3 to 336.9 Hz. These types of melodies represent individual differences in the course of crying. The first intonations were similar to the hunger cry and later they were on par with the pain cry. The melodies of babbling remained unchanged in the first year of age. Scientific examinations proved that crying and babbling are different. The development of the mean fundamental frequency for both, crying and babbling, showed a contrary tendency within the first year of age. The melody of babbling indicated similarities to the language within the first year of age. At the age of 9 months, the fundamental frequency and the melody contained features of the language of females in labour. Crying of a newborn and infant can be regarded in direct connection with the cries of a grown-up person, particularly in situations of emotional agitation or cultic rituals. Babbling, in contrast, shows structural similarities to the language. This justifies the assumption that the human being possesses two separate communication systems that share the same acoustic channel.
Rothgänger
Hartmut
H
Faculty of Medicine (Charité), ZHGB, Institute of Medical Anthropology, Humboldt University to Berlin, Luisenstrasse 57, D-10017 Berlin, Germany. hartmut.rothgaenger@charite.de
D000328:Adult; D002663:Child Language; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013065:Speech Intelligibility