想必大家生活中都经常听到大人对小孩子说“吃饭饭”、“拉臭臭”之类的儿语。英文称之为baby talk。这类儿语究竟是好是坏？能不能说？来看看国外的研究吧。

Intonation is also very important to infants' language development in the first months of life.

在婴儿几个月大的时候，语调对其语言发展非常重要。

Adults tend to speak to babies using a special type of register that we know as 'baby talk' or 'motherese.'

成年人经常使用特殊的语调和宝宝说话，我们称之为“儿语”或者“妈妈语”。

This typically involves a higher pitch than regular speech, with wide, exaggerated intonation changes.

儿语的典型特征是比平时说话的音调更高，语调变化范围更广，更夸张。

Research has shown that babies prefer to listen to this exaggerated 'baby talk' type of speech than typical adult-like speech: They pay more attention when a parent's speech has a higher pitch and a wider pitch range compared to adult-like speech with less exaggerated pitch features.

研究人员发现，宝宝们更爱听这类夸张的“儿语”讲话，而不是典型的成人式讲话。当与音调特色不那么夸张的成人讲话相比，父母说话时音调更高，音域更广时，宝宝们更能集中注意。

Baby talk tends to be spoken at a slower rate, and key words often appear at the end of a phrase.

儿语通常速度更慢，关键词经常出现在短语的结尾。

Some people consider baby talk to be incredibly annoying, and many believe it can even be harmful to a child's development.

一些人觉得儿语非常惹人烦，还有不少人认为这甚至对孩子的发展有害。

But research has shown speaking slowly in a childish voice is in fact beneficial to children's development.

但研究显示，用儿语对孩子慢慢讲话其实对孩子的发展很有好处。

Scientists claim it kick-starts their learning of language.

科学家认为，这能推动孩子的语言学习。