baby talk

See also: babytalk

English

Noun

baby talk (uncountable)

1. (linguistics) The form of speech used by adults in talking to very young children.
   • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter III:

     [...] while not a super-goof like some of the female goofs I'd met, she was quite goofy enough to be going on with. Her whole aspect was that of a girl who at the drop of a hat would start talking baby talk.

Synonyms

• child-directed speech
• motherese
• parentese

Translations

form of speech used when talking to babies

• Danish: babysnak c
• French: langage enfantin (fr) m, mamanais (fr) m

• Hungarian: gyermeknyelv (hu)
• Icelandic: barnamál (is) n, barnahjal n, gælumál n