Pet Talk

Is talking to our pets like they're babies scientific, or just stupid?

 

Let's be honest, we've all done it. Talking to our pets as if they're babies is a common thing. In fact in a survey, 91% of people spoke to their household pets like babies. But what is the real reason behind us talking to our pets in such a language?

 

The reason behind this is because for example; in dogs, they  are limited to one noise, a bark. Therefore they rely on the tone of other dogs to understand them, such as; a nervous dog would have high toned bark, whereas if they were alarmed or threatened they would bark in a low tone, or they can stay into the middle at a medium tone bark to express 'happiness'

 

So still why the baby talk? This is because they recognise the medium tone as a 'happy voice' therefore when you are talking to them like a child they respond positively. But, this isn't the only reason we associate baby talk with animals. We relate animals and children the same way. They both share the same characteristics, therefore we respond to them with simple gestures, such as smiling to show a secure environment. Where the different between pets and babies is that the pets will need to learn the important words, such as 'No, Stop, etc' where as babies will grow to learn a much wider vocabulary.

 

The language we use in 'Baby talk' is identified as infant-directed speech (Motherese and Parentese are more precise words) We use baby talk as we would speak normally but with and increased pitch. It includes using shortened and simplified words. This is to show affection to your animals by 'emulating' fondness. Whereas, when we talk to a pet it is change to pet-directed speech.

 

Two researchers from University discovered that baby talk is a universal language, used within cultures and religions everywhere. But in order for a baby to collaborate with their parent the parent must slur and fabricate some of their speech in order to encourage the conversation. We then use rising intonation in our voices to excite the animals, as they respond to that as their 'happy voice'.

 

"Other researchers contend that it is not universal among the world's cultures, and argue that its role in helping children learn grammar has been overestimated. For evidence to back up their claims they point out that in some societies (such as certain Samoan tribes)"

 

Another theory is that in seriousness, animals tend to also love it. Who doesn't love the way their eyes widen as your pitch increases, and happier they get it's just something they enjoy themselves too! I mean who doesn't like to be treated like a baby sometimes? No one! Not only that, but also  how dependant on us animals actually are, much like babies. We need to feed them, clean up after them, play with them, making it a lot more easier to relate them to each other.

 

So, in summary baby talk could be scientific or stupid dependant on your views, is that going to change the way you talk to them? No! people train their animals in different ways, and people will continue to do that whether includes calling their dog "cuddly wuddly fur ball please go away" or "stan, leave!" if completely dependent on the person. But, as the next time you talk to your animals, ask yourself, do you baby talk them?

By Lilly Colville