要不要說“兒語”？

想必大家生活中都經常聽到大人對小孩子說“吃飯飯”、“拉臭臭”之類的兒語。英文稱之為baby talk。這類兒語究竟是好是壞？能不能說？來看看國外的研究吧。

Intonation is also very important to infants' language development in the first months of life.
在嬰兒幾個月大的時候，語調對其語言發展非常重要。

Adults tend to speak to babies using a special type of register that we know as 'baby talk' or 'motherese.'
成年人經常使用特殊的語調和寶寶說話，我們稱之為“兒語”或者“媽媽語”。

This typically involves a higher pitch than regular speech, with wide, exaggerated intonation changes.
兒語的典型特征是比平時說話的音調更高，語調變化范圍更廣，更夸張。

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.
研究人員發現，寶寶們更愛聽這類夸張的“兒語”講話，而不是典型的成人式講話。當與音調特色不那么夸張的成人講話相比，父母說話時音調更高，音域更廣時，寶寶們更能集中注意。

Baby talk tends to be spoken at a slower rate, and key words often appear at the end of a phrase.
兒語通常速度更慢，關鍵詞經常出現在短語的結尾。

Some people consider baby talk to be incredibly annoying, and many believe it can even be harmful to a child's development.
一些人覺得兒語非常惹人煩，還有不少人認為這甚至對孩子的發展有害。

But research has shown speaking slowly in a childish voice is in fact beneficial to children's development.
但研究顯示，用兒語對孩子慢慢講話其實對孩子的發展很有好處。

Scientists claim it kick-starts their learning of language.
科學家認為，這能推動孩子的語言學習。

（中國日報網英語點津 yaning）