The First words

...you and I belong to a species with a remarkable ability; we can shape events in each other's brains with exquisite precision...That ability is language.Simply by making noises with our mouths, we can reliably cause precise new combinations of ideas to arise in each other's minds.The ability comes so naturally that we are apt to forget what a miracle it is. (Pinker, 1994)

Most parents never really appreciate the marvelous process that takes place when infants learn to talk. They take great joy is seeing their little baby learn to crawl, sit and walk, but few of them have the sight to understand the much greater miracle when this little creeper actually turns into an adult like talking and communicating being.

Animals are capable of using sounds to communicate.  However, there is a colossal difference between the chirping of a bird or roar of a lion and a human who can express himself in the most complex combinations of speech sounds and words.

Speech is a rare gift! And it all starts with the reflexive utterances of the baby.Crying sounds, comfort sounds, babbling, socialised babbling, infected vocal play and then eventually arrives the first word of the infant.

The average age for the acquisition of the first words varies from 9 to 18 months. Words are acquired before they are used, and long before the first one pops out, the child shows by her behaviour that she understands the gestures, intonations and even some parts of her parent's speech.

The first words spoken by the child are usually single syllable (1 consonant + 1 vowel) words e.g - /ma/ or  two syllable reduplicate words e.g. - /mama/

Children then 'misuse' the first words learnt. They call everyone and everything using the same set of newly acquired words. But soon enough their vocabulary augments and multiplies and they start combining complex speech sounds to form sentences.

What is amazing is that children acquire speech not only due to their innate desire to communicate but also due to the stimulation from their environment. Nature and nurture both are equally responsible for the attainment of your child's speech. Hence a child born to a Hindi speaking couple learns Hindi words first as compared to a baby born to an English family whose 1st words are in English.

As participants of your baby's immediate environment, you must talk to her, include gestures in your conversation, use intonations in your voice,as she is constantly learning to understand your complex language.

My mom tells me that my first word was /papa/ and I acquired it before my 1st birthday. I would love to know what yours and your baby's was!

                            This cute baby's first word has been captured well in this video. Have a peep!