Baby talk

Baby talk, also referred to as caretaker speech, infant-directed speech (IDS) or child-directed speech (CDS), is usually delivered with a "cooing" pattern of intonation different from that of normal adult speech: high in pitch, with many glissando variations that are more pronounced than those of normal speech. It frequently displays hyperarticulation, which is an increase in the distances between peripheral vowels (such as [i], [u], and [a]). Baby talk is also characterized by the shortening and simplifying of words. Baby talk is similar to what is used by people when talking to their pets (pet-directed speech). When adults talk to each other using baby talk it is generally to either show affection by emulating the fondness shown by adults for children, or as a form of bullying or condescension as children are much less cognitively developed than adults, implying that the adult receiving the baby talk is less intelligent than the adult talking to them.