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Crib talk or crib speech is pre-sleep
monologue In theatre, a monologue (from el, μονόλογος, from μόνος ''mónos'', "alone, solitary" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes a ...
made by young children while in bed. This starts somewhere around one-and-a-half years and usually ends by about two-and-a-half years of age, though children can continue longer.Weir RH. (1962). Language in the Crib. University of Michigan; Edition 2, (1970) Mouton. Nelson K. Oster E., Bruner JS. (Ed). (1989). Narratives from the crib. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press. It consists of conversational discourse with turn-taking often containing semantically and
syntactically In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituency) ...
coherent question-answer sequences. It may contain
word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, pho ...
and bits of
song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetiti ...
and
nursery rhyme A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes. From ...
. Crib talk has been found in deaf children in their early
sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign ...
. It also occurs in autistic children.


Types

Crib talk has been divided into three somewhat overlapping varieties. Nelson K. (1989). Monologue as representation of real-life experience (pp.27-72) In Narratives from the crib. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press.


Enactment sequences

This occurs most commonly in early monologues and is done in a low tone. It concerns using language to bring about action and occurs when playing with toys and
doll A doll is a model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and wood are foun ...
s as “
friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Li ...
” with language embedded in ongoing play. Whilst like conversational speech, it can occur in long uninterrupted sequences in which the child describes what they are doing.


Proto-narrative

In this a child creates a story about events that have happened or imaginary events in temporal-causal sequences that can be as short as five words or as long as 150. They may include the reciting of
stories Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (Briti ...
that have been read to them. They occur throughout the period in which a child engages in crib talk.


Problem focused

These concern what happened in the past, what will happen in the future and how events are organized. They incorporate descriptions used by others to enable
prediction A prediction (Latin ''præ-'', "before," and ''dicere'', "to say"), or forecast, is a statement about a future event or data. They are often, but not always, based upon experience or knowledge. There is no universal agreement about the exact ...
.


Function

Such monologues have been argued to play a key role in providing a practice space for developing complex connected discourse, aiding a child to use language as a tool to categorize,
explain An explanation is a set of statements usually constructed to describe a set of facts which clarifies the causes, context, and consequences of those facts. It may establish rules or laws, and may clarify the existing rules or laws in relation ...
and know the world,Feldman CF. (1989). Monologue as problem solving narrative (pp. 98-120) In Narratives from the crib. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press. and to “clarify what may originally have been problematic or troublesome”.Bruner J Lucariello J (1989). Monologue as Narrative Recreation of the World (pp.73-97) In Narratives from the crib. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press. Such talk is more complex than that done by children in interactions with others,Kuczaj S. (1983). Crib speech and language play. New York: Springer Verlag. and this has been suggested to be due to the freedom to control what they say and so not have their cognitive abilities stretched by having to work out how to respond to what someone has just said. While similar to private speech which usually starts after 3 and ends about 7, crib talk lacks its self-regulatory instructions. Nelson K. (1989). Introduction: Monologues in the crib. (pp. 1-24) In Narratives from the crib. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press.


Research


Problems

Crib talk is a topic that has not been heavily researched within child development. The lack of research is likely due to the difficulty in transcription. Young children typically have poor pronunciation, and there's often little context to infer the meaning of a child's words, even with the help of a parent. This has limited the number of children studied and the length of time over which the development of crib talk monologues have been researched. The children studied are also atypical in that they are the offspring of researchers or their close colleagues, and so are from highly educated backgrounds. The child studied by Katherine Nelson, for example, was highly precocious in her language abilities, which raises questions about the generality of findings on that one child.


Studies

Crib talk was first studied by Ruth Hirsch Weir on her son Anthony and published in 1962. Two other studies have been carried out by Stan Kuczaj on 14 children between 15–30 months - published in 1983 - and Katherine Nelson on Emily in 1989. In 2000, crib talk research was conducted on a young girl named Nora. In this research, Nora's talk was examined before she slept as her parents recorded her from the age of 46 to 50 months. Nora's age was older than most other studies done on children's crib talk, as the average age is between 15 to 36 months. Over this period of time, a total of 60 pre-sleep recordings were collected. Research on crib talk has also been conducted on developmentally challenged children with autism and psychotic disorders. A study was conducted on 3 autistic children and 2 psychotic children. The data collected on these children was important to compare the functionality, form, and content to normally developing children.


Examples

(As spelled in transcripts)


Anthony

Anthony is here between 28 and 30 months playing at grammatical transformations and combinations.
Step on the blanket Where is Anthony’s blanket Where is Anthony’s blanket (
falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentou ...
) Where’s hiding (falsetto) Books Down Down Have the books today I take the white blanket off On the blanket Under the blanket Sleep go What a blue blanket What the take the blanket


Emily

; (21 months)
The broke, car broke, the .. Emmy can’t go in the car. Go in green car. No. Emmy go in the car. Broken. Broken. Their car broken, so Mommy Daddy go in their car, Emmy Daddy go in the car, Emmy Daddy Mommy go in the car, broke, Da … da, the car … their, their, care broken (continues) .
; (23 months)
When mormor get me, when Mormor mae pretty, Mommy had a help, my sleep, Mommy came and Mommy get, get up, time to go home. When my slep and, and, Mormor came. Then Mommy coming then get up, time to go ho-o-me. Time to go home. Drink p-water errier Yesterday did that. Now Emmy sleeping in regular bed.Daiute C. Lightfoot C. (2003). Narrative analysis: studying the development of individuals in society. SAGE. p.98


"In the Dark"

George Miller has noted that the last two verses of A. A. Milne's poem "In the Dark" in '' Now We Are Six'' echoes the verbal play of crib talk.Miller, G. (1962) Foreword by a psychologist, pp. 13-17, In Weir RH. (1962). Language in the Crib. University of Michigan; Edition 2, (1970) Mouton.
So—here I am in the dark alone,     There's nobody here to see;         I think to myself,         I play to myself,     And nobody knows what I say to myself; Here I am in the dark alone,     What is it going to be? I can think whatever I like to think, I can play whatever I like to play, I can laugh whatever I like to laugh,     There's nobody here but me. I'm talking to a rabbit ...     I'm talking to the sun ... I think I am a hundred—     I'm one. I'm lying in a forest ...     I'm lying in a cave ... I'm talking to a Dragon ...     I'm BRAVE. I'm lying on my left side ...     I'm lying on my right ... I'll play a lot tomorrow ...     ........... I'll think a lot tomorrow ...     ........... I'll laugh ...                 a lot ...                             tomorrow ...                             (Heigh-ho !)                                                     Goodnight


See also

* Babbling * Baby talk *
Bedtime Bedtime (also called putting to bed or tucking in) is a ritual part of parenting to help children feel more secure and become accustomed to a more rigid schedule of sleep than they might prefer. The ritual of bedtime is aimed at facilitating the ...
*
Imaginary friend Imaginary friends (also known as pretend friends, invisible friends or made-up friends) are a psychological and social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than physical reality. ...
* Intrapersonal communication


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crib Talk Child development Infancy Language acquisition Childhood