Early vocal development: the backbone of human communication

Wivine DeCoster

The first canonical syllables emerge at about eight months of age. Children seem to prepare this crucial milestone from birth on. During this period, caregivers and researchers try to get insight in this developmental stage by categorizing these early sounds. As most of them emphasize different aspects, we will try to describe a useful approach to evaluate these early utterances by promoting an infra phonological description of children’s vocalizations. The comparison of different view-points reveals that there is more in children’s voices than only an evolution to adult like speech. On the one hand there are the functional non speech-like vocalizations; on the other hand, the voice sounds can be described in terms of vocal pragmatics, preparing speech and language communication. A deep insight in all aspects of this communication by voice necessitates a shift in treatment of very young children towards communicative partners and a more holistic view on communication even at young age. In short: children enter the language system using vocal forms, adult like in sound (not in semantic and syntactic function) that foreshadow participation in social interaction. By limiting our focus to speech perception and production, a huge amount of developmental information could slip from our attention that might be crucial to detect problems are to confirm normal development.

In this context, Speech Language Pathologists need to be trained by using large databases of vocal utterances from birth on. As voice is rather language independent collecting these data could be a multi center issue.

Decoster, W.
Speech Language Pathology and Audiology
Labo ExpORL - dept. Neurosciences
Herestraat 49, O&N2, 721
B - 3000 Leuven
tel: +32 (0)16 33 04 84
fax: +32 (0)16 33 04 86
Wivine.Decoster@med.kuleuven.be