Babbling and early speech: continuity and individual differences

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Abstract
One of the recognized precursors to speaking is babbling. The related- ness of these activities is suggested, in the typical case, by the develop mentally continuous manner in which babbling flows into and coexists with speaking, the shared morphology of babble and speech, and the socially similar ways that children display (and presumably use) babbling and speaking. Nevertheless, the developmental significance of babbling is unknown. In this paper, I sample findings on normally developing children as well as special populations, including hearing- impaired, retarded, and tracheostomized children, and experimental work on song birds. Attention is given to the question of whether individual differences in babbling are carried over into speaking. I also ask whether it is or should be possible to anticipate deviant or delayed speech from analyses of prelinguistic vocalization and, if so, what that would tell us about the theoretical significance of babbling.

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