Crib talk

Crib talk or crib speech is pre-sleep monologue 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.[1][2] It consists of conversational discourse with turn-taking often containing semantically and syntactically coherent question-answer sequences. It may contain word play and bits of song and nursery rhyme.

Crib talk has been found in deaf children in their early sign language.[3] It also occurs in autistic children.[4]

  1. ^ Weir, R. H. (1962). Language in the Crib. University of Michigan; Edition 2, (1970) Mouton. OCLC 300988484
  2. ^ Nelson, K.; Oster, E.; Bruner, J. S. (Ed). (1989). Narratives from the crib. Cambridge, MA, US: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02363-5
  3. ^ Petitto, L. A. (2000). On The Biological Foundations of Human Language. In K. Emmorey and H. Lane (Eds.) The signs of language revisited: An anthology in honor of Ursula Bellugi and Edward Klima. Erlbaum
  4. ^ Schaerlaekens, A. (1997). "Crib speech in autistic and psychotic children: Case studies of form, content and function". First Language. 17 (51): 303–310. doi:10.1177/014272379701705114. S2CID 143341282.