{"id":22569,"date":"2021-03-04T11:51:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T10:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/babywellnessfoundation.org\/sviluppo-cognitivo\/capitolo-5-le-prime-parole-e-lo-sviluppo-del-linguaggio\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T09:01:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T08:01:40","slug":"chapter-5-first-words-and-language-development","status":"publish","type":"sviluppo-bambino","link":"https:\/\/babywellnessfoundation.org\/en\/sviluppo-cognitivo\/chapter-5-first-words-and-language-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 5 \u2013 First Words and Language Development"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Words are not the only way we communicate. Gestures, facial expressions, and looks allow us to express feelings and moods very effectively. It is through <strong>body language<\/strong> that the newborn begins to interact with parents in the first months of life, accompanied by unarticulated vocalizations and crying. These are their <strong>first tools<\/strong> to attract the attention of mom and dad and to communicate their needs. Just like motor development, there is no precise age when a child begins to babble, i.e., to pronounce syllables made of vowels and consonants like ma-ma-ma or pa-pa-pa, or to say their first meaningful words. Rather, there are wide time windows and a great margin of variability depending on the child&#8217;s individual predisposition and exposure to environmental stimuli, primarily the encouragement from parents.<\/p>\n<p><strong>In the first months<\/strong> the baby <strong>does not communicate intentionally<\/strong>. When crying or reaching out towards something they want, they are simply expressing their needs using the skills they have already developed. However, when mom or dad responds to these cues, they reinforce the baby\u2019s confidence that their actions will get a response. This gradually teaches the child to make intentional gestures (deictic gestures), aimed at another human being. The baby will extend their arm, opening and closing their hand to show they want something. They may also show or hand an object to the adult, or point to something they can&#8217;t reach.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Around 6 months<\/strong> many babies begin <strong>to understand the meaning<\/strong> of certain frequently repeated words in specific contexts, such as \u201cwater\u201d when offered a bottle. Between 4 and 10 months, many begin to babble intentionally, and by 10 months, over 50% of babies say their first intelligible word, though about 25% reach their first birthday without yet uttering one (17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"section\" data-elementor-id=\"22102\" class=\"elementor elementor-22102 elementor-3769\" data-elementor-post-type=\"elementor_library\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5d0203b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"5d0203b\" data-element_type=\"section\" 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class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-inner-column elementor-element elementor-element-fbf6952\" data-id=\"fbf6952\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f700803 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"f700803\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Subscribe to the newsletter<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-14891c3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"14891c3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Be the first to receive the latest news from the Baby Wellness Foundation!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-321b77a elementor-widget elementor-widget-html\" data-id=\"321b77a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"html.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/babywellnesslab.mibu-direct.com\/form\/generate.js?id=3\"><\/script>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n<p>The transition from babbling to first words is gradual and often depends on how parents interpret it (18): for example, if the baby says &#8220;be-be-be&#8221; while pointing at the bottle, they may be babbling or attempting to say \u201cbottle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>How can language development be encouraged?<\/p>\n<p>While babies are innately predisposed to language, to fully express their potential they need to be immersed in a \u201csound bath\u201d\u2014not just words, but also conversation, noises, singing, and laughter. They won\u2019t learn to speak passively by listening to adult monologues or by watching adults talk on screens. They need <strong>stimulating and engaging conversations<\/strong> with their caregivers (19).<\/p>\n<p>The more a child is encouraged to engage, the faster the learning process will be. Here are some practical tips parents can start using right away:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Speak to the baby in a loving tone while maintaining eye contact throughout the interaction. This keeps the baby engaged and \u201ctuned in\u201d with the parent, responding with vocalizations and movements.<\/li>\n<li>Narrate daily activities using simple phrases, exaggerating certain sounds (e.g., extending vowels: \u201cHere comes the paaapaaa,\u201d \u201cso much peeepeee\u201d) to capture attention.<\/li>\n<li>Play together using everyday sound-making objects (spoons, lids, etc.).<\/li>\n<li>Assign sound labels to specific objects and emphasize them (20) (e.g., \u201cvvrr\u201d for the washing machine spin cycle, \u201cding\u201d for the microwave, \u201cboom\u201d for a cabinet closing). However, be careful not to replace words with these labels\u2014say \u201cthe washing machine goes vvrr,\u201d not \u201cthe washing machine is called vvrr.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Imitate pleasant environmental sounds with your voice: the patter of rain on the windows, birds chirping, the babbling of a stream, the rustling of leaves in the wind.<\/li>\n<li>Sing single syllables (\/ba\/, \/ma\/, \/la\/&#8230;) or hum sounds like \/mmm\u2026\/ rather than full words.<\/li>\n<li>Sing lullabies, nursery rhymes, or \u201ctheir song\u201d\u2014a made-up song just for them.<\/li>\n<li>Expose them to a variety of musical genres (classical, jazz, country, etc.); don\u2019t limit them to just \u201cchildren\u2019s music.\u201d Share the listening experience with gestures and facial expressions.<\/li>\n<li>Offer small sound-producing objects and instruments (e.g., soft musical books), which the child can actively explore by shaking, rubbing, or banging.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":22260,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"titolo-articolo-sviluppo":[861],"class_list":["post-22569","sviluppo-bambino","type-sviluppo-bambino","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","titolo-articolo-sviluppo-the-harmonious-development-of-the-child"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chapter 5 \u2013 First Words and Language Development - Baby Wellness Foundation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/babywellnessfoundation.org\/en\/sviluppo-cognitivo\/chapter-5-first-words-and-language-development\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chapter 5 \u2013 First Words and Language Development - Baby Wellness Foundation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Words are not the only way we communicate. 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