Language formed in the womb

A study was carried out by comparing the sound of the cries of 30 French infants and 30 German babies aged 3-5 days.

While the cries of French babies have an increasing tone, the cries of German babies tend to be in the middle of the storm.

In fact, the French often say emphasis in the last sentence so the voice is slightly higher when the sentence ends. Meanwhile, the German way of speaking often lowered the voice at the end of the sentence. This means that the cry of French children is not like the cry of a German child. And the difference in crying shows the difference in their later language.

This is the conclusion just published in Current Biology by researchers on Neuroscience and Awareness of Max Planck Institute, University of Wulrzburg, Germany and Escole Normale Supérieure de Paris, France.

The researchers said that the difference in the cries of these 60 babies was later expressed in distinct melodies in French and German sentences and pronunciations.

Researchers have long known that right from the last three months of the womb, hearing is the earliest developed sensory. Therefore, the embryo is able to hear and can dimly recognize the surrounding language, being aware of the rising and falling tone of the mother's voice. Therefore, after being born, children often react more strongly, more clearly to the language of the mother.

However, through the results of this study, we know that babies also know how to re-express the up and down tone in their mother tongue, right after birth.

Previously, researchers still thought that the rising and falling tone of all babies' babies (including newly born chimpanzees) was due to an increase or decrease in pressure in their respiratory system.