Dunstan Baby Language
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Dunstan Baby Language is a claim about infantile speech patterns and language acquisition in humans. The claim is that across cultures and linguistic groups there are five sounds, each with a meaning, that are used by infants during the beginning of the language acquisition period. The theory was developed by former Australian mezzo-soprano, Priscilla Dunstan. The theory was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
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[edit] Dunstan's claims
Between 0-3 months infants make what Dunstan calls sound reflexes.[1] According to Dunstan, these sound reflexes are preemptive cries that occur before the infant breaks into what she calls the hysterical cry. Dunstan claims that these preemptive cries can indicate what the infant requires (ex. such as food, comfort, sleep, etc.) and elevate to the hysterical cry if they are not answered. As the infant matures past 3 months in vocalization, the sound reflexes become replaced with more elaborate babbling.
[edit] Words (sound reflexes)
According to Dunstan, the five universal words (or sound reflexes) used by infants are[2]:
[edit] Neh
I'm hungry - An infant uses the sound reflex "Neh" to communicate their hunger. The sound is produced when the tongue is pushed up on the roof of the mouth and the sucking reflex is triggered.
[edit] Owh
I'm sleepy - An infant uses the sound reflex "Owh" to communicate that they are tired. The sound is produced much like an audible yawn.
[edit] Heh
I'm experiencing discomfort - An infant uses the sound reflex "Heh" to communicate stress, discomfort, or perhaps that they need a fresh diaper. The sound is produced by a response to a skin reflex, such as feeling sweat or itchiness in the bum.
[edit] Eairh
I have lower gas - An infant uses the sound reflex "Eairh" to communicate they have flatulence or an upset stomach. The sound is produced when trapped air from a belch that is unable to release and travels to the stomach where the muscles of the intestine tighten to force the air bubble out.
[edit] Eh
I need to burp - An infant uses the sound reflex "Eh" to communicate that they need to be burped. The sound is produced when a large bubble of trapped air is caught in the chest and is trying to release out of the mouth.
[edit] Criticism
Dunstan's claims have been questioned by researchers in the early language development and linguistic fields. Dunstan's hypothetical sounds are, from a linguistic perspective, informal: without being recorded in IPA, it isn't clear what phonemes are meant by, e.g., "eai" or "rh". The sample video on the Dunstan's website shows different babies "saying" neh; but Dunstan's intuitions about the sounds produced are not a substitute for quantifiable methodology.
The Research Page on Dunstan's website[3] includes no details of methodology; instead, it cites only statistics of reports from parents who trialed the theory, and those reports as of Leading Edge research in Sydney concern subjective data ("found [it] very beneficial"; "felt a greater bond"). Such reports do not speak to the accuracy of the theory itself.
Dunstan's website states that the "language [is] shared by all babies throughout the world" [4] but beyond saying that "hundreds" of babies and "more than 400 mothers" were studied in Sydney and Chicago it provides no specifics of how many babies were studied, in what ways, which countries they came from nor which adult languages they were exposed to.
Additionally, the use of the word "language" is particularly loaded; to a linguist, including those working in language acquisition, language requires a mental connection formed between sounds and meanings, as well as the ability to combine the sounds and meanings in novel ways and extend them to new situations. Even if the five sounds do correspond to certain meanings as Dunstan reports, these sounds would seem more closely related to animal communication than proper language.
It is not clear that Dunstan's claims, in their current form, constitute a scientific theory. They have not been published in any peer-reviewed journal.
[edit] DVD
A DVD set was released by Priscilla Dunstan called The Dunstan Baby Language in November 2006. The two disc set covered the five universal words of the language. Taught over two weeks the system features methods of learning how to recognize the vocalizations and sounds, numerous examples of baby cries from around the world to "tune your ear" and live demonstrations of newborn mother groups experimenting with the language.
[edit] About Priscilla Dunstan
Priscilla Dunstan grew up with the self-proclaimed ability to have a photographic memory for sound. According to Dunstan she could “hear a piece by Mozart once, then play it back note for note.” As a young adult Dunstan toured Europe and Australia as a concert violinist and later developed her talent as a mezzo-soprano. Dunstan claims her years in the opera and her experience as a mother allowed her to recognize certain sounds in the human voice. As her own son, Tomas Dunstan, began to vocalize, Dunstan took record of familiar sounds in a journal. After several years of individual observations she created the Dunstan Baby Language.
[edit] See also
- Child development
- Babbling
- Language acquisition
- Elimination communication
- Baby talk
- Fis phenomenon
- Baby Sign
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.dunstanbaby.com/faqs/
- ^ http://www.oprah.com/tows/slide/200611/20061113/slide_20061113_350_102.jhtml Five Universal Words of Dunstan Baby Language as Posted on Oprah.com
- ^ http://www.dunstanbaby.com/how-it-works/research/
- ^ http://www.dunstanbaby.com/how-it-works/
