Motherese (Noun)
Meaning
An adult's imitation of the speech of a young child.
Classification
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents.
Examples
- She spoke to her cat in motherese, pronouncing every word slowly and clearly.
- The adult's voice was oddly high-pitched as she lapsed into motherese when talking to her pet.
- Using motherese, the teacher repeated the same phrase multiple times to help the language learner understand.
- To comfort her upset toddler, the babysitter switched to soothing motherese.
- By speaking in exaggerated motherese, the cartoon character added to the comedic effect.