Characteristic Features Of Child-Directed Speech In Uzbek And English
Keywords:
child-directed speech, motherese, baby talk, language acquisition, diminutives, prosody, English, Uzbek.Abstract
The paper analyses the specific features of child-directed speech (CDS) the special register adults use when talking to young children in English and Uzbek. Prosodic, lexical, grammatical and pragmatic features are compared. Both languages share universal prosodic traits such as higher pitch, exaggerated intonation, slow tempo and frequent repetition. The differences reflect language structure and culture: English CDS relies on special baby-talk words, questions and expansions of the child’s utterances, whereas Uzbek CDS conveys affection mainly through diminutive and endearing suffixes and focuses strongly on teaching kinship terms and politeness formulas.
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