Up until now you will have heard your baby repeating consonant / vowel sounds. The sounds will have been short with very little differentiation of sound in each vocalisation e.g. ‘da, da, da’. It is likely that your baby is becoming much more attentive to you and your interactions have become more frequent.
You will now notice that the babbling has evolved into ‘variegated babbling’. You will hear that the babble’s rhythm and syllable length are substantially closer to those found in speech. The babbling you hear is now more controlled, even though the sets of sounds used are very close to the ones used in earlier language development. [1]
With variegated babbling, your baby is now starting to combine different consonant / vowel sounds for example, ‘mamadada’ or ‘dododada’. The sounds are becoming more diverse and the variety of consonants and vowels blend into one vocalisation. They may able to produce sounds such as ‘aba’ or ‘gabidaba’. Your baby is still practicing their vocal play at this stage and the exploration of mouth movements and motor skills is continuing. By playing with sounds and sound sequences, your baby is building up to saying the first words. [2]
With your baby’s new ability to generate a wider range of vocalisations, comes a more advanced ability to communicate a wider range of messages to you. Your baby will be becoming more consistent in their vocalisations and adding gestures and intonation. The development of deliberate communication is critical to their new abilities. [3]
You may also be hearing more of a melodic utterance in the sounds your baby produces. Variations in pitch, rhythm, and tone of voice have become a common aspect of your baby’s speech. [3] As your baby's communications progress, you should be able to put more meaning to their babble and baby conversations. Your baby is gaining momentum in being able to develop their interactions and will give you clearer signs of early communication, although you still may not know what they mean. Your baby will still be exploring their sound patterns and look to you for clues as to how they are doing.
Your baby may say, for example, ‘abadobgau’ when shown their favourite toy. This is an acknowledgment that they recognise a familiar object, they may even wish for you to give it to them. Whilst your baby is babbling away, you can always join in by copying and agreeing with their sounds and labelling whatever it is that has made them chatty.
These strings of variegated babble will develop into your baby’s first words as they begin to make connections between words and objects. Your baby will explore sounds and begin to produce a speech sound which is similar to the word used to name the object that they are handling, looking at or wanting from you. Labelling and repeating familiar words whilst linking them to objects will support your baby in linking the words to the objects.
References:
[1] David Crystal (2007). How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages Live or Die. London: Avery.
[2] Williamson. G (2014). Speech Development. SLT info. Available to read at: Speech Development (sltinfo.com)
[3] Sample Gosse, H., & Gotzke, C. (2007). Parent/Caregiver Narrative: Vocalizing and Speaking, 7-9 Months. In L.M. Phillips (Ed.), Handbook of language and literacy development: A Roadmap from 0 - 60 Months. [online], pp. 1 -2. London, ON: Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network. Available at: Handbook of language and literacy development