And I'm Georgie. For most parents, their baby's first word is a special moment. This happens after an early stage of language development called babble, when babies start making simple sounds like 'ga' or 'ma'.
Babies have to learn to use their mouth muscles to make specific sounds. They experiment with different sounds and mouth shapes. So, what exactly is happening when babies start learning to speak? What do you think, Georgie?
Well, Phil, I'm no expert, but I imagine they watch the adults around them and kind of copy and imitate what they do. What do you think?
嗯，Phil，我不是专家，但我想他们会观察周围的成年人，并模仿和模仿他们的所作所为。你觉得怎么样？
Phil(菲尔)
I definitely think that's what my children did when they were learning to speak.
我绝对认为我的孩子们在学习说话时就是这样做的。
Well, let's compare our ideas with those of an expert - Professor Julian Pine from(那么，让我们将我们的想法与一位专家的想法进行比较 - 来自)
Liverpool University, speaking here on BBC Radio 4, and he lists the skills that babies develop in order to speak:
利物浦大学在 BBC Radio 4 上发表讲话，他列出了婴儿为了说话而发展的技能：
Professor Julian Pine(Julian Pine 教授)
Well, one of the first things the child's got to do is, they've got to break down the speech stream into words. Then they've got to link the words to the things that they refer to in the environment, so they've got to learn what the words mean. [Right].
In this programme, we'll discover how babies learn to speak, and, as usual, we'll learn some useful new vocabulary. And on the subject of words, remember you can find a list of this programme's vocabulary on our website, bbclearningenglish.com. Some people find it helpful to study the vocabulary before listening.
And another thing to do before listening is ask my question, Georgie. We've mentioned the babbling noises that babies make when learning to speak, but at what age does this usually start? Is it: a) around 6 months old? b) around 9 months old? or, c) around 1 year old?
OK, I think my best guess would be a) around six months old.
好的，我想我最好的猜测是 a） 大约六个月大。
Phil(菲尔)
OK, well, we'll find out a little bit later on in the programme. Let's return to Professor Pine's list. The first thing babies do is recognise where individual words start and end. For this it helps to know that, in English at least, words often begin with a stressed syllable – the sound in a word which is emphasised by being spoken longer or louder. Learning this takes time, and here, Professor Pine and Michael Rosen, presenter of BBC Radio 4's programme, 'Word of Mouth', discuss children who haven't quite discovered it yet:
好的，好吧，我们稍后会在节目中找出答案。让我们回到 Pine 教授的名单上。婴儿做的第一件事是识别单个单词的开始和结束位置。为此，了解至少在英语中，单词通常以重读音节开头 —— 单词中通过说得更长或更大声来强调的声音是有帮助的。学习这需要时间，在这里，派恩教授和 BBC Radio 4 节目“口碑”的主持人迈克尔·罗森 讨论了尚未完全了解它的孩子：
Professor Julian Pine(Julian Pine 教授)
We can see this in the kind of errors that children make, because little kids will often call a giraffe a 'raffe' by leaving off the unstressed syllable because that's not typical English.
Or he may have thought it was 'my sminge' of course, that's the other thing.
或者他可能认为这是 “我的交集”，当然，那是另一回事。
Professor Julian Pine(Julian Pine 教授)
And the classic example, of course, is 'nana' instead of 'banana'.
当然，经典的例子是 'nana' 而不是 'banana'。
Michael Rosen(迈克尔·罗森)
Yes, I think I call them that!
是的，我想我是这么称呼他们的！
Georgie(乔治)
One error, or mistake, infants make is calling a giraffe a 'raffe' because they cut off the first syllable 'gi' because it's not stressed.
婴儿犯的一个错误是称长颈鹿为 “raffe”，因为他们剪掉了第一个音节 'gi'，因为它没有重读。
Phil(菲尔)
The classic example of this is when children say 'nana' instead of 'banana'. A classic example of something means the best example of it, one containing all the features you expect such a thing to have. For example, ants are a classic example of animals working together.
The second skill babies develop as they learn to speak is correctly linking a word to the object it refers to, in other words knowing what the word means. As adults we do this without thinking, but it's actually much harder than it sounds, as Professor Julian Pine explains to BBC Radio 4 programme, 'Word of Mouth'.
婴儿在学习说话时培养的第二项技能是正确地将单词与它所指的物体联系起来，换句话说，知道这个词的含义。作为成年人，我们不假思索地做到这一点，但实际上这比听起来要难得多，正如 Julian Pine 教授在 BBC Radio 4 节目“口耳相传”中解释的那样。
Professor Julian Pine(Julian Pine 教授)
Well, we take for granted the fact that it's kind of obvious what words refer to in the environment, but actually if you look at it from the child's point of view, it's really difficult to work out what a word refers to because there's so many things it could refer to. So, you know, the speech signal is very ambiguous. How does the child know that you're talking about the cup in front of you, or the pen in front of you when you say 'pen' or 'cup'?
As adults, we take it for granted that when a friend says, 'apple', they mean that round, red thing on the table. To take it for granted means to assume something without question. But for a baby, the link between the word 'apple' and the object is not obvious, it's ambiguous, meaning it has more than one possible meaning.
作为成年人，我们理所当然地认为，当朋友说“苹果”时，他们指的是桌子上那个圆圆的红色东西。To take it for given 的意思是毫无疑问地假设某事。但对于婴儿来说，“苹果”这个词和物体之间的联系并不明显，它是模棱两可的，这意味着它有不止一种可能的含义。
Georgie(乔治)
Wow! Who knew so much was going on inside babies' sponge-like brains as they soak up the sounds they hear? Right, Phil, isn't it time to reveal the answer to your question?
It is indeed. The question was, at what age do babies start to make babbling noises?
确实如此。问题是，婴儿几岁开始发出咿呀学语的声音？
Georgie(乔治)
And I said it was around six months.
我说大约六个月。
Phil(菲尔)
And that is the correct answer.
这就是正确的答案。
Georgie(乔治)
Yay!
耶！
Phil(菲尔)
Babies start to do this when they're about 6 months old. OK, let's recap the vocabulary that we've learned starting with babble, the meaningless noises babies make as they're learning to speak.
The stressed syllable in a word is the sound which is emphasised by being longer, louder, or higher.
单词中的重读音节是通过更长、更响或更高的声音来强调的。
Phil(菲尔)
An error is a mistake.
错误就是错误。
Georgie(乔治)
The classic example of something is the most typical example of it, containing its most important features.
某物的经典示例是它最典型的示例，包含其最重要的特征。
Phil(菲尔)
If you take something for granted, you accept or assume it without question.
如果你认为某件事是理所当然的，你就会毫无疑问地接受或假设它。
Georgie(乔治)
And finally, the adjective ambiguous means having more than one possible meaning. Once again, our six minutes are up, but if you're ready for more you'll find the worksheet with a quiz and a transcript for this programme on our website – see you there soon!
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