Well, this is fascinating!
Someone, somewhere, with a lot of time on their hands (well, OK, a certain Professor Wermke, in Germany) has been doing a little research, and it seems that she has discovered that newborn babies cry in their own native tongue!  To be precise, babies on maternity units in France cry with a rising inflection, and babies on maternity units in Germany cry with a falling inflection, and this mirrors the natural rhythms of their own language.
When I read that, I thought ‘well, of course they do!’
We all know that the baby inside the womb is aware of certain things during the last trimester. We all know that they kick, and wriggle about, apparently trying to get comfortable, or get a little exercise or something. We all know that they respond to certain sounds, and some can be soothed by music, and that many people instinctively talk to their unborn babies – sometimes quite a lot. But for babies to be born with the ability to cry in the same pattern as their own native language means that they actually have to be learning something before they are born, and apparently this comes as a surprise to some people.
I love this bit: “Biologists and medical people are always talking rubbish about language because they don’t understand it.â€
Thank you, Professor John Wells! I do love it when scientists get into arguments with each other, don’t you?
But you know what, Professors? This is very old news.
According to this article, ‘by 27 weeks of gestation, the cry of a baby already contains some of the speech features, rhythms, and voice characteristics of its mother.’
And when was that written? In 1995! It doesn’t say when the research was done, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it was sometime before that date, and here we are in 2009 and there are still scientists – scientists!! – who have to go and do their own research so that they can come up with exactly the same findings!  How is it that someone who works in that field hasn’t learned this simple fact during the course of their studies?
It’s a bit like the telephone company coming to dig up the same bit of road that the electricity people dug up last week, and the water company will dug up next month, isn’t it? It’s time consuming and expensive, and the money could be better spent.
Oh well.  It’s not as if they’re politicians, is it? Research scientists can’t actually hurt anyone … can they?
Oooh, my grandbaby is due in 2 weeks! Not that I’m excited or anything!!
liz´s last blog ..Saturday Photohunt – Veterans
good point ha How is Sid //sandy
That’s fascinating. I hadn’t run across this news story.
I once worked in an office with a pregnant woman who I was friendly with and talked to a lot. After her baby was born and about two months old, I went over to visit. The first time I spoke, the baby snapped her head around to look at me. She recognized my voice from her time in the womb.
Ruth Hull Chatlien´s last blog ..Touching Base
I didn’t know about the babies being born with an accent. The way you explain it does make sense of it though. I am particularly pleased you described it the way you did, because you know, with my Aussie accent I have sometimes been told off (by people from other countries) for having an upward inflection in my sentences. I feel a bit better about it all now, since reading your posts and leaning that I was developing that speaking style even before birth.
Coastal Aussie´s last blog ..A Sunflower, from my garden
I didn’t think about it, but the way you explain it makes sense.
On the other hand, if I had children, what kind of weird accent would they cry in? I’m sure I’ll be with you-know-who for the rest of my life, which implies I’ll speak in English and Italian most of the time…
(Yes, I am trying to scare you!)
It was the photo that got me – a baby with a hat on, presumabley to retain warmth, but lying there totally starkers?! Or was he/she merely having a bad hair day?!
Oh I always think that scientists waste an awful lot of time discovering things we already knew! I suppose they do find good stuff too sometimes
Friends of mine have a little baby. The mother is Finnish and the father from N. Ireland. She decided to only ever speak to him in Finnish, the father in English, with his strong Irish accent. They live in Yorkshire and have Southern friends too!
What would the scientist make of his cry?
babs – beetle´s last blog ..Climbing back in the saddle
I love those kind of researches. They find out the funniest things! Apparently the things that get into the news are usually found out alongside very serious other things, but I just love to hear why men with small moustaches are better at hammering than men with long beards, or some such nonsense!
I’ve just got a question though: what if the baby is the result of two different nationalities, like German and French. Would the baby then just wail in neutral?
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I’m stunned sometimes at the ‘grants’ issued for silly research or stating the obvious.
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Liz – Ooooh! How exciting! You’d better check out the crying pattern as soon as s/he is born! LOL!
Sandy – Hey, Sandy! Sid is fine, thanks! We’ve had a lot of fireworks in the last few days (5th November being a big firework event here in the UK) and he hasn’t turned a hair! Good boy, Sid!
Ruth – Wow, that’s really quite amazing! I would expect a baby to recognise his mother, but to remember someone after a while just from prenatal experiences is incredible! Shows they have excellent memories, too!
Aussie – Why are people so judgemental? Everyone has an accent, and we can’t help where we come from. Why is an upward inflection less good than a downward inflection? I’d have thought it was the other way round, if anything!
Teresa – Haha! I’m not scared, my dear. You’ll have to do better than that!
Clearly, any future children that you and you-know-who have will cry bilingually.
Jinsky – I know, looks funny, doesn’t it? But I think it’s a newborn having a first exam. Looks plump for a newborn, no wrinkles, so maybe just a vulnerable soul getting a check up. I’m sure they dressed him/her pretty quickly! LOL!
Babs and Mara – Well, this is exactly Teresa’s problem isn’t it? If she and ‘you know who’ (who happens to be Son No. 1) speak both Italian and English, how will this affect their babies’ cries? I suspect their babies will pick up a little of each, probably whatever accent/inflection their mother uses, since English is not her native tongue. I’d expect babies to learn more from their mothers and be biased that way, since they’re with their mothers 24/7, but they surely must learn a little from their fathers too?
Baino – Oh, how true! If they gave me a pound for every stupid experiment duplicated by scientists worldwide, I’d be a very rich woman. Hmm. Should I suggest this as their next experiment? The idea kind of appeals, somehow. LOL!
My latest research study:
“Going Green: Why even research scientists are recycling research studies nowadays.”
I think I’ll submit for a million dollar grant. And I’ll bet I get it.
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I am rollingggggggg, Jay! Here, here! It seems the more MD’s and PhD’s there are, the stupider we’ve become! Where is good old common sense?!
)
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Our grandson is due in one month, I wonder he will cry like a Chinese (his mother), an Indian (his father) or just plan old American (from TV).
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I guess they have to just keep testing it to see if maybe it changed?! If I could get a ridiculously high paycheck through research funds and grants, I’d test stupid stuff too.
Um, yeah…it seems like COMMON sense that babies would cry in their native tongue! What would be facinating if a baby came out speaking in ANOTHER language!
meleah rebeccah´s last blog ..Getting Back Into ‘The Zone’
Maureen – Aha! That must be it. They’re recycling! Whey didn’t I think of that? ROFL!
Petra – Indeed. Where DID that plain ole common sense go? LOL!
Grace and Bradley – Oh, how exciting! Well, you’ll have to wait and see, but I’m guessing a bit of both, but with a bias towards Chinese!
Stillie – Absolutely. So would I – although maybe I’d feel bad taking the money!
Meleah Rebecca – It is common sense, isn’t it? And yes, you’re right, that would be much more interesting!
Ahahahahaha
Fascinating. I knew nothing of this study, but the results don’t really surprise me.
And just how much money was spent on this redundant study, I wonder?
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Meleah –
Ethelmaepotter – My thoughts exactly! But my son (No. 1) says that this is what science is all about; nothing is caste in stone and they have to keep testing to make sure things still work the same way! LOL!