baby talk

Noun

baby talk (uncountable)

1. The form of speech used by adults in talking to very young children.
   • Meronym: babble word
   • [...] while not a super-goof like some of the female goofs I'd met, she was quite goofy enough to be going on with. Her whole aspect was that of a girl who at the drop of a hat would start talking baby talk.1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter III, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   babyese, caregiver register, child-directed speech, hypocorism, motherese, parentese, babyspeak

2. The prelanguage, and subsequent developing language, used by small children, incorporating crying, cooing, and babbling in sequence before the acquisition of adult language capabilities.
   • Meronyms: babble word, goo goo ga ga