• Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    edit-2
    5 hours ago

    Not all of them do. I work with autistic kids, and sometimes we have to modify how we teach echoics (repeating what someone else said) because of it.

    We may have a kid that we’re trying to teach to ask for help when they need it. So say, for example, we see them unable to open their lunch box. For some kids, we’d go, “Say, ‘help’.” The kid replies, “Help,” and we help them open the box.

    But some kids will repeat exactly what we say, which means they end up going, “Say help.” So we have to change the way we make the suggestion. In this case we’d omit the “say” part, and just say “Help.” That way the kid will repeat just the important part, enabling them to communicate more functionally to get their needs met.

  • stray@pawb.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    17
    ·
    12 hours ago

    Because people learn to understand language much faster than being able to produce it, both in terms of formulation and pronunciation. For babies in particular, they struggle with the fine motor skills required to produce sounds reliably. Babies can learn to produce nonverbal communication faster than vocal language because it’s easier in terms of bodily control.

    • Jack@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      7 hours ago

      I think “mama”, “papa”, and “baba” are also some of the easiest things for human babies to say.

      • backalleycoyote@lemmy.today
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        3 hours ago

        They are. Mama/dada/papa/nana or similar sounds made with the lips or tongue against the gums are near universal terms for parents across languages because that’s just easy sounds for babies to make early on. We just roll with it and adopted their “words” as the foundation of assigning meanings to a specific sound.

  • okwhateverdude@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    49
    ·
    edit-2
    20 hours ago

    Intonation. “Say” is used as a prompt to setup the word to mimic and the word to mimic is overemphasized and repeated. We’ve got built in mirror neurons that absorb this shit like a sponge.

  • potoooooooo ✅️@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    58
    ·
    23 hours ago

    They’re monologuing internally like Dexter about what an oblivious fool they’re making you look like. They know exactly what they’re fucking doing.

    • Lemminary@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      20 hours ago

      Absolutely, and they’re very aware of shit adults think goes right over their head. I know that I did know and pretended I didn’t.

  • hzl@piefed.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    30
    ·
    edit-2
    23 hours ago

    Because “say” is less repetitive and we’re more inclined to decide that arbitrary combinations of consonants and vowels that babies babble are one of the many variations on names for parents. Babies are pretty likely to stumble across vocalizations like “mama” or “dada” just by babbling. All it really takes is flapping their lips while saying “aaaaaaa”. It doesn’t make it any less of a useful way to start learning language, given how much they tend to be positively reinforced for those vocalizations, but it’s not like they really know that’s what they’re doing at first.

    “Say” requires a lot more intention or luck.

  • Scubus@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    16 hours ago

    Simpler phonetics. Children learn languages at different rates because some languages are literally harder to learn, as a result of more or less distinct phonetics and grammar.