Parentese and another ‘ese’

The suffix “ish” and “ese” are used to refer to languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese) as well as jargon or language specific to a group—for example, legalese used by lawyers, medicalese by health professionals, and now… parentese.

Parentese has been in the news lately because of studies coming out of the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, with lead author Naja Ferjan Ramirez showing that talking to very young children requires a special “language,” or at least modifications on an existing language.

Many of you may have been warned against using “baby language,” which in the Philippine context is sparked by “kilig,” a mélange of feelings set off, in the case of babies, by their cuteness, making you say things like “goochi goochi baby.”

Baby talk, developmental psychologists have pointed out, may actually retard a child’s linguistic progress. But many people still use it partly because of that “kilig,” and partly because we think babies won’t understand us anyway if we use adult language.

It turns out there’s an alternative between adult language and baby language, and this is parentese, which exists almost universally, according to Ramirez and her team. (Which reminds me, one charming theory on the origins of human language, which we will probably never be able to prove or disprove, is that language emerged because of the need of mothers to communicate with their babies.)

Back to parentese: You can have Tagalog parentese, English parentese, Chinese parentese, even Taglish parentese. Parentese is the way you adapt an existing language for talking with babies. Its characteristics are: slowing down the speed of talking, vowel hyperarticulation (extending the vowels, e.g., “he-lowwww,” “how aar yoooo”), raising the pitch (but without becoming shrill), and using simple words (note, words, and not sounds like “goo-goo”).

The studies from the University of Washington point out that the simplified speech helps babies build their vocabulary. But just as important, parentese’s characteristics are a social hook for the baby’s brain, engaging the child and inviting him or her to respond.

Researchers found that it helped to coach parents with “parentese.” More than the high pitch and slow speech, parentese must engage both parent and child, be incorporated into daily routines, and allow the child to respond and to form words, much like the way adults converse. This engagement is especially crucial with babies between 14 and 18 months, when language production is taking off.

I hope we do similar languages for the Philippines.

Now to another “ese,” which, in contrast to parentese, I want to discourage.

Early Wednesday morning, I was getting texts asking me to read the Inquirer because it featured the appointment of University of the Philippines Diliman’s new chancellor Fidel Nemenzo. I got a copy and there, on the front page, was a photo of Fidel and myself.

Nice.

The front page also had a large photo showing Hong Kong protesters calling on their government to close borders to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. There were two protest placards with English and Chinese, and almost immediately, one placard jumped out of the page to assault me.

Beneath the call to close borders were five Chinese characters that meant, “F— your mother,” followed by “DLLM” in Roman characters.

I wanted to be sure I read right, so I did some research on the internet and confirmed the characters’ meaning, including “DLLM,” which is derived from the Cantonese way of saying that profanity. It’s like using “LOL” to mean “laugh out loud.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted to LOL.

Granted, many languages use equivalents of the f-word, but often as an exclamation or to insult someone, as in being a

“m—–f—er.” In Cantonese and in Minnan (Hokkien) used by local ethnic Chinese, the f-word is used to say “I f— your mother,” which makes it so much more offensive.

It seems, too, that in political rallies, Hong Kong protesters have taken profanities to new heights (or depths), incorporating the cursing into their placards, making even President Duterte look like an angel.

It’s something we should never adopt, especially this “DLLM” and similar phrases that are so very antimothers and antiwomen.

Learn Cantonese if you have to work in Hong Kong or in Canton, but be careful with the profanities.

One last tip: Be careful as well if you want Chinese characters as tattoos. Make sure you know the meaning of words that you’re inscribing on your body, because that’s going to be there for life.

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mtan@inquirer.com.ph