Canonical Babbling: A Complex Melodic and Rhythmic Journey to Infant’s First Words

Background: Canonical babbling has a complex melody and a characteristic rhythmic pattern. It is a hallmark among different babbling phenomena in the child’s first year. In the first 6 months, in cry and non-cry infant vocalizations, melody develops and becomes more complex. When canonical babbling develops, it marks the beginning of rhythm in the infant’s vocalizations, in the form of repetitive consonant-vowel syllables. Simultaneously, melody complexity increases significantly. These syllables with their rhythm and melody diversify to merge into intonation and syllable segmentation in the infant’s early language development. Delayed or decreased canonical babbling has been linked to delayed or disordered language development.Objectives: The aim of this article is to review the musical and social role of canonical babbling as a link between development of rhythm and melody in infant’s vocalizations in the first six months, and development of prosody in the child’s language afterwards.Patients and Methods : Melody and rhythm patterns, that begin to be perceived in intrauterine life, undergo development in pre-canonical and canonical intervals. The canonical babbling has both a musical and a social role. It is a pre-speech requirement, linking melodic non-syllabic infant vocalizations in the first 6 months to rhythmic complexly melodic segmentations of language.Conclusions: The canonical babbling, with its unique melodic and rhythmic pattern, is a practice of syllables. Syllables continue to be the musical units of words on which prosody acts. That is why its frequency and time of occurrence should be considered pertinent in the developmental history of children with delayed language development.