Babies cry in mother tongue

ScienceNews.org

After analyzing over 1,200 baby cries, researchers report that babies bawl using the same melody as their mother's native language. In French, words and sentences usually end with an increase in pitch, while in German they end with a decreased pitch. The babies reflected this difference, their cries rising in pitch if French, decreasing if German.

This study supports the idea that babies in the womb can pick up crucial clues about language which can later help them in learning to speak.