In communities where people live in close quarters, the mutual gazes and rhythmic, playful looks engage others as well as mothers (think of how readily a human infant engages in a game like peek-a-boo [papus-taat?] )
Psychologists refer to the high-pitched patter that adults use when addressing babies as motherese.
However, in contexts where females other than the mother also interact with babies, alloparents as well lapse into high-pitched, melodic tones on the order of
“Oooh, are you all right?”
Skeptical?
Try talking to a baby,
ANY BABY,
for a length of time and see
what happens to your
voice
from Mothers and others by Sarah Blaffer Hrdy
;)
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