J. Child Lang. z8 (zoo+), go6.

Printed in the United Kingdom

# zoo+ Cambridge University Press
NOTE
Parental reports of MAMA sounds in infants: an
exploratory study*
HERBERT I. GOLDMAN
Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein Medical School,
Bronx, New York
(Received +8 March +ggg. Revised zo March zooo)
\vs1n\1
This study investigated the use of mama or similar sounds (collectively
referred to as MAMA) by infants less than six months of age.
Parents were directed to listen for MAMA sounds and to note the
sounds made, the age of onset, whether the sounds appeared to be
directed to any person or persons and whether they appeared to have a
purpose. MAMA began at a mode of two months, range two weeks to
ve months, was usually part of a cry, and was always interpreted as a
wanting sound. Most parents thought that the infant wanted some
formof attention, but a minority thought it indicated hunger. Responses
to a Structured Response Protocol indicated that some infants uttering
MAMA were satised if a favourite caretaker approached and paid
attention to them while the remainder were satised if they were both
paid attention to and picked up. The MAMA cry appears to promote
attention-giving behaviour by parents and other caretakers.
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The marked similarity of infant words for mother in languages has
been reported (Murdock, +gg.) Based on Murdocks ndings, the well-
known linguist Jakobson, who, as Ingram (+gg+) has noted, was unaware of
the earlier work of Gheorghov (+g++), attempted to explain the similarity of
infant words for mother as follows. Often the sucking activities of a child are
accompanied by a slight nasal murmur, the only phonation that can be
[*] I thank Lois Bloom for encouragement and for critiquing several versions of the
manuscript. I thank Joan Goldman for many helpful suggestions. I thank the parents for
their co-operation with the study. Sharon Katzenstein and Suzanne Riccobono assisted
with the collection of the data. Address for correspondence: Herbert I Goldman, +zo
Union Turnpike, New Hyde Park, New York ++oo, USA. e-mail : higoldman!aol.com;
tel : +6 jz8 z8zz; fax: +6 jz8 z8j.
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produced when the lips are pressed to the mothers breast or the feeding
bottle and the mouth is full. Later this phonatory response to nursing is
reproduced [the nasal murmur plus a labial release producing the sound
mama] at the mere sight of food and nally as an expression of
discontent and impatient longing for missing food or absent nurser and any
ungranted wish (Jakobson, +g6o:+jo).
Jakobsons statement suggests an onset of mama in the rst few months
of life. Jakobson presented no data of his own, but, to support his statement,
he referred to three papers in which are presented careful observations on the
early language development, starting at birth, of ve children. However in
none of these papers is any special attention paid to mama, and only one
noted mama in the rst few months of life. Smoczynski (+gj) reported
hearing mama at one month of age upon the infant arising in the morning,
which he interpreted as the infant demanding food. In the other two studies,
mama was rst heard at eight and nine months of age (Gregoire, +gj;
Leopold, +gjg.)
No study has ever reported the use of mama by a cohort of infants to
determine the age at which mama is rst heard and the circumstances
surrounding the appearance of this sound. The present study attempts to do
this.
i1ioi
Participants
An unselected sample of infants in the authors solo private pediatric
practice was enrolled. There were jg boys and j6 girls. English was the only
language spoken in the homes of z infants. In the remaining homes the
following languages were spoken in addition to varying amounts of English:
Spanish (8), Hindi (z), Italian (z), Russian (z), Hebrew (j), Ibo (+), Chinese.
(j), Spanish and Greek (+), and Spanish and Italian (+).
Procedure
The study design was inuenced by the results of pilot questionnaire and
interview studies which revealed that some parents hear their infant uttering
mama or a similar sound (collectively referred to as MAMA) as early as
one month of age, while most parents did not. However, some of the parents
who did not hear a MAMA sound prior to being asked, subsequently
reported that such a sound v\s present which they had been oblivious to. As
a result of these preliminary ndings, in the present study parents were
instructed to listen for MAMA sounds and to do this starting when the
baby was a few days old.
At the rst oce visit of newly born infants, at j+8 days of age, parents
(both parents were usually present at the rst oce visit) were told that the
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20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0;0 0;1 0;2 0;3 0;4 0;5
Age of onset of MAMA
Age
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

i
n
f
a
n
t
s
Fig. +. Age at which MAMA was rst heard.
author was attempting to study the MAMA sounds made by young infants
and their participation in this study was requested. All parents who were
asked agreed to participate. Parents were requested to listen for MAMA,
and, upon hearing such a sound, to note the age of the infant, the
circumstances (time of day, location of infant, location of parent, etc.),
whether the baby seemed to want something and if so what, and to whom, if
anyone, the sound appeared to be directed.
At each subsequent well-baby visit, at approximately monthly intervals,
until the age of six months, during the portion of the visit devoted to
assessing development, parents were asked if their infant had made a MAMA
sound since the previous well-baby visit. If so, they were questioned about
the age of the infant when this occurred, the circumstances etc., and their
replies were recorded. Parents were given sucient time to recall and recount
their observations. Emphasis was placed on MAMAs that occurred within a
few days of the visit. Babbled MAMAs, i.e. repetitive sounds reported as
being made without any emotion or apparent purpose other than making
sounds, were excluded by the author from the tabulated results.
Structured responses
Structured responses were carried out to help determine what it was the
MAMAuttering infant wanted, since there were some dierences in parental
interpretation of what the infant wanted in the rst z infants enrolled.
Consequently, in the group of the nal zj infants, parents of the +g who
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uttered wanting MAMAs ( infants did not) were asked to administer a
Structured Response Protocol at the time a wanting MAMA occurred.
Printed instructions delineating the procedure and forms on which to record
the results were provided. In response to a wanting MAMA, parents were
instructed to act as follows.
+. Talk to the baby from wherever you are. If the baby is satised, i.e.
does not continue to cry, fuss or whine, the Structured Response is
completed. If not proceed to z.
z. Go near the baby. Do not look at or speak to the baby. If the baby is
not satised, proceed to j.
j. Look at and talk to the baby. If not satised, proceed to .
. Pick the baby up and pay attention to him or her. If not satised,
proceed to .
. Do whatever else you think might satisfy your baby.
nisii1s
MAMA sounds
MAMA was heard by parents of out of the infants enrolled in the
study. Figure + shows the age of onset, from two weeks to ve months with
a mode of two months. Table + presents parents descriptions of the sounds
1\vii +. Wanting MAMA : sounds and their frequency
Sounds made No. of infants
mama zj
ma +
mommy
ahmah j
mummum z
mmm z
mamamama z
mum +
nana +
meh +
ehmah +
mamama +
they heard; mama and ma were the most frequent, accounting for j of
the descriptions. At the time it was rst heard, j8 parents described the
MAMA sound as part of a cry; z parents described it as a pre-crying sound;
++ a whining sound; a call.
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MAMA often occurred intermittently, rather than continuously, with
periods of weeks or months when it was not heard. During the latter part of
the six-month time period, the MAMA sound became more distinct and
more easily recognizable. It was described more often as a whine or call, less
often as a cry. It was more frequently directed only to the mother. Some
infants began to extend their arms forwards toward the caretaker in
association with MAMA, thereby asking to be picked up.
Twenty infants were not noted to make a MAMA sound during the rst
six months. At the end of this time period, parents of these infants were
questioned about their infants attention-seeking behaviour. Eighteen of
these zo infants had attention-seeking cries, whines or calls, containing an
eheh sound, 6 an ahah sound (both of these are possibly MAMA with no
lip closure), z dada, + lala, + heyhey and + ba.
To whom MAMA was addressed or whom the baby was seeking
In some cases to whom MAMA was addressed or whom the baby was
seeking could not be determined. However, it was sometimes possible to
come to a reasonable conclusion about this. For example, if the infant was
held by the father, and the MAMA cry, whine or call would stop if the
infant was given to the mother standing nearby, it was concluded that
MAMA had been addressed to the mother; or if the infant crying
MAMA was alone in the crib in his or her room, and would be satised if
picked up from the crib by the mother, father or grandmother, but not
satised if picked up by the grandfather, it was concluded that the baby had
been seeking the parents or the grandmother. Using these methods,
MAMA appeared to be directed to parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts
and even the family dog (Table z).
1\vii z. To whom MAMA was addressed or whom baby was seeking
To whom addressed or
whom baby was seeking No. of infants
Mother and father +
Mother only +j
Mother, father and two grandparents j
Mother and grandmother j
Mother, father and sibling z
Mother, father and grandmother z
Mother, grandfather and aunt +
Mother and aunt +
Mother and grandfather +
Mother, father and the dog +
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1\vii j. What parents thought infants wanted when vocalizing MAMA
What parents thought
infants wanted No. of infants
To be picked up jz
Food g
Attention
Parent to return to room
To be cuddled
Change of caretaker j
To be taken out of the crib z
Change of position z
To be entertained z
To be taken out of infant seat z
Sleep +
To be walked +
To rewind the mobile +
To be taken out of the bath +
Total z*
* Some parents gave more than one interpretation.
1\vii . Results of 6 structured responses to MAMA (+glno. of
infants)
Structured response
Number of times
it was successful
(i.e. baby was satised)
+. Talking to baby from a distance o
z. Coming near to & ignoring baby o
j. Coming near to & talking to baby +
. Picking baby up & being attentive jo
Total *
* One infant was not satised by any part of the structured response.
Interpretation of MAMA
MAMA was always (\) interpreted as a wanting sound. Table j
shows the caretakers interpretations of what the baby wanted. The most
frequent interpretation, by far, was wanting to be picked up. Other types
of attention such as, to be cuddled, parent to return to room, change of
caretaker, attention, to be entertained etc., were alternative interpretations.
Some parents (g) initially thought that MAMA indicated hunger. At later
visits, ve indicated that, based upon further observation, they had changed
their minds and that MAMA was not and had not been a request for food.
The other four continued to believe that MAMA was a request for food,
but, when questioned, all four indicated that the infant would stop the
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MAMA cry on being picked up inon to being fed, making the hunger
interpretation questionable. One of these mothers thought that her infant
stopped crying in this circumstance because he saw the bottle of milk in her
hands. It was suggested that she pick her baby up without a bottle in her
hands. To her surprise the MAMA cry stopped and the baby seemed
satised. This mother experimented further and found that she could stop
the MAMA cry without picking her baby up if she put her face in front of
the babys face and talked to him.
Structured response
In order to provide additional information on what the infant who was
uttering MAMA wanted, the administration of one or more Structured
Response Protocols was carried out on the last +g infants enrolled who
uttered a MAMA sound (a total of 6 Structured Responses, a range of +
per infant). Table presents the results. In instances the infants were
satised if they were spoken to up close or were picked up by an attentive
mother, suggesting that it is this that the infant wanted. In the 6th instance,
the infant was not satised by any part of the Structured Response or by
being fed, given a pacier, changed, walked or anything else the mother tried
and only stopped crying after + minutes. This mother thought that the
Structured Response had upset her baby and made him angry.
One mother, on her own initiative, in response to a MAMA cry, picked
her baby up but ignored himand found that he was not satised. Subsequent
to this, the nal four mothers carrying out Structured Responses were
requested to rst ignore the baby after picking him up, before paying any
attention to him. In each case the infant was not satised when he was picked
up and ignored, suggesting that it is primarily the attention of a favourite
caretaker that the infant wants, though some infants prefer that this attention
be given while they are held.
isisso
The results of the present study must be considered preliminary as they are
based on interviews with parents of their observations. These observations
were carried out in a prospective manner according to directions provided by
the study. To conrm and amplify these ndings, it will be desirable to
record and analyse these sounds while, at the same time, observing the
infants facial and body movements as well as the parental reaction.
Keller &Scholmerich (+g8) studied the vocalizations of infants during the
age period two to eighteen weeks. Crying and whining were both considered
to be negative vocalizations, as were sighing, fussing and sounds of dis-
comfort. (Most parents in the present study described MAMA as a cry or
whine.) In the Keller & Scholmerich study, infant negative vocalizations led
to: +. Changes in parental tactile behaviour (either beginning to touch the
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baby or withdrawing a touch or touching a dierent part of the baby); z.
Changes in parent vestibular behaviour (initiation or cessation of parent
movement, change in tempo of movement, or a dierent kind of movement);
j. Parental vocalization. In the present study MAMA was most often
interpreted as a request for the parent to go to (vestibular behaviour) and pick
the baby up (tactile behaviour). No data were collected on how many parents
spoke to their infant at this time.
Many types of infant cries have been described, including hunger (Brennan
& Kirkland, +go, +g8z, +g8; Gladding, +g8; Seitamo & Wasz-Hockert,
+g8+; Freeburg & Lippman, +g86; Fuller & Horii, +g86, +g88; Ginsberg &
Kilbourne, +g88), birth and pleasure (Brennan & Kirkland, +go, +g8z,
+g8), pain (same as hunger, plus Grunau & Craig, +g8; Zeskind, +g8;
Zeskind &Marshall, +g88), fussy ( Fuller &Horii, +g86, +g88), and tired and
angry (Freeburg & Lippman, +g86).
Malatesta (+g8+) has analysed the cry literature (prior to +g8+) to
determine the reliability of the discrimination between dierent types of cries
by both mechanical and human analysis and concluded that, except for the
very young infant, during the rst days of life, dierent types of cries
representing dierent aective and motivational states can be somewhat
reliably discriminated by acoustic properties and also by human listeners.
Malatesta has further concluded that the early patterns of infant vocal
emotional expression are probably biogenetically determined and that there
may be certain universal vocal signals. Our results suggest that MAMA
may be one such signal.
The vocalizations of the very young infant have been described as
vegetative and reexive, but, by the second month, coos and goos appear
(Menn & Stoel-Gammon, +gg8). These are happy sounds, often ac-
companied by eye contact and smiles (Lenenberg, Rebelsky & Nicholas,
+g6) and therefore appear to be social in nature. MAMA, appearing at a
similar age is similarly social, calling for the attention of a favourite caretaker.
The study of DOdorico (+g8) is of considerable interest with regard to
the present investigation. Four infants were followed from o; o; 8.
Recordings were made of infant sounds while the experimenter or mother
played with the infant with and without a toy, and while the infant was alone
with a toy. Three types of sound categories were described discomfort,
request and call. The call sound occurred when the infant was alone and had
lost interest in the toy and, the experimenter concluded, was looking for and
calling his or her mother. Spectrographic analysis revealed that this pattern
of sounds was, for each infant, specic to the situation. In many respects,
therefore, this call cry is similar to the MAMA cry. Future study should
help clarify whether they are identical.
The articulation of MAMA changes as the infant ages, becoming clearer
and more easily recognizable as the infant reaches o; 6 or older. Major
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changes in the anatomy of the vocal tract take place during this time frame
(Kent & Miolo, +gg8) and are likely part of the reason for the change in the
sound.
If conrmed, our results would indicate that, at the early age of o;z, a
pattern of behaviour develops, often, but not always, accompanied by a
MAMA sound, which promotes attention giving behaviour on the part of
the parent or caretaker; attention that is important for the infants de-
velopment.
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