Long before their first words, children communicate by using speech-like vocalizations. These protophones might be indicative of infants’ later language development. We here examined infants’ (n = 56) early vocalizations at 6 months (vocal reactivity scale of the IBQ-R) as a predictor of their expressive and receptive language at 12 months (German version of the CDI). Regression analyses revealed vocalizations to significantly predict expressive, but not receptive language. Our findings in German-learning 6-month-olds extend previous predictive evidence of early vocalizations reported for older infants. Together these findings are informative in light of early assessments monitoring typical and atypical language development.

早在他们说出第一句话之前，孩子们就通过使用类似语音的发声进行交流。这些原始音素可能预示着婴儿后来的语言发展。我们在这里检查了婴儿（n = 56）在 6 个月时的早期发声（IBQ-R 的声音反应量表）作为他们在 12 个月时表达和接受语言的预测指标（CDI 的德语版）。回归分析显示发声可以显着预测表达性语言，但不能预测接受性语言。我们在学习德语的 6 个月大婴儿中的发现扩展了先前报道的大婴儿早期发声的预测证据。结合监测典型和非典型语言发展的早期评估，这些发现提供了信息。