<P> Babbling is a stage in child development and a state in language acquisition during which an infant appears to be experimenting with uttering articulate sounds, but does not yet produce any recognizable words . Babbling begins shortly after birth and progresses through several stages as the infant's repertoire of sounds expands and vocalizations become more speech - like . Infants typically begin to produce recognizable words when they are around 12 months of age, though babbling may continue for some time afterward . Babbling can be seen as a precursor to language development or simply as vocal experimentation . The physical structures involved in babbling are still being developed in the first year of a child's life . This continued physical development is responsible for some of the changes in abilities and variations of sound babies can produce . Abnormal developments such as certain medical conditions, developmental delays, and hearing impairments may interfere with a child's ability to babble normally . Though there is still disagreement about the uniqueness of language to humans, babbling is not unique to the human species . </P> <P> Babbling is a stage in language acquisition . Babbles are separated from language because they do not convey meaning or refer to anything specific like words do . Human infants are not necessarily excited or upset when babbling, they may also babble spontaneously and incessantly when they are emotionally calm . </P>

When do infants first hear and make speech sounds
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