Twin Babies Have First Conversation Together & Exchange Breaks The Cute-O-Meter

Feb 23, 2021 by apost team

One baby is cute enough — but two? Twins make everything twice as wonderful! Our hearts always give a leap of joy when we see babies, and seeing twins is even more joyful. There are two types of twins: identical and fraternal. Identical twins are the result of one fertilized egg that splits into two, while fraternal twins result when two separate eggs are fertilized. Essentially, fraternal twins are just two siblings born on the same day. There has been some speculation about twins having their own secret languages, which has resulted in various studies of how twins communicate with each other, especially as babies. Across the internet, there are many videos of twin babies seemingly talking to each other in a language that no one else but they can understand.

One such video has been making rounds on the internet and makes us question whether twins really do have a secret language. Fraternal twins Merle and Stijn were having their very first chat, brother to sister, when proud dad Roy Johannik from the Netherlands managed to get it all on camera. This throwback video from 2011 of the newborn babies talking succeeded in melting the hearts of people from around the world. As these little ones babble to each other, we can't help but wonder what they are saying to each other! Maybe these two even spoke together in the womb? They seem to understand each other perfectly. If you're a fan of babies and baby talk, then this video is sure to make your day! 

As the video begins, we see little Merle (the baby with the pink onesie) lying down in her bed while an adult holds Stijn, her brother, up so that he could look directly into her face. It may as well be that the little ones were waiting for a chance like this to talk together after coming out of the womb! Little Stijn makes some babbling sounds, which his sister picks up on right away. The little girl babbles back to her brother in her jibberish as she stares intently into his eyes. Stijn seems to understand exactly what she’s saying, as he is obviously fixated on every noise that she makes.

The two of them are completely fixated on each other! The two babies are lost in what they are talking about, paying no attention at all to mom or dad filming the event. Merle must have said something that Stijn finds funny because, at one point, she gives a huge grin that nearly covers her whole face as she stares up into his eyes! The sweet interaction has definitely become popular on the internet, and the video has a whopping 22 million views as of February 2021. This is understandable, of course: the adorable video captured our hearts right away, and we couldn't help but fall in love with how endearing the two little ones were. We fully believe that these two could understand each other! This video was originally posted in 2011, which means that the twins are now almost 10-year-old kids today.

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Though we don't have any updates about how the twins look today or how they are doing, this video should suffice for our daily dose of cuteness. Apart from these videos of the two sweet babies, the original poster and father of the twins, Roy Johannik, also has a couple of other videos of the twins as well, including a video of the twins kicking from inside the womb and the slightly grown-up twins playing together on a small baby bicycle at home. Another delightful video is of little Stijn laughing out loud as his mother plays with blocks while his sister Merle watches the whole interaction with fascination. We are sure that this video is going to make you laugh out loud as well! 

Did this video leave you wondering about whether twins have an innate secret language that they are born with? This is an interesting question that scientists have been asking as well. There are various terms that have been used to describe this so-called "secret language," such as idioglossia, autonomous language or cryptophasia. However, Very Well Family reports that twins actually developing a new language together is quite rare and occurs only in cases of extreme isolation. What seems like twins "talking" to each other is actually attempts at mimicking each other's expressions and language, most often done incorrectly. Babies babbling is their way of practicing vocalizations that will eventually lead to the brain making the right connections to develop proper language as the baby grows up. It is the process of language development more than a secret language.

This isn't to say that twins cannot develop a secret language of their own as they grow up. As Very Well Family stated, "About 40% of twins, generally monozygotic or identical twins, will develop some form of autonomous language, using nicknames, gestures, abbreviations, or terminology that they only use with each other." In this case, even if parents and other siblings can understand the meaning of what the twins are saying, the twins never use the same terms for any others. This is understandable, especially when it comes to identical twins; the connection is unique and not always comparable to sibling relationships. 

Another interesting insight into twin language development states that twins and multiples are actually linguistically delayed or quite different than single children. This may be attributed to a few reasons, one of them being parents with multiples are often exhausted and do not take as much time to be verbally involved with their kids. This leads to a slower pick-up on languages. Twins also spend all their time together and tend to mimic each other's sounds, which reinforces incorrect pronunciation. Moreover, twins learn to understand each other's gestures and grunts intuitively, which further limits their language usage. By the time twins reach school-going age, they are usually caught up with kids that age, however. 

When it comes to babies and their coos and babbles, scientists say that having a secret language is not a real possibility. But when we see sweet videos like this one, we do believe that twins understand the love they have for each other and pick up on it. Little Merle's smile says it all!

Do you believe that babies have their own language? Do you have a twin story that you'd like to tell us? We'd love to hear your thoughts! Don't forget to pass this story on to your friends. It might just make their day!