Babies in tune with parents

London: Newborn babies cry with regional "accents" copied from their mothers, say researchers.

An astonishing study found that the cries of a five-day-old French baby have a distinct Gallic quality, while those of German babies have a Teutonic twang.

The findings could even suggest that babies are eavesdropping on their parents and picking up their accents while still in the womb.

Newborns could also be crying in regional accents within countries, the researchers believe — so infants from Newcastle would sound different from those from Birmingham. Past studies have shown that babies can recognise tunes and voices they hear in the womb. However, this is the first to suggest they also copy speech patterns.

Dr Kathleen Wermke of the University of Wurzburg, Germany, and colleagues studied the crying patterns of 60 hungry babies for the first five days after birth.