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And now on BBC World Service, the language of lullabies,

a musical feature exploring lullabies around the world

and discovering the role they play in child development.

Oh, girl, baby, I'm a traitor.

When the wind hits me, I sing a music.

Babies, when they are born, they don't understand the intricacies of verbal language,

but they do understand the music of language.

The melody, the timing, the volume, the inflection.

Baby's are musical for a purpose.

The purpose is to get involved in human communication

to learn more elaborate ways of doing it.

Singing with babies is wonderful because it gives each of you company.

You're not teaching the baby songs.

You're sharing with the baby something.

The baby already has a appreciation of that kind of story.

Thanks for letting us come in and we're going to be singing

some songs from around the world, really.

I'm going to join in.

I'm Zoe Palmer.

...