[…] “baby-talk” […] has […] become a label for another theory concerning pidgin origins […] the theory which goes by the name of baby-talk conflates two processes, one which is initiated primarily by the upper or dominant group of speakers, who simplify their language, and another which is initiated by the lower or subordinate group who simplify the language they hear while trying to acquire it. In the first case the lower group merely imitate what they hear from the upper group. In the second case the active role is played by the lower group, and the upper group simply reinforce their errors.
- Romaine (1988), a pag.74