Twins are regularly reported to invent languages of their own, unintelligible to others. These languages are known as autonomous languages, cryptophasia or idioglossia. Despite current belief, this is not a rare phenomenon. Autonomous languages exist in about 40% of all twins, but often disappear soon.
The theory behind this "twin language" goes a little something like this: twins are so close to each other and rely on each other so much that they don't have as much of a need to communicate with the outside world, so they make up their own idiosyncratic language that develops only between the two of them.
Cryptophasia is a phenomenon of a language developed by twins (identical or fraternal) that only the two children can understand. The word has its roots from the Greek crypto-, meaning secret, and -phasia, meaning speech.
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. While parents and siblings can often discern the meaning, the twins generally don't use the terms with others.
On the whole, language development among twins has been found to be about 1.7 months behind single babies at 20-months-old and 3.1 months behind at 3 years of age. There's even a name for this phenomenon: The “twinning effect.”
Autonomous languages exist in about 40% of all twins, but often disappear soon. In this study, nine autonomous languages are compared: the circumstances in which they emerge, how these languages relate to the parents' language (the model language) and how they are structured.
It is likely that twins' awareness of one another starts sooner than seven or eight months of age. An article by the late doctor, T. Berry Brazelton, observed that at age three to four months, an infant identical female twin seemed disoriented when her sister was removed from the room.
Similar to the mind-reading myth, there are things that can't be explained. There are twins who say they have felt each other's pain. And their close relationship and nearly-identical physical structure means there could be a sliver of truth in the theory — as pain can be psychological and can be felt empathetically.
There is no evidence of twin telepathy. There are many myths about twins—hence, the title of my new book, Twin Mythconceptions: False Beliefs, Fables, And Facts About Twins (2017, Elsevier).
Twin Language Development
There is tons of variation in language scores among twins, but overall, research shows that twins do tend to fall behind in language a bit more than single-born children do. Male twins in particular are vulnerable, often falling about 6 months behind even female twins (Lewis & Thompson, 1992).
It was concluded, among many other things, that identical twins are about 85 percent similar for IQ, whereas fraternal twins are about 60 percent similar. This would seem to indicate that half of the variation in intelligence is due to genes.
While June and Jennifer had the ability to speak, and in fact did speak to Wallace and a few others, they made a pact not to communicate with most people, including their family, at age 3. The longer they went without speaking, the more they felt they had to stay silent.
It is true that identical twins share their DNA code with each other. This is because identical twins were formed from the exact same sperm and egg from their father and mother. (In contrast, fraternal twins are formed from two different sperm and two different eggs.)
When a twin dies, the twinless twin longs to reconnect. The twinless twin may have phantom pain or feel half dead. He or she may feel a need to represent both him or herself and the deceased twin or may even take on behaviors of the deceased twin.
Using the family-based adult sample, no differences in IQ scores were found between twins and their singleton siblings.
Identical twins share a particularly intense bond. They are the result of one fertilized egg splitting into two, giving them identical DNA. (Fraternal twins are the result of two separate, genetically different fertilized eggs.) As a result, identical twins are as close as two people can be.
Being a twin has its benefits—tricking people, having a lifelong companion, sharing clothes—but it also has downsides. Many twins struggle to cultivate their own identities, while being so similar to one another. And that struggle lasts a lifetime, according to a recent study.
"Twins tend to be closer than typical siblings — they share a bond that is oftentimes unexplainable," Maureen Healy, an expert on sensitive children and author of Growing Happy Kids, tells Romper. "Many believe this is rooted in genetics, such as identical twins sharing the same DNA."
Just like singleton babies, twins can sometimes get super-active in the womb. But not to worry — there's no real threat from it! Babies can kick or even hit each other (yes, really) in utero, but the good news is the amniotic fluid acts as a cushion to protect them from actually getting hurt by any of it.
(Identical twins come from a single fertilized egg that splits in half, while fraternal twins occur when two different eggs are fertilized simultaneously). So, how many months apart are Irish twins? It's technically possible for two siblings to be as close as 9 or 10 months apart.
According to Guinness World Records, the longest confirmed interval between the birth of twins is 90 days. Fraternal twins Molly and Benjamin West were born on Jan. 1 and March 30, 1996, in Baltimore.
For women born 1870-1899, moms of twins averaged reproductive spans of 14 years 11 months versus 14 years for singleton moms. Both results were statistically significant. Moms of twins also were older at the time of their last birth.
It's a common misconception that twins skip a generation in families. There is absolutely no evidence, other than circumstantial, that twins are more likely to occur every other generation.
A:Twins are not slow learners. It has been observed that they become a self-sufficient pair, communicating between themselves very effectively, through gesture and speech.