"Chatter," babble," "jabber," etc.

A reader asks: "The verbs gibber, chatter, babble, gabble, and jabber seem to mean the same thing and I don't know which to use  and where to use them. Could you help?"

Kory Stamper, an editor of the Learner's Dictionary,has looked into this question:

The verbs gibber, chatter, babble, gabble, and jabber all are used to refer to speaking very quickly, to saying words that do not communicate a meaning, or to saying nonsense words. They are useful verbs, but they each have their own connotation.

Chatter is the most common of all the verbs listed. It usually refers to speaking quickly, brightly, and in a way that does not communicate a meaning or a purpose to what you are saying ("She chattered away while her friend's mind wandered.").  It can be used of animals that make sounds that sound like or are compared to speech ("The birds chattered in the tree.") Chatter is also used to describe a quickly repeated clicking or clacking sound, such as the sound made then you are cold and your teeth click together ("Her teeth chattered.").

Babble is the next most common of the verbs listed. It is used of quick and meaningless talk ("He babbled on about whatever came into his head."), and of sounds in nature that sound like constant talking or murmuring ("the babbling brook").  But it has two additional meanings that the other words in this group do not have. Babble is also commonly used of the sound that babies and very young children make before they can speak well ("The baby babbled while playing in her crib.").  It also sometimes refers to telling a secret or other private information because you are talking so much that you don't even realize what you are saying ("She babbled the whole surprise party plan to me without a thought.")

Jabber, gibber, and gabble are not used as frequently as "chatter" and babble. Jabber usually refers to speaking nonsense words or words that cannot be understood rather than referring to fast speech ("They jabbered away in a language I did not understand.").  Both gibber and gabble refer to speaking quickly or saying something that has no meaning, but gibber is a more formal word than the others and gabble is very old-fashioned.