In most of the Bay movies, Bumblebee speaks by playing snippets of radio and television broadcasts that use the words he wants to say.
The Junkions from the original Transformers movie, tv show and comics speak in a similar manner. While they don't play snippets, they repeat words and phrases from television.
Has Micheal Bay ever stated that this was indeed an homage to the Junkions? Or is it something he thinks he came up with on his own?
The original idea for the movie is that none of the transformers speak. However, that idea wasn't fully followed through, yet it wasn't scrapped. Instead, Bumblebee gets to be the 'lucky' bot that doesn't speak. It was inspired by E.T. that the friendship between Sam and Bumblebee shouldn't need words.
However, to answer your question, it was unclear if they thought of it during the production. However, the Junkions were mentioned afterwards.
Throughout the film, Bumblebee communicates using his radio, in a manner reminiscent of the Junkions, denizens of the planet Junk, featured in The Transformers: The Movie (1986), who spoke entirely in the form of television broadcasts.
