The contribution of psycholinguistics to the study of language origins
pp. 183-193
in: Jan Wind, Brunetto Chiarelli, Bernard Bichakjian, Alberto Nocentini, Abraham Jonker (eds), Language origin, Berlin, Springer, 1992Abstract
Research into the origin of language must consider the psycholinguistic factors of present-day communication in addition to looking at prehistoric artifacts and animal communication. As the author has suggested in her previous papers in the LOS collection, the human communication system is gestural and vocal from its inception. Medical evidence documents the audio-oral capabilities of the child immediately after birth and before, during his life in the maternal womb. The gestural theory of the origin of language is unacceptable. Many mothers are conscious of the receptive and expressive capabilities of the child they are carrying. The burial rites for miscarriages may vary across cultures, but the awareness of fetal expressivity is universal.