Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T15:45:26.080Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Continuities in vocal communication argue against a gestural origin of language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2005

Robert M. Seyfarth
Robert M. Seyfarth*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104http://www.psych.upenn.edu/~seyfarth/Baboon%20research/index.htm
*
seyfarth@psych.upenn.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

To conclude that language evolved from vocalizations, through gestures, then back to vocalizations again, one must first reject the simpler hypothesis that language evolved from prelinguistic vocalizations. There is no reason to do so. Many studies – not cited by Arbib – document continuities in behavior, perception, cognition, and neurophysiology between human speech and primate vocal communication.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , April 2005 , pp. 144 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)