Routes to Child Language: Evolutionary and Developmental Precursors

This book provides a detailed comparison of nonhuman primates and human infants with regard to key abilities that provide the foundation for language. It makes the case for phylogenetic continuity across species and ontogenetic continuity from infancy to childhood. Examined here are behaviors fundamental to language acquisition, such as vocalizations, mapping of meaning onto sound, use of gestures to communicate and to symbolize, tool use, object concept, and memory. The author provides evi...