David McNeill
2008
Growth points from the very beginningPDF
Interaction Studies 9(1):117-132, 2008
Early humans formed language units consisting of global and discrete dimensions of semiosis in dynamic opposition, or growth points. At some point, gestures gained the power to orchestrate actions, manual and vocal, with significances other than those of the actions themselves, ...MORE ⇓
Early humans formed language units consisting of global and discrete dimensions of semiosis in dynamic opposition, or growth points. At some point, gestures gained the power to orchestrate actions, manual and vocal, with significances other than those of the actions themselves, giving rise to cognition framed in dual terms. However, our proposal emphasizes natural selection of joint gesture-speech, not gesture-first in language origin.