Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T12:34:11.447Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Echo phonology: Signs of a link between gesture and speech

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 1998

Bencie Woll  and
Jechil S. Sieratzki
Bencie Woll
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Communication Studies, City University, London, EC1V OHB, [email protected]
Jechil S. Sieratzki
Affiliation:
Department of Human Communication Science, University College London, London WC1, Englandbguestecon.tau.ac.il
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This commentary supports MacNeilage's dismissal of an evolutionary development from sign language to spoken language but presents evidence of a feature in sign language (echo phonology) that links iconic signs to abstract vocal syllables. These data provide an insight into possible mechanism by which iconic manual gestures accompanied by vocalisation could have provided a route for the evolution of spoken language with its characteristically arbitrary form–meaning relationship.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , August 1998 , pp. 531 - 532
Copyright
© 1998 Cambridge University Press

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.)