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Perceptual-motor constraints on sound-to-meaning correspondence in language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

Laura L. Namy  and
Lynne C. Nygaard
Laura L. Namy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322. [email protected]://www.psychology.emory.edu/cognition/namy/[email protected]://www.psychology.emory.edu/cognition/nygaard/index.html
Lynne C. Nygaard
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322. [email protected]://www.psychology.emory.edu/cognition/namy/[email protected]://www.psychology.emory.edu/cognition/nygaard/index.html
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Abstract

The proposal that language has evolved to conform to general cognitive and learning constraints inherent in the human brain calls for specification of these mechanisms. We propose that just as cognition appears to be grounded in cross-modal perceptual-motor capabilities, so too must language. Evidence for perceptual-motor grounding comes from non-arbitrary sound-to-meaning correspondences and their role in word learning.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 31 , Issue 5 , October 2008 , pp. 528 - 529
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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