Out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings
Out of the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings
This is the second chapter on emotional ontogenesis which also addresses the acquisition of language (and, by implication, symbolic thought). The analysis focuses on species typical behaviour patterns (STBPs) which provide the basis for the development of language. It is argued that the linguistic environments into which human neonates are born and the complementary repertoires of neonatal STBPs and maternal intuitive parenting skills provide the necessary and sufficient conditions for the construction of the pragmatic foundation into which a semantic lexicon will be subsequently incorporated. The analysis demonstrates the singular importance of ‘punctuated’ suckling, joint attention and the different types of gestures used by children. The analysis also demonstrates the importance of “motherese” in the establishment of the child’s developing pragmatic framework. The child naturally imitates the interactive timing and clause boundary recognition of motherese and the rhythms, stresses and intonations associated with different speech acts. Before the child can comprehend and produce her first word she can engage in ‘conversation’ with adults.
Keywords: Punctuated suckling, Joint attention, Language development, Species-typical behaviour patterns, Motherese
MIT Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
