The Gestural Origin of Language

ISBN-13: 9780195163483 Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication date: 04/19/2007 Series: Perspectives on Deafness Edition description: New Edition Pages: 168 Product dimensions: 9.30(w) x 6.20(h) x 0.80(d) In The Gestural Origin of Language, Sherman Wilcox and David Armstrong use evidence from and about sign languages to explore the origins of language as we know it today. According to their model, it is sign, not spoken languages, that is the original mode of human communication. The authors demonstrate that modern language is derived from practical actions and gestures that were increasingly recognized as having the potential to represent, and hence to communicate. In other words, the fundamental ability that allows us to use language is our ability to use pictures or icons, rather than linguistic symbols. Evidence from the human fossil record supports the authors' claim by showing that we were anatomically able to produce gestures and signs before we were able to speak fluent