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Protomusic and protolanguage as alternatives to protosign

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2005

W. Tecumseh Fitch*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, University of St. Andrews, FifeKY16 9JP, Scotland

Abstract:

Explaining the transition from a signed to a spoken protolanguage is a major problem for all gestural theories. I suggest that Arbib's improved “beyond the mirror” hypothesis still leaves this core problem unsolved, and that Darwin's model of musical protolanguage provides a more compelling solution. Second, although I support Arbib's analytic theory of language origin, his claim that this transition is purely cultural seems unlikely, given its early, robust development in children.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

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