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Precursors of Early Speech pp 143–160Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

The Linguistic Significance of Babbling

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Part of the book series: Wenner-Gren Center International Symposium Series ((WGS))

Abstract

Studdert-Kennedy (in press) recently advised developmen-talists to “refrain from regarding precursors of a behavior as instances of the behavior itself,” and I do not intend to argue here that babbling represents an early stage of language or that it constitutes some type of proto-phonological system. In fact, my intention is not to consider the linguistic status of babbling itself, but to ask whether babbling normally precipitates other behaviors which are themselves linguistic.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    John L. Locke

Authors
  1. John L. Locke
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Linguistics, University of Stockholm, S-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden

    Björn Lindblom

  2. Department of Pediatrics, St Göran’s Children’s Hospital, S-112 81, Stockholm, Sweden

    Rolf Zetterström

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© 1986 The Wenner-Gren Center

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Locke, J.L. (1986). The Linguistic Significance of Babbling. In: Lindblom, B., Zetterström, R. (eds) Precursors of Early Speech. Wenner-Gren Center International Symposium Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08023-6_11

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