LINGUIST List 13.1399

Sat May 18 2002

Media: Article: Gestural Theory, New York Times

Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karenlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Stirling Newberry, Media: New York Times article on the origin of language

Today's New York Times:


http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/18/arts/18GEST.html


"What a hairy back!" was Lily Tomlin's candidate for the first human
sentence. But whatever the content of that original remark, if Michael
C. Corballis is correct, it was expressed in gestures, not words.


Mr. Corballis, a psychologist at the University of Auckland, in New
Zealand, is the latest proponent of a controversial idea known among
language experts as the "gestural theory." In essence, gestural
theorists contend that long before early humans spoke they jabbered
away with their hands."


The article is available with a free registration, which requires
giving an email address.




stirling s newberry