title: Reflections on the "gesture-first" hypothesis of language origins.
abstract: The main lines of evidence taken as support for the "gesture-first" hypothesis of language origins are briefly evaluated, and the problem that speech poses for this hypothesis is discussed. I conclude that language must have evolved in the oral-aural and kinesic modalities together, with neither modality taking precedence over the other.
authors.affiliation: Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, UK. adamk@dca.net.|Division of Biological Anthropology, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK. adamk@dca.net.|, 2, Orchard Estate, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge, CB1 3JP, UK. adamk@dca.net.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kendon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005868:Gestures; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D013060:Speech
keywords: Gesture; Language origins; Primate communication; Sign language; Speech