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Conceptual precursors to language

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  • Susan J. Hespos

    (Vanderbilt University)

  • Elizabeth S. Spelke

    (Harvard University)

Abstract

Because human languages vary in sound and meaning, children must learn which distinctions their language uses. For speech perception, this learning is selective: initially infants are sensitive to most acoustic distinctions used in any language1,2,3, and this sensitivity reflects basic properties of the auditory system rather than mechanisms specific to language4,5,6,7; however, infants' sensitivity to non-native sound distinctions declines over the course of the first year8. Here we ask whether a similar process governs learning of word meanings. We investigated the sensitivity of 5-month-old infants in an English-speaking environment to a conceptual distinction that is marked in Korean but not English; that is, the distinction between ‘tight’ and ‘loose’ fit of one object to another9,10. Like adult Korean speakers but unlike adult English speakers, these infants detected this distinction and divided a continuum of motion-into-contact actions into tight- and loose-fit categories. Infants' sensitivity to this distinction is linked to representations of object mechanics11 that are shared by non-human animals12,13,14. Language learning therefore seems to develop by linking linguistic forms to universal, pre-existing representations of sound and meaning.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan J. Hespos & Elizabeth S. Spelke, 2004. "Conceptual precursors to language," Nature, Nature, vol. 430(6998), pages 453-456, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:430:y:2004:i:6998:d:10.1038_nature02634
    DOI: 10.1038/nature02634
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