Abstract
This longitudinal study examined the development of nonreferential gestures in relation to two Deaf infants' first use of Japanese Sign Language. Hand activities were observed for two Deaf infants with their Deaf parents. Nonreferential gestures were seen often just before the onset of sign usage, in the form of numerous rhyihmic and repetitious movements. With age, the infants' nonreferential gestures became more complex and increased infrequency. There was also a continuity between the movements involved in nonreferential gestures and in first signs. These observations indicate that nonreferential gestures are the manual analogies of vocal babbling.
