Evolutional View of Preverbal Vocalizations in Human Infants

Abstract

Preverbal vocalizations in human infants drastically change during their first year. Previous studies have classified preverbal vocalizations into several stages based on the acoustical characteristic and the age. Vocal learning is the acquisition of new vocal patterns based on social and environmental experiences, and some animals are reported to exhibit vocal learning. In this paper, we view language as sequential vocal patterns and will discuss the developmental change in preverbal vocalizations in human infants from an evolutionary point of view.