The function and evolution of child-directed communication
Johanna Schick1,2, Caroline Fryns2,3, Franziska Wegdell1,2
1Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Humans communicate with small children in unusual and highly conspicuous ways (child-directed communication (CDC)), which enhance social bonding and facilitate language acquisition. CDC-like inputs are also reported for some vocally learning animals, suggesting similar functions in facilitating communicative competence. However, adult great apes, our closest living relatives, rarely signal to their infants, implicating communication surrounding the infant as the main input for infant great apes and early humans. Given cross-cultural variation in the amount and structure of CDC, we suggest that child-surrounding communication (CSC) provides essential compensatory input when CDC is less prevalent-a paramount topic for future studies.
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