@article{jbp:/content/journals/10.1075/is.9.1.09mcn, author = "McNeill, David and Duncan, Susan D. and Cole, Jonathan and Gallagher, Shaun and Bertenthal, Bennett", title = "Growth points from the very beginning", journal= "Interaction Studies", year = "2008", volume = "9", number = "1", pages = "117-132", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1075/is.9.1.09mcn", url = "https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/is.9.1.09mcn", publisher = "John Benjamins", issn = "1572-0373", type = "Journal Article", keywords = "gesture", keywords = "pantomime", keywords = "social interaction", keywords = "growth point theory", keywords = "thinking-for-speaking", abstract = "Early humans formed language units consisting of global and discrete dimensions of semiosis in dynamic opposition, or ‘growth points.’ At some point, gestures gained the power to orchestrate actions, manual and vocal, with significances other than those of the actions themselves, giving rise to cognition framed in dual terms. However, our proposal emphasizes natural selection of joint gesture-speech, not ‘gesture-first’ in language origin.", }