Department of Social and Human Sciences,University of Valle d'Aosta,11010 Aosta,
Behav Brain Sci. 2014 Dec;37(6):560-1; discussion 577-604. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X13004081.
Building a theory on extant species, as Ackermann et al. do, is a useful contribution to the field of language evolution. Here, I add another living model that might be of interest: human language ontogeny in the first year of life. A better knowledge of this phase might help in understanding two more topics among the "several building blocks of a comprehensive theory of the evolution of spoken language" indicated in their conclusion by Ackermann et al., that is, the foundation of the co-evolution of linguistic motor skills with the auditory skills underlying speech perception, and the possible phylogenetic interactions of protospeech production with referential capabilities.
在现存物种的基础上建立理论，正如 Ackermann 等人所做的那样，是对语言进化领域的一项有益贡献。在这里，我添加另一个可能感兴趣的活体模型：人类生命第一年的语言发生。更好地了解这一阶段可能有助于理解 Ackermann 等人在结论中指出的“口语进化综合理论的几个组成部分”中的另外两个主题，即语言运动技能与言语感知所基于的听觉技能的共同进化的基础，以及原始言语产生与参照能力的可能系统发育相互作用。
