Parents look forward to baby's first words, that "pa", "ma", "ga", "da" or "aj" that is repeated syllable with more or less ease and that we interpret as calls to the daddies or request for water, according to some of our interpretations.
But it is not necessary to reach those first words to see that the baby communicates with us. In fact, their smiles and their cries are powerful communicators of multiple meanings (and how we would like to decipher especially the cries of the baby ...).
Finger pointing is the baby's first communicative gesture, the earliest way to interact because when the child learns to point out, it means that he can ask, that he interacts with the environment.
It is something that was already known but has been confirmed by a team of researchers studying the process of acquisition and development of language in babies. Analyzing the temporal coordination of gestures and speaking, scientists have concluded that pointing the finger is the first symptom of communication, a milestone that occurs very early.
The study, which has been prepared by researchers from the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona, has been published in the magazine "Speech Communication" with the title of "Infants temporally coordinate gesture-speech combinations before they produce their first words" ('Babies temporarily coordinate gesture-speech combinations before they produce their first words').
Four babies were recorded while playing with their parents in their homes, from 11 months of age to 19 months to investigate when children begin to combine gesture and speech as adults do.
It is possible to affirm that, regardless of language, Babies learn to point before speaking and that with this gesture they want to tell us many things. It is a stage that will soon be filled with words and will gradually evolve into a unique linguistic complexity.
And although we may not yet know why our child cries, yes that We begin to understand what he wants us to look at or give him when they point the finger. What does the baby need to be at ease, to play, if he is hungry or thirsty ...
