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Mark: <snip> there is considerable evidence of signing and response to signing in even very recently born children. [Mark W] <snip> That interests me. Could you say a little more? I come at this not from Heidegger but from the split between Piaget and Vygpotsky. The former argues that *inner speech* is inbuilt (egocentric speech, audible 'speech for oneself', is an accompaniment to actions; having no social value, it simply fades away), the latter that it is (in effect) imported from outside (egocentric speech is transitional: social speech > egocentric speech > inner speech). Key in this is Vygotsky's explanation of how the gesture becomes a sign through collaboration. The child reaches, the reach is interpreted by the socialised adult; by which means the child learns to replace practical purpose with symbolic purpose. CW