prelinguistic
English
editEtymology
editFrom pre- + linguistic.
Adjective
editprelinguistic (not comparable)
- Preceding the use of true language
- 2009 January 11, William Safire, “Haircut”, in New York Times[1]:
- Look, you know, a grunted uh, I mean — which is what I use to fill up a silence to show I'm conscious while I'm groping for a word — is, like, prelinguistic language.
- 2013, Alison Wray, Aileen Bloomer, Projects in Linguistics and Language Studies, Third Edition, page 35:
- Video a prelinguistic child with its mother. Show the recording to the mother and ask her which of the baby's noises and gestures she believes are intentional communication.