Nouns form the first building blocks of children's language but are not consistently modified by other words until around 2.5 years of age. Before then, children often combine their nouns with gestures that indicate the object labeled by the noun, for example, pointing at a bottle while saying "bottle." These gestures are typically…

Handshape works differently in nouns versus a class of verbs in American Sign Language (ASL) and thus can serve as a cue to distinguish between these two word classes. Handshapes representing characteristics of the object itself ("object" handshapes) and handshapes representing how the object is handled ("handling" handshapes)…

Whether a deaf child not exposed to conventional language would incorporate a distinction between nouns and verbs into his self-styled communication system (through gestures) was studied. The distinction between verbs and nouns appeared in the child's communication system, suggesting that it is fundamental to human language. (SLD)