Assuming that an infant's first stage of verbal communication is melodic and the result of controlling the motion of the vocal cords, a question arises concerning the second stage in development. Is it the shaping of the oral cavity of the direction of the articulators? The author's observation of an infant through his first year of development indicates that the conscious shaping of the oral cavity appears to precede the communicative use of lip articulation. From the use of pitch by itself, the child introduces the element of shaping the oral cavity, and this produces a vowel. Later, the child adds a third element, articulation, and produces consonants. (VM)