Literally "before verbal" preverbal describes how children use sound and action to communicate prior to picking up language.
PREVERBAL: "One of Tina's pre-verbal tools was grabbing her toys from out of other children's hands."
Cite this page: N., Sam M.S., "PREVERBAL," in PsychologyDictionary.org, April 28, 2013, https://psychologydictionary.org/preverbal/ (accessed July 2, 2022).