Infans

The Latin term infans, derived from the Greek phèmi ("I speak"), means "one who does not (or rather, not yet) speak," and refers to the baby before the acquisition of speech that marks the entry into childhood.

A number of authors (notably Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott) used the term to describe those whose mode of communication is situated at a preverbal level. In the work of Jacques Lacan the term infans took on a further dimension in his discussion of language and its relation to the unconscious. Piera...