Co-constructing layers of meaning: Early triadic interactions at the threshold of intentionality

This article advances a conceptual reorientation of early communication by placing early triadic interactions—those involving infant, adult, and the material environment—at the center of analysis. Prevailing developmental models typically frame triadicity as a late milestone, emerging only once infants display intentional signals such as pointing or joint attention. In contrast, we argue that triadic configurations are already present from the earliest months of life and should be understood as constitutive conditions for meaning-making rather than preparatory scaffolds. Drawing on semiotic, relational, and multimodal perspectives, we outline how materiality, rhythm, and affective attunement function as core dimensions through which communication emerges. Instead of treating gestures or words as sudden cognitive leaps, these forms are better seen as visible consolidations of longer histories of embodied coordination. Triadic encounters thus reveal communication as a distributed and situated ecology, shaped not only by the infant's initiative but also by the caregiver's configurational role and the affordances of objects and environments. The implications of this reconceptualization extend beyond developmental psychology. By reframing communication as relational and processual, we open interdisciplinary connections with philosophy of mind, cognitive science, and educational theory. We also highlight the need for methodological approaches that can capture the temporally extended and multimodal dynamics of everyday interaction. Overall, this article proposes a shift in how early communication is defined, studied, and supported: not as the achievement of individual skills, but as the generative ground of human meaning-making. • This article reframes early communication as relational rather than individual. • Early triadic interactions are shown to be constitutive from the beginning of life. • Material, rhythmic and affective dimensions are identified as central to interaction. • Gestures are presented as consolidations of trajectories of embodied coordination. • The paper opens new interdisciplinary perspectives and methodological avenues.