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Both intersubjectivity and embodied cognitive processes are based on mechanisms for sharing actions, common to the species. The evolution of spoken language and of communication systems in general are good examples of this. In the present review, we propose that, by a process of observation and imitation, the sharing of object-directed actions (i.e., transitive arm/hand actions) and their pantomimes could have been used to progressively construct communication systems capable of representing action meaning (i.e., their goals). Starting from this process of observation and imitation, humans may have constructed progressively more complex communication systems based on iconic and symbolic arm gestures. These communication systems may have gradually been translated into more specific, buccal, gesture-based systems that gave rise to spoken language. In support of these hypotheses, we report evidence showing that the execution and observation of transitive actions and their pantomimes affects the production of phonological units. We describe the effects of the production and observation of symbolic gestures on word pronunciation. Finally, we report evidence that these systems relating gesture to speech have neural correlates in neural circuits located in the frontal cortex, understood to be involved in spoken language..