Variability, within and across subjects, provides a basis for the "selection" of a path into language use. Illustration of the extent of variation is drawn from children learning four languages and compared with analyses of the mothers' speech for one group. The organization of early word production patterns into an initial phonological system is traced for one of the children. It is hypothesized that an "articulatory filter" based on a child's familiarity with the auditory consequences of his or her own vocal patterns provides a mechanism for the first production of speech forms; a mechanism supporting the shift from babble to intentional vocal communication is also suggested.