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It is currently popular to attempt to "ground" language more or less directly in action and perception, emphasizing its "embodied" nature. However, in the hurry to do so, two essential features of language remain unaccounted for: its representational (i.e. sign-based), and its normative character. Donald's (1991) proposal of mimesis serving as a "missing link" in human cognitive evolution has been strongly productive in my own research and that of colleagues over the past 10 years, in particular in addressing this gap in embodiment theorizing. I will focus on the notion of "mimetic schemas", and show how it fits well with ongoing research on the ontogeny of gesture and speech.