This version is not peer-reviewed. Chiu-Hua Huang,Ishien Li * Chiu-Hua Huang,Ishien Li * Submitted: 01 October 2025 You are already at the latest version Background: Early memory and executive function (EF) in young children are widely regarded as behavioral proxies of hippocampal and prefrontal maturation, which in turn scaffold the emergence of language networks. We test whether early cognitive proxies predict later language outcomes in a nationally representative cohort.