gesture

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Military signallers use hand and body gestures to direct flight operations aboard aircraft carriers.

A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions are used to communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words.^[1] Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body. Gestures differ from physical non-verbal communication that does not communicate specific messages, such as purely expressive displays, proxemics, or displays of joint attention.^[1] The language of gesture allows individuals to express a variety of feelings and thoughts, from contempt and hostility to approval and affection. Most people use gestures and body language in addition to words when they speak. The use of gesture as language by some ethnic groups is more common than in others, and the amount of such gesturing that is considered culturally acceptable varies from one location to the next.

Studies of gesture

Gestures have been studied throughout the centuries from different view points. ^[2] Quintillian in the antiquity studied in his Institution Oratoria how gesture may be used in rhetorical discourse. Another broad study of gesture was published by John Bulwer in 1644.^[3] Bulwer analyzed dozens of gestures and provided a guide on how to use gestures to increase eloquence and clarity for public speaking. Andrea De Jorio published an extensive account of gestural expression in 1832.^[4] Today, one of the most prominent researchers in the field of gesture research is Adam Kendon. He has investigated many aspects of gestures, including their role in communication, conventionalization of gesture, integration of gesture and speech, and the evolution of language ^[5]. Other prominent researchers in this field include Susan Goldin-Meadow and David McNeill. Susan Goldin-Meadow (2003) has investigated intensively the role of gesture in problem solving in children^[6]. David McNeill (1992, 2006)^[7] has developed a broad theory about how gesture and speech are part of a single thought process. Adam Kendon is a leading authority on the study of gesture, and has also published important studies in social interaction. He has published over a hundred articles and several books on the role of the body in social interaction.^[8]

Social significance

Vitarka mudra, Tarim Basin, 9th century.

Many animals, including humans, use gestures to initiate a mating ritual. This may include elaborate dances and other movements. Gestures play a major role in many aspects of human life. Gesturing is probably a universal; there has been no report of a community that does not gesture. Gestures are a crucial part of everyday conversation such as chatting, describing a route, negotiating prices on a market; they are ubiquitous. Gestures have been documented in the arts such as in Greek vase paintings, Indian Miniatures or European paintings.

Gestures play a central role in religious or spiritual rituals such as the Christian sign of the cross. In Hinduism and Buddhism, a mudra (Sanskrit, literally "seal") is a symbolic gesture made with the hand or fingers. Each mudra has a specific meaning, playing a central role in Hindu and Buddhist iconography. An example is the Vitarka mudra, the gesture of discussion and transmission of Buddhist teaching. It is done by joining the tips of the thumb and the index together, while keeping the other fingers straight.

Types of gestures

Pointing with an extended finger is offensive in many cultures.

Different types of gestures are distinguished. Well-known gestures are the so-called emblems or quotable gestures. These are culture-specific gestures that can be used as replacement for words. Communities have repertoires of such gestures. A single emblematic gesture can a have very different significance in different cultural contexts, ranging from complimentary to highly offensive ^[9]

Other types of gestures are the ones we use when we speak. These gestures are closely coordinated with speech. Gestures and co-occurring speech express the same meaning. For example, a gesture that depicts the act of throwing may be synchronous with the utterance, "He threw the ball right into the window." ^[10] Other gestures, like the so-called beat gestures, are used in conjunction with speech and keep time with the rhythm of speech to emphasize certain words or phrases. These types of gestures are integrally connected to speech and thought processes.^[10]

The page Types of gestures discusses gestures made with one hand, two hands, hand and other body parts, and body and facial gestures.

Electronic interface

The movement of gestures can be used to interact with technology, using touch or multi-touch popularised by the iPhone, physical movement detection and visual motion capture, used in video game consoles.

See also

• Chironomia
• Kinesics
• List of gestures
• Musical Gestures
• Rock, Paper, Scissors, a game played with hand gestures
• Sign language
• Taunt

References

Further readings

• Bulwer, John (1644). "Chirologia: or the Naturall Language of the Hand" (London,1644)
• Goldin-Meadow, Susan (2003). The resilience of language: What gesture creation in deaf children can tell us about how all children learn language. In the Essays in Developmental Psychologyseries (J. Werker & H. Wellman, Eds.). New York: Psychology Press.
• Goldin-Meadow, Susan (2003). Hearing gesture: How our hands help us think. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Johns, C. (1982). Sex or Symbol. Erotic Images of Greece and Rome. London: British Museum Publications.
• Kendon, Adam (ed.) (1981). Nonverbal Communication, Interaction and Gesture: Selections from Semiotica (Vol.41, Approaches to Semiotics). The Hague: Mouton and Co. [Includes as an Introduction by Kendon an extended critical survey of methodological and theoretical issues in the field].
• Kendon, Adam (1997). Annual Review of Anthropology. 26: 109-128.
• Kendon, Adam (2000). Gesture in Naples and Gesture in Classical Antiquity. An English translation, with an Introductory Essay and Notes of La mimica degli antichi investigata nel gestire Napoletano ('Gestural expression of the ancients in the light of neapolitan gesturing') by Andrea de Jorio (1832). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
• Kendon, Adam (2004). Gesture: Visible Action as Utterance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Kita, S. (ed.) (2003). Pointing: Where Language, Culture and Cognition Meet. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, ISBN 0-8058-4014-1.
• McNeill, David (1992). Hand and Mind. What Gestures Reveal about Thought. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
• McNeill, David (2005). Gesture and Thought. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

External links

Look up gesture in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• A Profile of Adam Kendon published by Semiotix, Open Semiotics Resource Center
• International Society for Gesture Studies (ISGS) is an international scholarly association devoted to the study of human gesture. The ISGS organizes conferences and supports the Journal GESTURE.
• McNeill Lab Center for Gesture and Speech Research David McNeill's Lab homepage: The Center for Gesture and Speech Research at the University of Chicago studies speech and gesture from a psycholinguistic perspective. The page provides lots of useful information about gesture analysis.
• The Goldin-Meadow Lab at the University of Chicago studies non-verbal communication and gestures.
• The Nijmegen Gesture Center (NGC) at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics studies the role of gestures in psycholinguistic processing, communication and interaction, acquisition, cognition, and neurocognition.
• Publications by Adam Kendon (field data, research techniques and theory of gesture and sign languages)
• A Nice Gesture Many stories and anecdotes on gestures.
• A Repertoire of South African Quotable Gestures, Journal of Linguistic Anthropology.
• Handspeak Sign languages, gestures, body languages, Baby Sign, International Sign, and more. Paid site with limited content for free.

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