The emblem as metaphor
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David McNeill
Abstract
Emblems contain inner metaphors – precision for “OK,” the so-called conduit metaphor for the grappolo, for example. Other metaphors are Up is Good, Bad is Down in “thumbs up/down,” and Beams and Obstacles in “warding-off” (including the “horn”). Cultures historically pick metaphors, codify them with standards of form and function, ensure social standardization and intergenerational transmission, and the inner metaphor does not disappear. No emblem or “quotable gesture” in Kendon’s study of Neapolitan emblems appears to reverse or contradict its inner metaphor. North America and Naples both use the “ring” as a metaphor of precision but differ in how it is used: approbation in North America, authorization in Naples. Finally, emblems become “magical.”
Abstract
Emblems contain inner metaphors – precision for “OK,” the so-called conduit metaphor for the grappolo, for example. Other metaphors are Up is Good, Bad is Down in “thumbs up/down,” and Beams and Obstacles in “warding-off” (including the “horn”). Cultures historically pick metaphors, codify them with standards of form and function, ensure social standardization and intergenerational transmission, and the inner metaphor does not disappear. No emblem or “quotable gesture” in Kendon’s study of Neapolitan emblems appears to reverse or contradict its inner metaphor. North America and Naples both use the “ring” as a metaphor of precision but differ in how it is used: approbation in North America, authorization in Naples. Finally, emblems become “magical.”
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- A foreword vii
- From gesture in conversation to visible action as utterance 1
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Part I. Gaze and face
- Including facial gestures in gesture-speech ensembles 15
- Mutual gaze and recognition 35
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Part II. Manual gestures – quotable gestures and pointing
- Gesture in the communicative ecology of a South African township 59
- The emblem as metaphor 75
- Pointing, talk, and the bodies 95
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Part III. Manual gestures – their nature and relationship to language
- Gesture as “deliberate expressive movement” 127
- On the lower limit of gesture 153
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Part IV. Language evolution
- The word according to Adam 177
- The intelligibility of gesture within a framework of co-operative action 199
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Part V. Sign systems
- Signs and space in Arandic sand narratives 219
- Different strokes 245
- Gesture in all its forms 289
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Part VI. Children language development
- The development of two pragmatic gestures of the so-called Open Hand Supine family in Italian children 311
- How gestures help children to track reference in narrative 331
- Gestures and multimodal development 351
- Name index 371
- Subject index 373
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- A foreword vii
- From gesture in conversation to visible action as utterance 1
-
Part I. Gaze and face
- Including facial gestures in gesture-speech ensembles 15
- Mutual gaze and recognition 35
-
Part II. Manual gestures – quotable gestures and pointing
- Gesture in the communicative ecology of a South African township 59
- The emblem as metaphor 75
- Pointing, talk, and the bodies 95
-
Part III. Manual gestures – their nature and relationship to language
- Gesture as “deliberate expressive movement” 127
- On the lower limit of gesture 153
-
Part IV. Language evolution
- The word according to Adam 177
- The intelligibility of gesture within a framework of co-operative action 199
-
Part V. Sign systems
- Signs and space in Arandic sand narratives 219
- Different strokes 245
- Gesture in all its forms 289
-
Part VI. Children language development
- The development of two pragmatic gestures of the so-called Open Hand Supine family in Italian children 311
- How gestures help children to track reference in narrative 331
- Gestures and multimodal development 351
- Name index 371
- Subject index 373
