The intelligibility of gesture within a framework of co-operative action
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Charles Goodwin✝
Abstract
Gesture-first theories of language propose the transparent intelligibility of deictic and iconic gestures. The gestures of a man with a three-word vocabulary are used to investigate gesture without accompanying language. Rather than being transparent, the rich intrinsic meaningfulness of deictic and iconic gestures produces a surplus of possible referents. The task of working out their meaning delays movement to subsequent action, and thus creates selective pressure for the emergence of arbitrary, rather than inherently meaningful, signs. Analysis then turns to Kendon’s argument that meaning and action are accomplished through the way in which talk, gesture, and phenomena in the environment mutually elaborate each other, with the semiotic possibilities of each of these resources mutually constraining the others.
Abstract
Gesture-first theories of language propose the transparent intelligibility of deictic and iconic gestures. The gestures of a man with a three-word vocabulary are used to investigate gesture without accompanying language. Rather than being transparent, the rich intrinsic meaningfulness of deictic and iconic gestures produces a surplus of possible referents. The task of working out their meaning delays movement to subsequent action, and thus creates selective pressure for the emergence of arbitrary, rather than inherently meaningful, signs. Analysis then turns to Kendon’s argument that meaning and action are accomplished through the way in which talk, gesture, and phenomena in the environment mutually elaborate each other, with the semiotic possibilities of each of these resources mutually constraining the others.
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
