Abstract
Abstract
In this paper I examine the use of the ‘rotated palms’ gesture family among speakers of Syuba (Tibeto-Burman, Nepal), as recorded
in a video corpus documenting this language. In this family of gestures one or both forearms are rotated to a supine (‘palm up’)
position, each hand with thumb and forefinger extended and the other fingers, in varying degrees, flexed toward the palm. When
used independently from speech this gesture tends to be performed in a relatively consistent manner, and is recognised as an
interrogative gesture throughout India and Nepal. In this use it can be considered an emblem. When used with speech it shows more
variation, but can still be used to indicate the interrogative nature of what is said, even when the speech may not indicate
interrogativity in its linguistic construction. I analyse the form and function of this gesture in Syuba and argue that there are
a number distinct functions relating to interrogativity. These can therefore be considered as a family of gestures. This research
lays the groundwork for a better understanding of this common family of gestures across the South Asian area, and beyond.
© John Benjamins
Article metrics loading...
/content/journals/10.1075/gest.00010.gaw
2018-10-19
2024-03-28
-
/content/journals/10.1075/gest.00010.gaw
dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
-contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
10
5
Full text loading...
References
-
Bickel, Balthasar , Bernard Comrie , & Martin Haspelmath
[Google Scholar]
-
Bressem, Jana & Cornelia Müller
(2014) The family of AWAY-gestures. In Cornelia Müller , Alan Cienki , Ellen Fricke , Silva H. Ladewig , David McNeill , & Jana Bressem (Eds.), Body – language – communication: An international handbook on multimodality in human interaction (Vol.2, pp.1592–1604). Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.
[Google Scholar]
-
Dasen, Pierre R. , Nilima Changkakoti , Milena Abbiati , Shanta Niraula , Ramesh C. Mishra , & Harold Foy
(2009) Geocentric gestures as a research tool. In A. Gari & K. Mylonas (Eds.), Quod erat demonstrandum: From Herodotus’ ethnographic journeys to cross-cultural research (pp.115–122). Athens: Pedio Books.
[Google Scholar]
-
Debras, Camille
https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.16.1.01deb
[Google Scholar]
-
Ekman, Paul & Wallace V. Friesen
(
1969) The repertoire of nonverbal behaviour: Categories, origins, usage, and coding.
Semiotica, 1, 49–98.
10.1515/semi.1969.1.1.49
https://doi.org/10.1515/semi.1969.1.1.49
[Google Scholar]
-
Gawne, Lauren
https://doi.org/10.4225/72/56E976A071650
[Google Scholar]
-
Gawne, Lauren
(2013) Notes on the relationship between Yolmo and Kagate. Himalayan Linguistics, 12 (2), 1–27.
[Google Scholar]
-
Gawne, Lauren
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2016.04.002
[Google Scholar]
-
Gawne, Lauren
(2017) Syuba (Kagate), Language Contexts. Language Documentation and Description, 13, 65–93.
[Google Scholar]
-
Grierson, George Abraham
(1909/1966) Linguistic survey of India (2nd ed.). Delhi: M. Banarsidass.
[Google Scholar]
-
Höhlig, Monika
(1978) Speaker orientation in Syuwa (Kagate). In Joseph E. Grimes (Ed.), Papers on discourse (Vol.50, pp.19–24). Kathmandu: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
[Google Scholar]
-
Höhlig, Monika & Anna Maria Hari
(1976) Kagate phonemic summary. Kathmandu: Summer Institute of Linguistics and Institute of Nepal and Asian Studies.
[Google Scholar]
-
Hsieh, Jessica
[Google Scholar]
-
Jehoul, Annelies , Geert Brône , & Kurt Feyaerts
https://doi.org/10.1515/lingvan-2016-0082
[Google Scholar]
-
Kendon, Adam
(1988) Sign languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, semiotic and communicative perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[Google Scholar]
-
Kendon, Adam
(
1995) Gestures as illocutionary and discourse structure markers in Southern Italian conversation.
Journal of pragmatics, 23, 247–279.
10.1016/0378‑2166(94)00037‑F
https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(94)00037-F
[Google Scholar]
-
Kendon, Adam
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511807572
[Google Scholar]
-
Mitchell, Jessica R. & Stephanie R. Eichentopf
(2013) Sociolinguistic survey of Kagate: Language vitality and community desires. Kathmandu: Central Department of Linguistics, Tribhuvan University, Nepal, and SIL International.
[Google Scholar]
-
Morris, Desmond , Peter Collett , Peter Marsh , & Marie O’Shaughnessy
(1979) Gestures: Their origins and distribution. London: Jonathan Cape.
[Google Scholar]
-
Pfau, Roland & Ulrike Zeshan
(2003) Wh-movement and wh-split in Indo-Pakistani Sign Language. Paper presented atSALA 23, Austin, Texas. October 10–12.
[Google Scholar]
-
Seyfeddinipur, Mandana
(2004) Meta-discursive gestures from Iran: Some uses of the ‘Pistol Hand’. In Cornelia Müller & Roland Posner (Eds.), The semantics and pragmatics of everyday gestures (pp.205–216). Berlin: Weidler Buchverlag.
[Google Scholar]
-
Sloetjes, Han & Peter Wittenburg
(2008) Annotation by category – ELAN and ISO DCR. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC 2008).
[Google Scholar]
-
Streeck, Jürgen
(
2009)
Gesturecraft: The manu-facture of meaning. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
10.1075/gs.2
https://doi.org/10.1075/gs.2
[Google Scholar]
-
Vasishta, Madan , James C. Woodward , and Kirk L. Wilson
(1978) Sign language in India: Regional variation within the Deaf population. Indian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4 (2), 66–74.
[Google Scholar]
-
Woodward, James
(
1993) The relationship of sign language varieties in India, Pakistan, and Nepal.
Sign Language Studies, 78 (1), 15–22.
10.1353/sls.1993.0010
https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.1993.0010
[Google Scholar]
-
Zeshan, Ulrike
(
2000)
Sign language in Indo-Pakistan: A description of a signed language. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
10.1075/z.101
https://doi.org/10.1075/z.101
[Google Scholar]
-
Zeshan, Ulrike
(
2003) Indo-Pakistani Sign Language grammar: a typological outline.
Sign Language Studies, 3 (2), 157–212.
10.1353/sls.2003.0005
https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.2003.0005
[Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1075/gest.00010.gaw