Gesture

A gesture is a way we communicate without using words. It involves moving parts of our body, like our hands, face, or arms, to show feelings or ideas. Gestures can express many things, such as happiness, anger, or agreement, and they often work together with spoken words to make our messages clearer.

Our brain processes gestures in special areas that also help us understand speech and sign language. Some experts believe that long ago, humans may have started using gestures to talk before they developed spoken language. This idea, called the Gestural Theory, was first suggested a long time ago and is still studied today to learn more about how language began.

Research throughout the ages

People have studied gestures for a long time. A Roman teacher named Marcus Fabius Quintilianus looked at how gestures can help when giving speeches. In 1644, an English doctor named John Bulwer wrote about human communication and focused on hand gestures. In the 1800s, an Italian researcher named Andrea De Jorio studied body language and wrote about many gesture expressions.

In 1977, a psychologist named Andrew N. Meltzoff found that newborn babies can copy facial and hand gestures from their parents. In 1992, a professor named David McNeill studied gestures for ten years and found that they affect our thinking, not just our words. Today, scholars also study how gestures relate to dance, culture, and social meanings.

Typology (categories)

Humans can talk, but they can also share ideas using gestures. Gestures are movements of the hands, face, or body that help us express thoughts and feelings.

There are two main types of gestures: communicative and informative. Informative gestures tell us about the person speaking, like scratching an itch or adjusting their clothes. These gestures might happen while someone is talking, or even when they are not speaking at all.

Communicative gestures are used on purpose to add meaning to what someone is saying. For example, a poster showing Uncle Sam pointing is telling viewers to join the U.S. Army without using words. These gestures help make speech stronger or clearer.

Body language relating to gestures

Body language is a way of talking without using words. It uses things like hand movements, facial expressions, and other parts of the body to share messages. For example, a shoulder shrug can mean someone doesn't understand something. Showing the palms of your hands can mean you're being open and honest, and raising your eyebrows can be a way to greet someone.

We use finger gestures a lot, like pointing at something you want to show or giving a thumbs up to mean everything is good. Some gestures are used almost everywhere in the world. Shaking your head usually means "no," while nodding your head often means "yes."

Manual vs. non-manual communicative gestures

Gestures can be made with the hands and arms or with other parts of the body, like nodding the head or shrugging the shoulders. Gestures made with the hands and arms are called manual gestures. There are four main types of manual gestures: symbolic, deictic, motor, and lexical.

Symbolic gestures are like special hand signs that can mean whole words, such as waving to say "hello." Deictic gestures are pointing motions that show where something is, like pointing to say "that." Motor gestures are quick, repeated movements that match the rhythm of speech, like tapping a hand while talking. Lexical gestures help show what someone is saying, like mimicking throwing when saying "He threw the ball." These gestures usually happen at the same time as talking and help make speech clearer.

Language development

Studies show a strong link between different kinds of gestures and how children learn to talk. Young children under two often point to show things they don't know the names for. Once they learn the words, they stop pointing as much. But as kids get older and talk more, they also use more gestures. The types of gestures change with age, showing how gestures and language development are connected. Kids mostly point, while adults use more hand shapes and movements that match their words.

Sign languages

Gestural languages like American Sign Language are full languages that use hand movements to communicate. They are not the same as finger spelling, where hand shapes stand for letters in a written alphabet. Sign languages have their own rules and structures, while everyday gestures are more flexible and go along with speech.

Before an established sign language was created in Nicaragua in the 1970s, deaf people there used "home signs" to talk with each other. These were not a real language, but familiar hand movements used within families. Home signs are similar to how chimpanzees use gestures because they can't talk. Some people think early humans may have used gestures to communicate before they developed spoken language.

Social significance

Gesturing is something that everyone does; no community has been found that doesn’t use gestures. They are a big part of daily conversations, like when we chat, describe a place, or talk about prices in a market. Gestures are things we learn from our culture and can show ideas about a person’s background, gender, or identity.

Gestures, often called "body language," are important in work and business. Using the right body language can help people get along better. But, gestures can mean different things in different countries. In today’s world, it’s important to understand these differences. What seems harmless to us might upset someone else.

For example:

• In the United States, a firm handshake with direct eye contact is a common greeting.
• In the People's Republic of China, shaking hands is common, but a nod or slight bow can also be enough.
• In Japan, giving business cards with both hands and a slight bow is important.
• In Germany, putting one hand in your pocket while shaking hands is impolite.
• In France, a light handshake is normal, and greeting everyone in a room is expected.

Gestures are also used in many parts of life, including rituals and dances. They help people share ideas, like mimicking drinking from a cup. Gestures have even been shown in old paintings and art from many cultures.

In religion

Gestures are very important in religious and spiritual practices.

In Hinduism and Buddhism, special hand or body gestures called mudra have specific meanings. They are used in yoga and religious art. For example, the Vitarka Vicara gesture, used in Buddhist teaching, is made by joining the tips of the thumb and index finger together.

In Christianity, a common gesture is making the sign of the cross. This is often done along with kneeling before sacred objects. In Catholic worship, actions and gestures help everyone take part in the service.

Neurology

Gestures are understood in the same parts of the brain as speech and sign language, such as the left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca's area) and areas in the middle and superior temporal regions (Wernicke's area). These brain areas originally helped connect gestures with meaning and later supported spoken language during human evolution. This shared brain activity shows that gestures and speech are closely linked, working together to help us communicate.

Research shows that gestures and speech help each other. When people use gestures while talking, it can make understanding easier. Gestures can also help with memory, especially for those who find it hard to remember things. However, understanding gestures is not exactly the same as understanding spoken words, but they both help us share ideas.

Electronic interface

We can use hand movements to talk to computers and machines. For example, you can touch a screen or move your hands in special ways to control a game or a device. Some games use cameras to see your movements and respond to them. Scientists can also record these movements to study them better.

Kendon's continuum

Adam Kendon, a researcher who studied gestures, suggested we think of gestures as a range from less like language to fully like language. On this range, speech becomes less important as gestures start to carry more meaning and replace personal, unique signs with shared, social ones.

This range includes different kinds of gestures: spontaneous movements that happen when we talk, gestures that are like pictures or ideas but change based on the situation, pantomime which needs shared understandings to show ideas or events, emblems that have specific meanings such as showing feelings or insults without needing words, and sign language where single hand signs have exact meanings and follow specific rules when combined together.

Philosophy

Giorgio Agamben wrote in his book Karman that a gesture is a simple action with no special goal. It is like a step between doing something useful and creating something new.

Giovanni Maddalena said in his book The philosophy of gesture that a gesture is any action that starts and ends and has a meaning. It helps us show ideas through our actions. According to this idea, gestures mix many things like feelings, real actions, thoughts, and habits, making our meanings clear. This idea comes from the work of Charles S. Peirce.