Gesture refers to visible bodily activity that is closely integrated into utterances. We study the detailed analysis of gestures presented in [Kendon 2004].
- Gestures as a part of speaker’s utterances
- A gesture is defined as an “excursion”, a series of coordinated motion of body parts from and to a position of relaxation. Kendon calls each “excursion” a gesture unit, which in turn consists of one or more gesture phrase consisting of a preparation, a stroke, and optionally a post-gestural hold, followed by a relaxation.
- First, we observe how utterance and gesture components are “orchestrated”.
- Second, we see how gestures contribute to the meaning of speaker’s utterances.
- Third, we investigate how gestures are used to refer to the entities in the environment.
- Finally, we study four gesture families in which gestures belonging to each family have similarities both in shape and meaning. The first two families are called gestures of precision grip: grappolo and R-display. The remaining two families are the open hand: open hand prone and open hand supine.
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References
- [Kendon 2004] Kendon, A.: Gesture, Cambridge University Press, 2004.