How speakers of different languages use gestures to describe the size and shape of objects

What is it about?

Speakers of Dutch as used in the Netherlands and Anyi as used in Côte d'Ivoire used different types of gestures to show the size and shape of objects with their hand when they talk. This paper presents a descriptive comparison based on video-recorded interviews with 12 speakers.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Our findings show that there is considerable cross-linguistic variation not only in quotable gestures, but also in ad hoc, illustrative gestures. This implies that gesture studies should systematically take into account the linguistic background of its participants. Also, it is one of the very few gesture studies involving West African speakers.