The anatomy of meaning: speech, gesture, and composite utterances

How do we understand what others are trying to say? The answer cannot be found in language alone. Words are linked to hand gestures and other visible phenomena to create unified 'composite utterances'. In this book N. J. Enfield presents original case studies of speech-with-gesture based o...

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Beteilige Person: Enfield, N. J. 1966- (VerfasserIn)
Format: Elektronisch E-Book
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2009
Schriftenreihe:Language, culture, and cognition 8
Schlagwörter:
Links:https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511576737
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511576737
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511576737
Zusammenfassung:How do we understand what others are trying to say? The answer cannot be found in language alone. Words are linked to hand gestures and other visible phenomena to create unified 'composite utterances'. In this book N. J. Enfield presents original case studies of speech-with-gesture based on fieldwork carried out with speakers of Lao (a language of Southeast Asia). He examines pointing gestures (including lip and finger-pointing) and illustrative gestures (examples include depicting fish traps and tracing kinship relations). His detailed analyses focus on the 'semiotic unification' problem, that is, how to make a single interpretation when multiple signs occur together. Enfield's arguments have implications for all branches of science with a stake in meaning and its place in human social life. The book will appeal to all researchers interested in the study of meaning, including linguists, anthropologists, and psychologists
Beschreibung:Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015)
Umfang:1 online resource (xii, 252 pages)
ISBN:9780511576737
DOI:10.1017/CBO9780511576737