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.
Author(s): N. J. Enfield
Series: Language Culture and Cognition
Edition: 1
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 266
Half-title......Page 3
Series-title......Page 4
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Preface......Page 11
Acknowledgements......Page 13
1.1 Meaning does not begin with language......Page 15
1.2 Meaning is dynamic, motivated, and concrete......Page 16
1.3 Meaning is a composite notion......Page 17
1.4.1 Contexts of hand gesture......Page 23
1.4.2 Enchrony: an underlying ontology for the context of composite utterances......Page 24
1.4.3 The move: a basic-level unit for social interaction......Page 25
1.4.4 Conventional and non-conventional components of composite utterances......Page 26
1.4.5 Elements of composite utterances......Page 29
1.5 Sign filtration: triggers and heuristics......Page 30
1.6 Semiotic analysis of gestures......Page 31
1.7 Overview of the book......Page 33
Part I Deictic components of moves......Page 37
2 Demonstratives......Page 39
2.1 Meaning, context, and the semantics/pragmatics distinction......Page 40
2.2 Deixis......Page 42
2.2.1 Demonstratives......Page 43
2.2.2 The extensional range of 'here'......Page 47
2.3 Lao demonstrative determiners nii4 and nan4......Page 49
2.4.1 Situation: speaker has salient here-space perimeter, referent is not in it......Page 51
2.4.2 Situation: addressee has salient here-space perimeter, referent is in it, speaker is not.......Page 59
2.5 Uses of semantically more general nii4......Page 64
2.5.1 Situation: no here-space perimeter is particularly salient......Page 65
2.5.2 Situation: speaker has salient here-space perimeter, referent is in it......Page 68
2.6 Addressee location, speaker-addressee dynamics, and common ground......Page 72
2.7 Appropriating the here-space perimeter for contrast between two referents......Page 75
2.7.1 Recruiting the outward-radiating border between here and not here......Page 76
2.8 Concluding remark......Page 79
3.1 Form......Page 82
3.1.1 The lips......Page 83
3.1.2 Movements of the head, chin, and eyebrows, and the direction of gaze in association with lip-pointing......Page 87
3.1.3 Sequence of speech, lip, and hand-pointing......Page 92
3.2.1 Distribution of lip-pointing in terms of semiotic function: focus on location/identity......Page 93
3.2.2 Coordination of lip-pointing with forms of hand-pointing......Page 95
3.2.3 The gaze switch hypothesis......Page 98
3.2.4 Place of lip-pointing in the deictic gesture system......Page 100
3.2.6 Deictic gesture system typology......Page 101
3.3 Concluding remark......Page 102
4 Hand-pointing......Page 104
4.1 A controlled study of hand-pointing......Page 106
4.1.1 B-points in location-focus utterances......Page 107
4.1.1.1 Why B-points are formally well fitted to location-focus contexts......Page 111
4.1.2 S-points in insecure-reference environments......Page 112
4.1.2.1 Three examples of S-points in insecure-reference environments......Page 113
4.1.2.2 When informational and social imperatives conflict: the S-point as a safety net for over-supposition......Page 117
4.1.2.3 Why S-points are formally well fitted to insecure-reference contexts......Page 118
4.2 A broader consideration of ‘secondary pointing’ phenomena......Page 119
4.3 Distributing informational and affiliational tasks in the formulation of composite utterances......Page 122
4.4 Concluding remark......Page 123
Part II Illustrative components of moves......Page 125
5 Modelling......Page 127
5.1 A symmetry-dominance construction......Page 128
5.2 Examples......Page 131
5.2.1 Example 1 - sòòn5......Page 132
5.2.2 Example 2 - tum4 thoong2......Page 144
5.2.2.1 Speaker 1......Page 145
5.2.2.2 Speaker 2......Page 155
5.3 Semiotics of the symmetry-dominance construction......Page 159
5.5 A remark on sign language......Page 160
5.6 Concluding remark......Page 161
6 Diagramming......Page 163
6.1 Co-speech gesture as a means of external representation......Page 164
6.2 Semiotics of gesture diagrams......Page 165
6.3 Diagramming kinship......Page 167
6.4 Lao kinship and kin terminology......Page 170
6.5.1 Example 1: first cousin......Page 175
6.5.2 Example 2: explaining the term laan3......Page 178
6.5.3 Example 3: marriage between first cousins versus between second cousins......Page 181
6.5.4 Example 4: one descending generation on a vertical line......Page 182
6.5.5 Example 5: sibling relations: four brothers on a diagonal line......Page 183
6.5.6 Example 6: sibling exchange and relative height, I......Page 184
6.5.7 Example 7: sibling exchange and relative height, II......Page 185
6.5.8 Example 8: sibling exchange and relative height, III......Page 186
6.5.9 Example 9: sibling exchange and relative height, IV......Page 189
6.5.10 Example 10: sibling exchange and relative height, V......Page 190
6.6 Representational and conceptual properties of gesture diagrams......Page 192
6.7 Gestures and gesture diagrams as cognitive artefacts......Page 198
6.8 Representational determinism......Page 204
6.9 Concluding remark......Page 205
7.1 Example 1 - marriage between cousins......Page 208
7.2 Discussion of example 1......Page 223
7.3 Example 2 - use of kin terms between siblings......Page 224
7.5 A note on eye gaze......Page 233
7.6 Concluding remark......Page 234
8.1 The anatomy of meaning: summary remarks......Page 235
8.2 Semiotic unification – towards a rational, heuristic-based model......Page 237
8.2.1 On-switch......Page 238
8.2.2 Search: sign filtration......Page 239
8.2.3 Off-switch......Page 240
8.3 Concluding remark: speech, gesture, and meaning......Page 241
Bibliography......Page 243
Index......Page 261
