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gesturing language

From:Njenfalgar <njenfalgar@...>
Date:Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 9:18
Hello

I've long been intrigued by gesturing language (nodding, shaking head and
that kind of things) and its differences between different cultures. Now
I've just returned from Vietnam, and I had some first-hand experience there
on the differences of gesturing language between there and here. The first
time I took an intercity bus, I asked people if we had arrived already, and
they all waved their hands. Someone had the presence of mind to also answer
verbally, so that I could understand it, and finally I figured out it means
plain no. It has sparked my interest anew, and so I was wondering if anybody
had some resources or ready knowledge to be shared about it? Stuff a
naturalistic conlanger would be interested in, like why is shaking head
nearly universal (even in Vietnam it is understood the same way as in
Belgium), and shaking the hand is not...

Greets
David

--
Idustvok va yentelkvil gifpir, puk gifpir, ivan kitil.

Replies

Sai Emrys <saizai@...>
David J. Peterson <dedalvs@...>
deinx'nxtxr <deinx.nxtxr@...>