Re: gesturing language

> [mailto:CONLANG@listserv.brown.edu] On Behalf Of Njenfalgar
> 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...
Ever been to Greece?  One very confusing thing there is how they
wave their hands like we would here in the US to shoo someone away,
but to a Greek it means "come here".  The hoteliers will wait in
train stations and ports to get guests and seeing them all waving
like that is very interesting.