Abstract
The modern word ‘gesture’ is derived from a Latin root gerere which means ‘to bear or carry, to take on oneself, to take charge of, to perform or to accomplish.’ It derives more immediately from a Mediaeval Latin word ‘gestura’ which means ‘way of carrying’ or ‘mode of action’ (Partridge, 1959) and in its earliest uses in English it referred to the manner of carrying the body, bodily bearing or deportment. Somewhat later it came to be used in Rhetorical treatises to refer to the way in which the body was to be employed in the making of speeches and this usage included, of course, the specific actions of the limbs and face that, nowadays, we usually have in mind when the term ‘gesture’ is used. It is probably through a specialization of this usage that the modern meaning derived.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adams, F.A., 1891, “Gesture and Pantomimic Action,” Edgar S. Werner, New York.
Angenot, M., 1973, Les traites de l’eloquence du corps, Semiotica 8: 60–82.
Bacon, A. M., 1875, “A Manual of Gestures,” Griggs, Chicago.
Bates, E., 1979, “The Emergence of Symbols,” Academic Press, New York.
Birdwhistell, R. L., 1970, “Kinesics and Context,” University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
Bulwer, J., 1644/1974, “Chirologia: Or the Natural Language of the Hand … whenunto is added Chironomia: or the Art of Manuall Rhetoric,” Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale and Edwardsville.
Condillac, Etienne Bonnot de, 1971, “An Essay on the Origin of Human Knowledge: being a Supplement to Mr. Lock’s Essay on the Human Understanding,” translated by Thomas Nugent, J. Nourse 1756, London. (Facsimile reprint by Scholars’ Facsimiles and Reprint, Gainesville, Florida.
Di Jono, A., 1832, “La mimica degli Antichi Investigata nel Gestive Napolitano,” Stamperia del Fibreno, Napoli.
Efron, D., 1972, “Gesture, Race and Culture,” Mouton and Co., The Hague.
Ekman, P. and Friesen, W.V., 1969, The Repertoire of Nonverbal Behavior: Categories, Origins, Usage and Coding, Semiotica 1: 49–98.
Hewes, G. W., 1973, Primate communication and the gestural origin of language, Current Anthropology 14: 5–24.
Hockett, C.F., 1978, In search of Jove’s brow, American Speech 53: 243–313.
Kendon, A., 1981, Introduction: Current issues in the study of “nonverbal communication”, in “Nonverbal Communication, Interaction and Gesture: Selections from ‘Semiotica’”, A. Kendon, ed., Mouton and Co., The Hague.
Lock, A., 1980, “The Guided Reinvention of Language,” Academic Press, London.
Meggitt, M., 1954, Sign Language Among the Walpiri of Central Australia, Oceania 25: 2–16.
Morris, D., Collett, P., Marsh, P. and O’Shaughnessy, M., 1979, “Gesture,” Stein and Day 1979, New York.
Mosher, J.A., 1916, “Essentials of Effective Gesture,” New York.
Ott, E.A., 1902, “How to Gesture,” New York.
Partridge, E., 1959, “Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English,” MacMillan, New York.
Quintilian, M. F., 100/1922, “Quintilian Institutiones Oratoriae,” English translation by H.E. Butler, William Heinemann, London.
Siegel, J.P., 1969, The Enlightenment and the evolution of a language of signs in Fance and England, Journal for the History of Ideas 30: 96–115.
Stam, J. H., 1976, “Inquiries into the Origin of Language: The Fate of a Question,” Harper and Row, New York.
Stokoe, W. C., 1960, “Sign Language Structure: An Outline of the Visual Communication Systems of the American Deaf,” Second Edition ( 1978 ), Linstok Press, Silver Springs.
Stokoe, W. C., 1980, Sign Language and Sign Languages, Annual Review of Anthropology 9: 365–390.
Tylor, E. B., 1878, “Researches into the Early History of Mankind,” John Murray Third Edition, London.
Wiener, M., Devoe, S., Rubinow, S. and Geller, J., 1972, Nonverbal behavior and nonverbal communication, Psychological Review 79: 185 - 214.
Wundt, W., 1973, “The Language of Gesture,” Mouton and Coa, The Hague. (Translation of “Völkerpsychologie: Eine Untersuchung der Entwicklungsgesetze Von Sprache, Mythus und Sitte” Vol. I, Fourth Edition, Part 1, Chapter 2, Alfred Kroner Verlag 1921, Stuttgart.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1983 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kendon, A. (1983). The Study of Gesture: Some Remarks on its History. In: Deely, J.N., Lenhart, M.D. (eds) Semiotics 1981. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9328-7_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9328-7_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-9330-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-9328-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive