Gesture. We all do it. But what are our brains doing while it’s going on?
What does gesture contribute to our interpretation? Can we work out complex meanings when words are replaced by gestures? And when a gesture like the middle finger becomes conventionalised, does a trace of its original meaning persist?
We’re letting our bodies do the talking on this episode of Talk the Talk.
Listen to this episode
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Did you see the tweet about the sociology teacher who kept track of his students’ slang? Yeah, well, Teri is going to help Daniel make sure it’s all correct.
Also at https://www.patreon.com/posts/26670628
Indigenous Australian Word of the Week (IA-WoW): jurlaka
follow link for high res version
In honour of the UN declaring 2019 the Year of Indigenous Languages, we will be sharing words from Indigenous Australian languages.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that episodes of this show may contain voices or names of deceased persons.
This week’s IA-WoW is “jurlaka” – meaning “bird” in Gurindji. This word comes to us from Violet Wardrill – a Gurundji speaker and artist whose voice can be heard in the “50 Words Project“. The segment appears in the show 10 minutes in.
You can listen to more Gurindji language at the website for the 50 words project, find the language on the Gambay language map and learn more about it through Glottolog and AUSTLANG.
Cutting Room Floor
It’s the Wiggles Show! No, wait, it’s the Hedvig’s Flubs Show! Well, we might not know what this show is, but we do have the idea of having a non-linguistic episode. What would we talk about?
Hedvig has some ideas for tracks she wants to play, and Ben and Daniel have (conversely) some ideas about that.
And then it’s Mormon Stories with Daniel! The time he met an Obviously Italian Guy who gestured in characteristic fashion.
Also at https://www.patreon.com/posts/26780210
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Show notes
Yolngu sign language to be preserved in world-first document – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-15/yolngu-sign-language-preserved-photographic-dictionary/11001614
‘We will save this one’: desperate effort to save a language and way of life
https://www.theage.com.au/national/we-will-save-this-one-desperate-effort-to-save-a-language-and-way-of-life-20190404-p51ar6.html
Fundraiser by Bentley James : Help us save Yolŋu Sign Language
https://au.gofundme.com/3xy8ur-help-us-save-yolu-sign-language
Speaking my language: Indigenous deaf sign | Pursuit by The University of Melbourne
https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/speaking-my-language-indigenous-deaf-sign
The 14 Indigenous words for money on our new 50 cent coin | Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language
https://www.dynamicsoflanguage.edu.au/news-and-media/latest-headlines/article/?id=the-14-indigenous-words-for-money-on-our-new-50-cent-coin
Indigenous languages represented on new coin
https://www.msn.com/en-au/money/personalfinance/indigenous-languages-represented-on-new-coin/ar-BBVMbwp
Nambal, boya, barnda, awarnda: our words for ‘coin’ – National Indigenous Times
https://nit.com.au/nambal-boya-barnda-awarnda-our-words-for-coin/
Royal Australian Mint has a love of language on 50¢ | Coin World
https://www.coinworld.com/news/world-coins/2019/04/royal-australian-mint-has-a-love-of-language-on-50-cent.html
50 words project — Research Unit for Indigenous Language | Faculty of Arts
https://arts.unimelb.edu.au/research-unit-for-indigenous-language/research/current-research-projects/50-words-project
Lingiari, Vincent (1919–1988)
http://ia.anu.edu.au/biography/lingiari-vincent-14178
Song for the Gurindji
https://aiatsis.gov.au/news-and-events/blog/song-gurindji
Gestures that speak: Gesticulating while speaking is not just a ‘colorful’ habit — ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140623092259.htm
(PDF) Sekine et al: Cross-linguistic views of gesture usage
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01485378/document
Meaning Without Words: Gestures and Visual Animations Reveal Cognitive Origins of Linguistic Meaning
https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2019/april/meaning-without-words–gestures-and-visual-animations-reveal-cog.html
Gestures and visual animations reveal cognitive origins of linguistic meaning | EurekAlert! Science News
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-04/nyu-gav042519.php
($$$) Linguistic inferences without words | PNAS
https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/04/23/1821018116
Au-delà des mots : les origines cognitives du sens linguistique | CNRS
http://www.cnrs.fr/fr/au-dela-des-mots-les-origines-cognitives-du-sens-linguistique
Do gestures retain mental associations with their iconic origins, even after they become emblematic? An analysis of the middle-finger gesture among American English speakers
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0215633
middle finger | Dictionary.com
https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/middle-finger/
When did the middle finger become offensive? – BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16916263
The History Behind the Middle Finger
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pluck-yew/
When did the middle finger become offensive? – BBC News
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16916263
William Barr’s Testimony, and Reasons to Be Snitty | The New Yorker
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/william-barrs-testimony-and-reasons-to-be-snitty
A ‘snitty’ day: five takeaways from Barr’s testimony on the Mueller report | US news | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/01/a-snitty-day-five-takeaways-from-attorney-generals-testimony
Scrabble’s word of ze year is gender neutral, and potentially high scoring
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/12/15/scrabbles-word-ze-year-gender-neutral-potentially-high-scoring/
Ze | Define Ze at Dictionary.com
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ze
The History of ‘Thon,’ The Forgotten Gender-Neutral Pronoun | Merriam-Webster
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/third-person-gender-neutral-pronoun-thon
A Gender-Neutral Pronoun Won’t Work in English. We’re Stuck With “She” and “He.”
https://newrepublic.com/article/116331/gender-neutral-pronouns-will-we-ever-replace-she-and-he
(Must-read) Dennis Baron | Nonbinary pronouns and singular they
https://www.english.illinois.edu/-people-/faculty/debaron/essays/epicene.htm
The Journey From ‘Colored’ To ‘Minorities’ To ‘People Of Color’ : Code Switch : NPR
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/03/30/295931070/the-journey-from-colored-to-minorities-to-people-of-color
Transcript
We’re working our way back through the archives. If you think we should prioritise a transcript of this episode, let us know!
