January 19, 2020
On my way out of the Old Nelson store where I'm a regular, I wave
good-bye to the clerk at the cash register. But it turns out that I
need to use a second door because the door that I was headed to is
out of order. As I retrace my steps on my way to the second door,
the clerk looks at me quizzically as I pass him again. Looking at
him and pointing in the direction of the first door, I
simultaneously say "Closed". He smiles and nods to indicate that he
understands the reference in my bimodal explanation.
This is a clear example of a co-speech gesture used simultaneously
with speech. Cormier et al. take the simultaneity of gesture and
speech in cases like as an argument against attributing
(proto-)pronoun status to the gesture. I don't follow their
reasoning. Simultaneity can clearly be taken as an easily available
way of increasing channel efficiency (that is, speeding up the flow
of information) without any implications for the gesture's semiotic
status.
January 18, 2020 - 2
Someone is describing how people engage in potentially inappropriate
behavior "at the job, I mean at the job". He underlines the
force of his opinion about the situation by jabbing "1" hands
diagonally at the space on the table in front of him (which stands
in for the workspaces or desks of his co-workers).
January 18, 2020 - 1
Someone enters the room with her arm in a sling. From across the
room, I look at her, pointing with an expression of commiseration
at my arm (which functions as a surrogate for her arm).
January 17, 2020 - 2
At a friendly gathering, a charm for a "birthday boy" is being
passed around for everyone to put their good "mojo" on it. At one
point, one of the other attendees is confused about which direction
the charm should go next. Several of us look at him, while
simultaneously pointing at the birthday boy. This allows us to
avoid audibly interrupting the rest of the gathering. Also,
although all of us pointers know that the charm is intended for the
birthday boy, we don't necessarily all know his name. Pointing
allows us to circumvent that problem. Note the functional
equivalence of pointing and proper names noted in the earlier entry
for today.
January 17, 2020 - 1
At the first class meeting for Ling 247, I tell the students that
one of the reasons I would like to know their names is so that I can
call on them without pointing. Another reason (which I didn't
mention in class) is that I would also like to avoid identifying
students by describing them (as in "you in the pink sweater", "you
paying more attention to your phone than to me"). This journal
entry raises issues that are discussed in detail in Ferrara and
Hodge 2018 (see Week 2 optional further readings).
January 8, 2020
I spot two acquaintances in my regular coffee shop engaged in what
looks like a reasonably serious conversation. I'm headed to a
get-together, and I want to know whether they'll be attending also,
but I want my disruption of their conversation to be minimal. As I
pass them, I describe an arc from right in front of me pointing in
the direction of the location of the get-together. At the same
time, I raise my eyebrows. Without missing a beat, they nod,
answering my question. (This example combines pointing with eyebrow
raise, a feature of sign language intonation that we discuss later
in the course.)
December 28, 2019
At the cash register at the 7-11 at 34th and Lancaster, the customer
ahead of me is paying for his purchase, and while doing so, points
to the floor in front of me. This enables him to draw my attention
to the dollar bill that I have just dropped without interrupting his
main interaction with the sales clerk at the cash register.
December 26, 2019
At a fairly large meeting, a person has raised his hand to be
recognized by the chair of the meeting, but is not in the chair's
line of sight. The participants near person draw the chair's
attention to the person by ostentatious points, raising their own
hands above the level of his head and pointing at a 45-degree angle
downward at him person, presumably to maximize their chances of
themselves being noticed by the chair.
The situation described in this entry relates to the generalization
in Frishberg 1975, according to which signs below the face tend to
become symmetrical because they are easier to perceive (and
articulate) than asymmetrical signs. In particular, in her words,
"[s]ymmetry eases perception in that the viewr can predict many
charcteristics fo the sign just form seeing the shape and movement
of one hand" (Frishberg 1975:701). The greater ease of
interpretation of symmetrical signs even from angles that obscure
one of the articulators is analogous to the increased chance that
the chair will take note of the person requesting the floor when the
points at the person come from several directions.
Many occasions
At Trader Joe's many items are too high on the shelves for me to
grab. Sometimes I scale the shelves, but more often, I look around
for a taller person and ask them for help. My usual strategy is to
identify the item I want by a combination of pointing and
description. In other words, I won't just say "Could you please get
me that?" and rely on pointing to identify the referent of "that".
I'll add a bit of description ("Could you please get me that feta
cheese?") But I won't give a full description, either. Once I've
narrowed things down to feta cheese, it's more effective to point
than to have an exchange along the following lines: "Could you
please get me that Trader Joes' regualar feta cheese? No, not the
reduced fat. The one right next to it. Oops, no, sorry, not the
one in the tub. The other direction. The regular kind. Yup,
that's the one. Thanks".
Many occasions
Even the most modern cars do not alert the driver that they have
neglected to turn on their headlights after dark. When I see such a
car with its headlights off, I try to get the driver's attention and
then point to the headlights.
In the past, I would repeatedly direct "A"-"5" handshape sequences
at the driver, but the pointing strategy is more effective than the
icon-based strategy. I think drivers who saw me opening and closing
my hand at them just thought I was crazy.
A friend of mine combines the effectiveness of pointing with a nod to
iconicity by pointing at the front of the car with two fingers (index
and middle). Note that he is not actually pointing at two headlights
at the same time, so the gesture is not a double pointing gesture.
December 12, 2019
At Uniqlo, the screen facing the of the escalator heading up to the
second floor shows a clip featuring Ines de la Fressange, a former
model and now Uniqlo designer, looking chic in her Uniqlo clothes,
facing the camera and pointing with two index fingers to her right.
In response to her gestures, the camera pans in the direction of the
points, revealing gorgeous mountain scenery.