Gesture, or visible bodily action intimately involved in the activity of speaking, has long fascinated scholars and laymen alike. Written by a leading authority on the subject, this book draws on the analysis of everyday conversations to demonstrate the varied role of gestures in the construction of utterances. Publication of this definitive account of the topic marks a major development in semiotics as well as in the emerging field of gesture studies.

Gesture, or visible bodily action intimately involved in the activity of speaking, has long fascinated scholars and laymen alike. Written by a leading authority on the subject, this book draws on the analysis of everyday conversations to demonstrate the varied role of gestures in the construction of utterances. Publication of this definitive account of the topic marks a major development in semiotics as well as in the emerging field of gesture studies.

This book makes available five classic studies of the organisation of behaviour in face-to-face interaction.

Originally published in 1988, this was the first book-length study ever to be published on the subject of sign language as a means of communication among Australian Aborigines. The work presented in this book filled an important gap in Aboriginal ethnography and linguistics. It also marked a major advance in the understanding of the relationship between medium of expression, code structure and communication; the processes by which spoken language may be represented in a non-vocal medium; and native speaker awareness of spoken language structure. Based on fieldwork conducted over a span of...