BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES - Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie

Gesture is a non-vocal bodily movement intended to express
meaning. They may be articulated with the hands, arms or body, and also
include movements of the head, face and eyes, such as winking, nodding,
or rolling one's eyes. The boundary between language and gesture, or
verbal and nonverbal communication, can be hard to identify.
According to Ottenheimer (2007), psychologists Paul Ekman and
Wallace Friesen suggested that gestures could be categorized into five
types: emblems, illustrators, affect displays, regulators, and adaptors
emblems are gestures with direct verbal translations, such as a
goodbye wave;
illustrators are gestures that depict what is said verbally, such as
turning an imaginary steering wheel while talking about driving
an affect display is a gesture that conveys emotions, like a smile;
regulators are gestures that control interaction;
and finally, an adaptor is a gesture that facilitates the release of
bodily tension, such as quickly moving one's leg.
Some emblems seem to be universal, while others are cultural,
with different interpretations in various cultures, or perhaps with different
uses by men and women. An example of a universal emblem is the
uplifted shoulders and upturned hands that indicate “I don’t know”
virtually everywhere in the world. An example of a culture-bound emblem
is the encircled thumb and forefinger "O". "Everything ok" is shown in
western European countries, especially between pilots and divers. This
sign, especially when fingers are curled, means in Korea and Japan "now
we may talk about money", in southern France the contrary ("nothing,
without any value"). In Brazil, it is considered rude, especially if
performed with the three extended figures shown horizontally to the floor
while the other two fingers form an O.
Gestures can be also categorized as either speech-independent or
speech-related. Speech-independent gestures are dependent upon
culturally accepted interpretation and have a direct verbal translation. A
wave hello or a peace sign are examples of speech-independent gestures.
Speech related gestures are used in parallel with verbal speech; this form
of nonverbal communication is used to emphasize the message that is
being communicated.
Speech related gestures are intended to provide supplemental
information to a verbal message such as pointing to an object of discussion
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