Lynn S. Messing & Ruth Campbell (eds.), Gesture, speech, and sign. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Pp. xxv + 227. Hb $85.00.

Abstract

Lynn Messing and Ruth Campbell's Gesture, speech and sign provides an interesting overview of the fields of gesture and sign language research, including work by a number of the best-known names in the field. The strongest chapters have fascinating insights from psychology, neuropsychology, and Deaf studies on the interconnections between language and gesture. Paul Ekman catalogs different kinds of gestures found accompanying speech, including “emblems,” or socially learned gestures with consistent meaning like “the finger”; “illustrators,” like deictic pointing gestures; “manipulators,” which include scratching and fiddling with hair; “regulators,” the gestural equivalents of the “uh-huhs” and “mmms” of the attentive listener; and “emotional expressions” such as smiles and tears.