III

PHYSICAL COMPONENTS OF THE
GESTURAL SIGN

The analysis of the thirty-four gestural expressions based on the experimental film did not answer my question about signifying structure. To expose this structure, I had to arrive at a comprehension of the entire system of French gestures and facial expressions. However, given the wealth of the field, I limited my attention to gestures alone, more numerous and easier to identify than facial expressions, already studied by some. To allow the most exhaustive approach possible, the gestural classification is based on physical characteristics, or more precisely on the relevant physical feature linked with the signification, since the gesture is intended to signify.

The corpus is composed of real examples observed in everyday situations, in a steady manner over several years with friends and relatives, colleagues, strangers on public transport or television, or confirmed by illustrations (generally taken from comic books). These latter have the advantage of presenting a direct association, widely attested to, between the drawn signifier and the written signified.

Sociologists may reproach me for not having adopted a differential perspective that studies gesture according to the geographical origin, sociocultural milieu, age, and sex of the speaker, or the context of the statement. My goal was only to point out existing signs in order to study their signifying structure. I start from the premise that gestures performed by some but not others are nonetheless jointly understood. I have cleared the terrain by pointing out existing signs and their meaning—through contrast with other signs—but not the manner in which they are used, though in a particular context this may influence the signification.

Relevant physical features

Type of movement and localization

DISTINCTION BETWEEN STRAIGHT-LINE AND CURVED GESTURES. The features which prove to be relevant for gestures in straight lines or on planar surfaces are not relevant for gestures following curved lines or surfaces. For gestures of the first type, the distinctive elements are:

• the bodily vehicle

Lifted in a sagittal plane (i.e., in profile), the hand at head-level corresponds to an exclamation; the raised forefinger accompanies a declaration or a specification; the thumb signifies excellence; the thumb and forefinger perpendicular to one another depict a pistol or rifle.

. . . and the plane in which it is held

Lifted in a frontal plane, palm outward, the hand corresponds to an objection; the forefinger to a correction; the thumb to a request for a pause, Pouce! (lit. Thumb—‘Time out!’); the thumb and forefinger to the quantity ‘two.’

• the directional axis carrying the intention

Since the classification is physico-semantic, the forward/backward axis also covers the opposition outward/inward. Turning the palm (edge facing down) toward oneself and moving it forward situates an event in the near or distant future, while moving it sideways ‘leaves aside.’ The change in direction changes the signification of the gesture.

. . . specified by the plane

The hand, sliding forward in profile^*a, indicates a goal to be attained, an objective (There is sure to be ^*a in the political perspective . . .), while with the palm facing inward ^*b, it pushes back the limit. (Why do you want me ^*b not to go further than General de Gaulle in nationalizing?)

. . . or by the direction of the hand in a given plane

A rapid downward movement of the hand in a vertical plane illustrates a separation, the cutting nature of something, a division in two (literally and figuratively) if the cutting-edge of the hand faces down, or a nosedive (literally and figuratively) if the ends of the fingers poke downward.

• repetition

When dropped, the edge of the hand cuts. Repeated in the same place, this movement illustrates chopping; if the hand moves to the side, it depicts slicing. One is also led to distinguish between (1) the same movement repeated, (2) an alternating movement, and (3) shaking.

• symmetry

The symmetric use of both hands, preferred for emphasis or harmony, becomes necessary for example to represent a comparison, a refusal of responsibility, like Pontius Pilate ‘washing his hands,’ or a positive appraisal through applause.

These four factors cease to be relevant for movements along curved lines or surfaces:

• A horizontal circle is drawn indifferently with one finger, several fingers, the ends of all the fingers of one hand, or in a symmetric manner with the edges of both hands. The bodily vehicle is unimportant.

• In drawing a circle in a plane, the hand changes direction: it moves up and down, backward and forward, outward and inward, or left and right. There is no directional axis. However, one can distinguish the progressive (clockwise) and regressive (counterclockwise) directions.

• Since a circle is closed on itself, the repetition of the movement is in a sense without meaning. A sketch suffices: surpassing the half-circle point amounts to producing the entire circular signifier. In the same way, starting a second circle is equivalent to drawing two, or even more.

• A cyclic phenomenon is signified by repeated circles with one hand or with two hands turning around one another. While not distinctive, the use of two hands allows nuances to be expressed.

We shall see that the dichotomy between straight-line and curved movements which has been exposed in the physically relevant components of gestures will also be found on the symbolic level.

DISTINCTION BETWEEN GESTURES ON THE BODY OR DETACHED. Whether they are linear or curved, gestures subdivide according as they touch or brush against (1) the speaker’s body, (2) another’s body, or (3) are executed away from the body, detached. In the first case, the body part localized predominates over the bodily vehicle used, its position, and its movement. For example, in alluding to being crazy, the only important element is the temple, about which the forefinger or all of the fingers move in a straight or curved line. The gestural variants are also found in the French verbal expressions. The forefinger taps the temple: Il est marteau (hammer), timbré (stamped), fêlé (cracked), or bores into it: Il est syphonné (siphoned), Il lui manque une vis (He’s missing a screw). Or else the hand facing the temple sketches a circular movement: Ça ne tourne pas rond (lit. It’s not turning round). The various body parts designated by gestures have been coded from top to bottom (Table 16). The lowest entry is the thighs, as if we were trunk speakers. Indeed, we note in mimicry a transfer from the lower to the upper body (Chapter 5, Transfer).

Body segment: Theoretical issues

DETERMINING THE RELEVANT BODY SEGMENT: ARM, HAND, OR FINGERS? Whether one ‘throws up one’s hands,’ or raises one’s fists in a sign of brotherhood in the struggle, or lifts one’s arms in response to ‘Stick ‘em up!’ or raises a hand or finger to vote, the arm is always lifted along with the finger, hand or fist. These gestures are placed in the category ARM since they involve the arm as a global functional unit. If attention is focused solely on the hand or if only the hand is involved, the gesture is placed in the category HAND.

Consider two examples of ambiguous cases (Figure 1).⁵ Holding the palm vertically and advancing it slightly, fingers spread, may signify ‘No’ or ‘Five.’ In the former case, the gesture would be placed in the category HAND, in the latter, DIGITS.—Closing the hand in a pyramid, with the fingers pointing up and touching at the tips, may accompany the utterances ‘It’s the essence of the phenomenon’ or ‘I have the impression that. . . .’ In the former, the relevant element is the reduction by closing (thus HAND); in the latter, it is the fact that the fingers touch (thus DIGITS).

The physical classification takes into account the signifying physical characteristic indicated by the corresponding utterance. The attention to the relevant element as indicated above is tied to the signifying intention and hence to the motivation.

Figure 1 - The relevant body segment is indicated by the corresponding utterance.

SUBDIVIDING THE HAND: HAND А, В, C, D.Hand gestures are so varied that the hand has been subdivided according to whether it is (A) held flat, (B) closed around something, generally to mime actions with objects, (C) clenched in a fist, a sign of aggressiveness, or (D) opening or closing. In this last category are placed hand movements and configurations which are neither straight lines or planes nor curved lines or surfaces, whether this pertains to the physical nature of the gesture or to its metaphorical referent. This includes for example movements of opening or closing the hand, and the particular configuration for holding, taking, or seizing, literally or figuratively, i.e., with spread, curved fingers. The table summarizing gestural subdivisions (Table 16) shows that the code of the gestural vehicle (body segment performing the gesture) concerns only detached, straightline gestures.

HEAD.How can one identify the intentional movement of a spherical vehicle? I was not really able to observe head gestures until I had noted their redundancy with hand gestures and clarified these latter. Indeed, the same forward movement of the chin can mean ‘There,’ ‘Straight ahead,’ ‘Push,’ ‘Throw it away,’ while these same significations would be specified by different configurations of the hand in its outward movement: palm upward for ‘There,’ lowered in profile for ‘Straight ahead,’ raised and turned outward for ‘Push,’ facing down with fingers projected outward for ‘Throw it away.’ In a sense, I had to hear and understand the signification—and to know independently the link between the signified and the signifier manifested in the hand—in order to recognize the intentional movement of the head. For example, is lifting the head an allusion to a backward movement, an upward movement, or an outward movement? One can say that it refers backward if it accompanies a signification generally associated with a backward movement of the hand raised high: ‘I haven’t seen it for ages.’ It refers upward if it accompanies a signification often indicated by one or two raised hands (in profile) at head level. In this case, the eyes are generally lifted skyward: ‘Ah, if I only could!’

Table 16. Gestural subdivisions.

To simplify, we consider the head as a sphere capable of executing rotary movement in a sagittal, frontal, or horizontal plane. The direction of movement and its intention are given by the projection of the curved line on the various axes. Consider the following example of gradation upward or downward in the sagittal plane.

A difference of degree in the rotation corresponds to a change of axis and of intention. Considering Figure 2, we see that a difference of degree in the backward raising of the head expresses the opposition between the forward direction (smallest degree) and the backward direction (largest degree). The first degree of rotation (lifting) can accompany the utterance ‘There, in front,’ the second ‘Above.’ The third refers even higher, ‘Ah, Lord!’ and the fourth can imply a position situated far behind oneself or allude to the distant past: ‘That’s as old as the hills.’ Inversely, still in the sagittal plane, the first degree of lowering designates the ground ‘Here!’ while the last indicates oneself ‘Me!’ Note that the head is not used only by default, i.e., not only when the hands are occupied. Often, it is preferred for expressing two significations at once. For example, it is common to lower the head, to press downward, in order to insist. Thus in the two previous utterances, the implied insistence ‘Yes!’ could be expressed by ‘(I said) Here!’ and ‘Me (damn it)!’

Raising the head a given extent may correspond to various intentions, made explicit by the direction of the gesturer’s gaze (Figure 3).

(1) Gaze downward: to look at someone ‘from above’ or to eye a person from top to bottom. This is an expression of contempt.

(2) Gaze far away: in order to see something better, to dominate, not someone but the situation. This expresses delayed understanding: ‘Ah, I see!’

Figure 2 - Rotation of the head in profile: each degree of rotation (1-4) corresponds to a different axis.

Figure 3 - The head raised a given extent corresponds to different motivations depending on the direction of gaze.

Figure 4 - A synthesis of two movements.

(3) Gaze upward: to locate something above or to mimic upward movements.

(4) Gaze skyward: to pray to the heavens or take them to witness something, generally negative: ‘Ah, if I only could!’ or ‘If I had only known!’

The movement can be the resultant of two others (Figure 4). An exclamatory rejection (‘My God, he’s stupid!’ ‘Ah, shut up!’) is expressed by turning the head (refusal) upward (exclamation). Insistence (movement of downward pressure) on something negative (turning to the side), or marking disagreement at the exaggeration of another (‘None too soon!’) are expressed by an abrupt lateral drop, combining the two movements, downward and to the side.

A dictionary of gestures arranged according to relevant physical features

Some samples are given in the appendixes. The classification follows the initial major distinction between straight-line and curved gestures. The first sample is thus an outline of circular movements, whose principal subdivisions, both physical and motivational, are found in Table 16. The distinguishing features of direction, plane, repetition, and symmetry, while fundamental for straight-line movements, constitute here only subheadings, and appear only in certain cases (Appendix 1).

The second sample, on straight-line movements based on a given body segment, shows the subdivisions according to the relevant physical features indicated above: one or two hands, in a particular configuration, in a single or repeated movement, along a particular signifying direction further specified by a plane and the position of the body part in that plane. For example, the hand performs a straight-line movement (/). It is held flat or bent with the fingers perpendicular to the metacarpus (A), closed over something (B), clenched in a fist (C), or opening or closing (D). It is directed toward oneself (1), toward someone else (2), or it executes a detached movement (3). The movement (toward oneself) is repeated (1.1) or single (1.2). The one-handed gestures (or optionally two-handed) precede those which are necessarily symmetric. While imposing, the outline (Appendix 2) presents only those gestures detached from the body and in straight lines, performed with one hand, held flat, followed by two-handed gestures of the same type. The following remarks should facilitate the reading.

Consider a gesture in which the hand does not touch or brush against either the speaker or another person. It is flat (A), possibly bent but not cupped; it executes away from the body (A-3) a repeated (A-3.1) or single (A-3.2) movement in a straight line (A-3.2/).

The physical variants to which semantic nuances correspond are numbered: /1, /2, /3. The hand illustrates straight lines or planar surfaces along various axes: up-down, forward-backward, right-left, transverse. Since the movements are corollary to signifying intentions, we will distinguish those that aim forward or outward from those that imply a backward movement or introversion. We thus introduce a new axis, outward-inward which physically merges with the forward-backward axis.

The subdivisions depend on the type of movement. For example, compound movements (i.e., simultaneously up and back) are distinguished from simple movements (up), which are themselves divided into stopped, continuous, or stepped (Hand(s) A-3.2/1.1). The divisions are also based on the configuration of the hand in a horizontal plane (prone or supine), or in a vertical plane (sagittal or frontal), e.g., /12.1, /12.2.

When the physical subdivision is no longer relevant, we resort to a classification based on the underlying motivation (cf. subdivision of various downward gestures, Hand(s) A-3.2/2). In this case, the differences on the level of the signification are generally linked to more or less subtle gestural modifications. When the gesture is strictly the same but polysemous, we resort to a semantic subdivision (Hand(s) A-3.2/1.2.2.2 or /12.1.1).

Movements in which the body is touched are not subject to the primary distinction of straight-line vs. curved. The relevant feature is the part of the body touched (see Appendix 3). The head does not touch or brush against one’s own body (1), nor another’s (2). And with good reason. Therefore only detached movements are considered (3). The head can move in a straight or curved line. For example, it can be raised either by stretching the neck or by a rotation in a sagittal plane. Since the difference between these two movements is physical and not representative, the differentiation coded as ‘/’ and ‘)’ disappears in favor of a unique ‘-’, a code also used under the headings ARMS and HAND(S)-D.

In the following summary, movements specific to the head are listed first, followed by those which can be replaced by an analogous movement either of the hand, the forefinger, or the thumb. For example, under the heading of the lateral head-shake, listed first are the movements corollary to the utterances A se taper la tête contre les murs (lit. to knock one’s head against the walls = It’s enough to drive you up the wall), Ne plus savoir où donner de la tête (lit. Not to know where to give with one’s head = Not to know which way to turn). These are followed by the sign of negation, which can be expressed by a lateral shaking of the head, of the out-turned palm, or of the raised forefinger (Appendix 4).

Examples of circular gestures: 3)5 in Appendix 1

The gestures placed under this heading are motivated by the real or symbolic image of a circle. Recall that the signifier can be reduced to the sketch of a circle, i.e., an arc, provided that it exceeds half a circle. The circular shape may be represented either statically or dynamically (Figure 5: 1-5):

• Statically, by two elements joined in a circle: the thumb and forefinger or middle finger, if the object is small (*¹), or the two rounded hands facing each other if the object is considered large (*²).

• Dynamically, by drawing a circle with the forefinger or the hand. However, the contour of a very small object can evidently be drawn only with the forefinger. For a horizontal circle, the direction the fingers are pointing—down (*³) or up (*⁴)—proves relevant. The circular movement is reproduced by the forefinger or the hand, or else by both hands if it is a question of surrounding or enclosing: with the hands roughly facing each other, the edges symmetrically trace a horizontal circle (*⁵).

Figure 5 - Static or dynamic representation of a circular configuration.

Within the subheadings for the different planes in which the movement can be executed, the gestures are further subdivided according to whether they signify a shape (.1), a movement (.2), or a symbol (.3).

HORIZONTAL PLANE—Fingers pointing down: (.1) This shape can be a disk, a traffic circle, a round table, etc. The significations are numerous. The gestural signifiers present static and dynamic variants: We can’t *¹ analyze through the little end of the telescope.—*² We have a close-up which is not uninteresting—Do you mean you’re ready *³ to sit down at the conference table (= for a round-table discussion)?—(.2) Yes, *³ so the turntable will start.—People were talking about it *³ all around Bologna—All women *⁵ are surrounded by a pack of men who eye them closely, who take possession of them.—(.3) To the extent that the movement encircles something, it may refer to the zone (from G. zônê: belt) thus enclosed, and hence for example a cliquish group. The word cercle has among its meanings ‘the company surrounding or associated with a person,’ i.e., the circle of bystanders or close friends. It separates within from without and generally illustrates the internal character of something: Possibly, *³ if each one of us . . . —What was said *³ this evening (i.e., between us).

Fingers pointing up: The notion of totality (see )3.2.2) can be expressed by evoking a sphere in various ways. Among them are the horizontal circle, a sphere’s projection on the plane, drawn with the raised forefinger: *⁴ For everyone.—Because we will not yet have taken *⁴ general, structural measures. Note that the abstract meaning of a circle (totality) would appear to be specified by the upward-pointing forefinger, while the downward direction is reserved for the various concrete meanings indicated in )5.1.1.

VERTICAL PLANE: SAGITTAL *^a OR FRONTAL *^b—(.1) The gesture can evoke any circular object normally represented as upright, from wheels and hoops to halos and auras: He has *^a some kind of weak negative aura. The squinting which accompanies the gesture might be an expression of both the difficulty in perceiving ‘some kind of weak’ aura and protection against its negative aspect.—(.2) The gesture illustrates movement around or within something, e.g., the movement of hands on a clock when referring to someone who has slept ‘around the clock,’ the movement of a car flipping over, the movement of satellites: To think that there are *^a satellites which inspect the whole world, or the movement within something: I hoped *^a to circulate somewhat within the training program—A contract is all the more integrated *^b into company operation if . . . , while the hand drawing a circle appears to incorporate the project into an already moving whole.—(.3) Drawing or sketching a loop in a vertical plane can symbolically represent an intermediary, the indirect link between two things, mediation (I got the news *^b through X), transmission of a tool or an idea (He is glad *^a to pass the toots of his trade on to his son.—There was a mechanism, *^a finally a very legitimate reason to bring in. . .). This gesture is also representative of repetition: They do not need * different training.

ARBITRARY PLANE—(.1) The small circumference formed by the thumb and forefinger or thumb and middle finger joined in a circle at the tips * may represent the circumference of a ring or ping-pong ball, the size of a hole in a piece of clothing, the size of a bruise, etc.: We had the impression * of watching through a keyhole.—That is, bring young men into * these cores (of political activity).—(.3) The gesture may depict the numeral 0: Zéro pointé, * je me suis ramassé une bulle (lit. I picked up a bubble), a student might say, on receiving a grade of zero. The ring can be formed either with the thumb and middle finger, or with the thumb and forefinger illustrating a monocle in front of the eye. Since the eye can symbolize the anus, this sign probably means that the individual in question is nothing more than an ‘asshole.’ In fact, the ring formed by the thumb and forefinger, generally in a frontal plane, may represent either ‘0,’ synonym of nothingness, or a circle, symbol of perfection (A stunning woman,* very, very beautiful, taking a shower). In the latter case, the gesture can be performed symmetrically with both hands ** for greater admirative emphasis. In reference to the Marx Brothers’ movie Duck Soup: Wonderful, the mirror image broken up into two, then three, ** that is perfection.

When applied to food, the gesture is most often performed near the face or in front of the lips and is synonymous with ‘Delicious!’ As an expression of quality, it is found in advertisements for certain consumer products. Presented during an intercultural test (Chapter 2), the gesture performed at shoulder height with a facial expression of delight was well recognized as a sign of avid praise: ‘Delicious!’ (see Table 13).

The gesture is identified by all, which confirms that the circle is a very generally accepted symbol of perfection (Chapter 3, Visual symbolism of the circle). The sudden widening of the eyes in a sign of exclamation was probably seen as negative by the Japanese, hence incompatible (39%) with the gesture itself interpreted as positive (65%). The isolated gesture is not unanimously recognized by the French (80%) since 16% of them associated it with the item ‘Nothing left!’h the fingers pointed to the gr9; This corroborates the preceding discussion of the ambiguity of the FINGER CIRCLE.

Examples of lowering the vertically held hand: A-3.2/2.3 in Appendix 2

Since there are numerous ways of performing this gesture, the subdivisions take into account the underlying analogies and are thus semantico-physical.

LINK FROM HIGH TO LOW.The raised hand, dropped in profile *, expresses the link between the heavens and the earth (You have to be a bit of a medium *, sometimes it just comes over you), or between generations (I’m studying them all over the earth and* in their filiation).

DROP.With the fingers pointed to the ground, the hand pokes downward *: And then, I dived * under cover. A woman speaks of her aged, depressive mother: There’s nothing we can do. She * ( = is letting herself sink).—The edge of the hand chops downward in a sagittal plane * to illustrate a devastating blow: They [horses] had * to be killed. Talking of current affairs: In any case, * she cut into you at a brutal pace.—Palm(s) facing oneself, thumb(s) up, one * or two ** hands are dropped in a frontal plane. By this movement alluding to the fall (of the veil) of night, someone may ask for lights down in a room: ** Can we darken the room a little? Today your profession * is completely masked by these mistakes, comments a journalist.

DIVISION, BREAK, CUT.Comparing the various gestures associated with the notion of dividing or cutting, one finds a modification of the gestural signifier parallel to the modification of the signified. A partition is depicted by lowering the palm in a sagittal *^a or frontal *^b plane (with one * or two ** hands): *^a He’d knock on the walls.—It’s really *^b boxed in, there are places where the *^b cliff really drops straight down.—We don’t have the same education, *^b there’s a wall between us.—**^b Curtain! We find the same variants for the notion of rupture: I would prefer not to have the dichotomy *^a assumed between. . . . —We risk **^b breaking off the contract. This can also be expressed by a transverse movement, tracing the cutting edge: It’s a room that has been cut *^c in two. As an interesting new variant, dropping the edge of the hands illustrates the trenchant nature of something (And that, **^b that was characteristic) or someone (He is still**^a very severe, **^a very strict). The gesture can be doubled in the sagittal plane as well as the frontal plane. Indeed, the cutting gesture evokes the clear, rigid nature of something or someone and, when the two hands are lowered with palms facing, refers to anything well defined, structured, framed. One could say that the tense vertical hand position corresponds to stiffness, dropping the edge of the hand corresponds to a cutting nature, and channeling or limiting with both hands corresponds to a high degree of structure.

OBSTACLE.This may be depicted by the palm which, when lowered, opposes forward movement, symbolically represented as toward the front *^b or to the right *^a, the direction in which we write: It is therefore necessary to know *^a against what barriers, what obstacles, the majority. . . . – *^b I find it extremely frustrating to. . . .

Comparing the gestural variants associated with each of the following significations, we find that the same gesture,*^a for example, can have three motivations (Chapter 6, Plural motivation). It evokes either a partition (a vertical surface depicted by the lowered vertical palm), a break (that of a horizontal surface vertically cut by the edge of the hand), or an obstacle (a wall lowered against some progression).

Examples of tipping the head to the side: 3.2-8.2.2 in Appendix 4

(1) The movement can portray a physical deformation or reproduce the oblique line of lopsided headgear.

(2) Holding the head in a lateral tilt, or head-cock, is a sign of tenderness, arising from fondness or from a desire to be touching. As is often the case, there is the possibility of role reversal. Thus one might see two people talking, heads cocked: one asking, the other sympathetic; one imploring, the other compassionate; one seducing, the other seduced. Here are some examples: a friend asking what’s wrong or trying to cheer you up; a vendor in front of his boutique listening to a client with business-like indulgence; a child trying to wheedle his mother for pocket money; a man suddenly moved by his wife’s fatigue. As many cocked heads as there are sources of tenderness or desires for it. This fairly common physical expression is verbally expressed in French:

Concerning the last explanation, I think there is confusion between the lateral head tilt and a forward tilt which is a sign of submission or meditation before one’s god.

For Morris, the lateral head tilt is a relic gesture: an example of infant behavior carried over into adulthood.

Montagner (1978: 282) cites chains of binding and reassuring actions between children: ‘crouch down—smile—offer—tilt head sideways; crouch—lightly touch the arm—talk while pointing to something or someone—tilt head sideways, etc.’ The author notes that similar sequences are observed between adults ‘when they are involved in an exchange which should lead to a privileged relationship (courtship, business deals, friendships, first meetings, etc.).’ He remarks, ‘E. Noirot, of the University of Brussels, has observed that among Brussels students, the frequency of lateral head tilting was much higher between a boy and a girl face-to-face than between two boys or two girls in the same situation (private communication).’

Here are two real-life examples in which the lateral tilt seems to correspond to asking to be excused and at the same time wanting to introduce a qualification, another way of seeing things (see below). On a television news program dealing with in vitro fertilization, a journalist who specializes in medical issues announces: Next, there will be cell division. The doctor interrupts: * No, not right away, tilting his head to the side in apology for correcting her and implying ‘not exactly.’ A writer does the same to correct the TV host who states that there are a lot of French characters in his novel: * They are mostly English.

(3) The lateral tilt of the head that illustrates the expression ‘To look at from a certain angle’ is found in numerous situations, all of which come down to indicating a particular point of view. It may be a personal point of view, one’s own (And that’s the meaning,* it seems to me, of their choice of François Mitterrand) or someone else’s (He crowned his sister who was the most virtuous, * according to him). It may be only one point of view; the gesture becomes restrictive (Yes, * well that depends how.—A subtle difference,* but a big one). It may be a point of view as yet unconsidered. Here, the gesture represents the aspect of the unexpected and becomes synonymous with the expression of surprise ‘Ah, I hadn’t thought of that.’ Yes * that’s kind of funny, someone comments, quickly leaning his head to the side as if to consider the thing. It may be a possible point of view, a way of looking at the question. The gesture represents contingency, hypothesis, test: * Why not? Finally, the head movement may have as a verbal equivalent, ‘You might look at it that way, if you like,’ close to the notion of mediocrity or skepticism. One often sees people tilt their heads to the side to answer * All right to the ritual question ‘How are you?’ The movement implies ‘So-so.’

(4) The lateral tilt of the head accompanies utterances like: * Be careful.—* Watch out. It is generally supplemented by an equivalent threatening or warning movement of the hand or of the forefinger. Given this parallel obliquity of the head and hand, one is tempted to see the head movement as a substitute for the threatening gesture of the hand, derived from the slap. Note, however, that one avoids a slap by tossing one’s head to the side. The motivation of the movement is perhaps in this dodge. Moreover, a person who is on his guard tries to see his situation ‘from all angles,’ to choose his angle of attack just like a boxer who ‘looks for a hole’ while dodging and ducking his head. Finally, the ‘sidelong glance’ is associated with hypocrisy, the regard par en dessous (lit. gaze from underneath = shifty) with deceitfulness. Such gazes, which arouse suspicion, involve a diagonal lowering of the head. These motivations are not mutually exclusive and can be superposed.

ABRUPT LATERAL LOWERING *.This movement is a way of marking or insisting on something negative. (1) It can express the speaker’s disagreement with another person’s exaggeration: Listen, I told him, I’d like to understand * but don’t exaggerate. During a debate, one of the participants, intent on showing that another speaker is going too far in his stubbornness, tips his head twice to the left, at first gazing upward as if to call heaven to witness, then letting out a prolonged sigh to demonstrate how tiring the person in question is. (2) The gesture can accompany a statement of the obvious with a negative connotation: * All the same, I should have known! Since insistence is expressed by a movement of downward pressure and something negative by a lateral turning away of the head, the gesture of lateral lowering is apparently the resultant of these two (Figure 4).

Symbolic corollaries to relevant physical features

On the symbolic level, we find the same distinctions as on the physical level: the dichotomy between straight-line and curved movements, hence the particularity of the circle, the functional particularity of gestures toward one’s own body, the specificity of signifieds attached to a particular body part in cases of substitution, the significations linked with a given direction. Lastly, the two relevant features of repetition and symmetry combine in symbolically rich alternating movements.

Symbolism of straight-line and curved movements

Opposition

Linear movements represent what is straight, and therefore rigid, frank, and honest—what follows directly, and hence is deemed predictable, assured, and certain—what is delimited or framed, thus structured or organized—what is cut up and separated, thereby classified and ordered—what is detached into isolated units, hence detailed or analyzed. We shall see that each of these straight or planar depictions is paired with a curved one that evokes the opposite signified (Table 17).

DIRECT/INDIRECT.While the shortest path from one point to another is a straight line, there is a variety of other paths; the curved variants are numerous. The vertical line, depicted by lowering the edge of the hand, represents the cutting, breaking, sharp, or rigid nature of someone or something, e.g., the ‘straight,’ inflexible nature of someone, or the clarity of a phenomenon. The transverse line traced by the horizontal palm expresses ‘directness’: l. someone’s moral directness or frankness; 2. what follows directly, i.e., a temporal or logical consequence; 3. determinism; 4. certainty.

True to his course, an inflexible man forges straight ahead, at the risk of running into an obstacle. The clever man goes around it. Rather than dangerously going straight to the point, the shrewd person advances with serpentine prudence. The timorous person will wind his way around and will prefer to use an intermediary, and drawing a loop * represents the intermediary, the means, mediation: I got some news * through Louis.—. . . , that is, * how education is mediated.

PERMANENCE/INSTABILITY, EVOLUTION.A continual, lasting, permanent, constant, stable nature is contrasted with an intermittent, transitive, variable, changing, unstable nature. The former is expressed by a horizontal planar surface *¹, the latter by a wavering movement from one side to the other of this horizontal plane, drawing a kind of undulating surface *². A clergyman contrasts the two notional movements in speaking of celebrations that attest to something *¹ perfectly lasting *² whatever the vicissitudes. As regards undulation, the moment of ‘wavering’ depicted by alternately wiggling the fingers up and down contrasts with the quick decision, made on the spot. Immutable stability is contrasted with evolution (from L. volvere, to roll): reproducing the etymology of the word, the hand moves in one or more vertical loops, thus defining the sequence of transformations in a given direction.

Table 17 - Contrast between straight-line and curved movements.

ELEMENT/WHOLE.The whole, represented as spherical, is cut into pieces when detailed. In the same sentence, a teacher contrasts a semicircle in a frontal plane, sketchily portraying a globe *¹, with a slicing action by the edge of the sagittally held hand *² to expose something *¹ globally, *² not in detail of course. An element is contrasted with the whole, the individual with the collective, the particular with the general. The representation shows several variants: a horizontal circle drawn in the air with the raised forefinger (* For everybody) or symmetrically with cupped palms facing each other (*It’s a collective responsibility); a hemisphere (A memorandum I wrote up * which is too general) drawn symmetrically (At election time, * everybody proposes miracles); a sphere sculpted symmetrically from top to bottom by the two cupped palms (And * this whole thing, this editorial council).

The hemisphere, the most common variant, seems to be only the sketch of a sphere since it illustrates the same notions. There are specific distinctions however. The sphere better illustrates the concept of a ‘unit,’ of compactness: Today, all of that * is a block, a compact mass. As for the circle, it better renders the idea of enclosure at the same time as totality: He lives in a * completely closed universe.

ANALYSIS/SYNTHESIS.The gestural contrast is parallel to the semantic contrast since to ‘analyze’ is, etymologically, ‘to de-compose,’ and to ‘synthesize’ is to ‘combine and bring together.’ However, the distinction is no longer maintained when speaking explicitly of reasoning. While deductive or analytic reasoning is contrasted with inductive, I have not seen any contrasting gestural representation, to the extent that reasoning, of whatever type, is associated with the progression of thought, with an interior process, and hence is depicted by an inward-moving sequence of vertical loops. Intuition is related to inspiration and imagination or associated with ‘flair,’ with ‘having a nose for,’ by touching the nose *: Some doctors are good, * they have flair (pif: Fr. slang for ‘nose’), instinct.

RANKING, ORGANIZATION/CONFUSION, CHAOS.Repeatedly chopping while moving the hand sideways depicts the separation into a series, the division of time, or classification: It’s a French fault to want to * catalog people. Both hands are needed to delimit, to frame. Lowered in parallel sagittal planes, the hands give a concrete representation of the notions of delimitation (. . . to the extent that the famine was * limited to this specific region), definition (I think that it is necessary * to clearly define the SAMU), or administrative, military, or moral supervision (Perhaps this will remain * the structure of societies—There’s a liturgy, fine, * it’s framed).

Contrary to the idea of organization, there is confusion. To mix is to turn different things in order to form a whole, a circle. Tо illustrate an unordered whole whose elements are intertwined, the two hands are turned one around the other: * Obviously there’s a sentimental story involved. The gesture also is an image for confusion: * I get all mixed up when I lie. I can’t seem to get out of it. It’s funny. How can one depict mental confusion? The circles are no longer interlocking in a sagittal plane, but in a frontal plane next to the head *: He went into a depression, a confusion; * everything in him was muddled. With regard to children swamped with television: They register everything, and it becomes a kind of cosmic chaos * which we have trouble imagining.

Nuances

Let us now see how a given notion can be shaded by linear and curved movements. Consider first the notions of time (Table 18):

CONTINUITY WITHOUT CHANGE / WITH CHANGE.In speaking one might not distinguish between the continuation or development of some affair, but the gestural expression recalls the etymological nuances of these synonyms. Continuation or extension implies a straight-line movement forward. Unfolding or development is depicted by a progressive curved movement. Drawing one or more vertical loops represents the unfolding of an envelope, or something unrolling by its own movement and energy.

Here are some examples concerning continuity. In accordance with the cyclic notion of time, continuity is illustrated by a vertical circle (* I’m still undergoing treatment), or by several vertical loops, with one hand for the idea of progression (We have to * keep improving our competitiveness). Sometimes both hands turn one around the other if the phenomenon is endless, selfperpetuating (* This could go on indefinitely). In contrast, continuity tied to the idea of steadfastness, of extension, is associated with a continuous straight line or a repeated movement along a given forward direction, *Always straight ahead. For example, an actress learns of the death of a director: He remains very much alive (her hands pointing forward slide in parallel as if on two rails) and will continue to exist. In this way, she expresses the idea that our memory of the filmmaker will be permanent (L. permanere: to remain until the end), lasting, and unchanged. Indeed, any possibility of change and evolution, which are part of life, is henceforth excluded.

FUTURE.Drawing a forward semicircle with the forefinger or the hand depicts a leap into the future, to a moment in the cycles of time: * Next Tuesday. In contrast, a time limit is represented by sliding the hand, facing toward oneself, forward ten to twenty centimeters: * Until Tuesday.

IMMEDIATE CONSEQUENCE / SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT.While immediate consequence is depicted along the transverse axis by a rapid movement of the horizontally held palm (* As soon as there is the slightest trace of hexachlorophene, it’s in Series С—Every time there’s rain, * it brings mosquitoes), a developed and repetitive consequence is represented by vertical loops: Afterwards, in general, * there is a cascade of consequences.

Table 18 - Nuances in straight-line and curved movements.

SUCCESSION OF ELEMENTS: SEGMENTED / ALTERNATING AND LINKED.The edge of the hand laterally segments a story published serially, while the alternating succession of groups working in turn without interruption is depicted by one hand replacing the other in a single, endless circular movement.

COUNTED ENUMERATION / REPETITIVE ENUMERATION.Successive elements which appear as detached units are counted on the fingers raised successively (thumb¹, forefinger², middle finger³ . . .), while any element repeated in a stream will be accompanied by a new vertical loop. The sequence of loops corresponds to enumeration by ritournelle (Chapter 8, Parallelism in form).

HEIGHT/VOLUME.Size is given in a two or three dimensional space. In one case, the height of something is indicated, in the other, its volume.

QUANTITY/OVERABUNDANCE.A large quantity is depicted by a level line at a certain height. Overabundance is depicted by a large convex surface. In accordance with the meaning of the word (a quantity that exceeds one’s needs) and the etymology of the word (L. unda: wave), the gesture depicts overflowing.

TOTALITY/GLOBALITY.Pushing to the highest level in two or three dimensions, a large quantity becomes totality, either finite and complete, or united and indivisible. Totality may be considered as a set of things added one after another until a maximum level, indicated by a transverse movement of the horizontal hand, is reached: the set is full. Or it may be seen as a composition of elements joined, or gathered, into a total mass, which connects with the notion of generality and universality. The reference to the universe or the globe seen as a sphere can be made concrete in several ways: by a sphere, a hemisphere (suggesting a sphere), or a horizontal circle (the projection of a sphere onto a plane).

PERFECTION: COMPLETION/HOMOGENEITY.The judgment corresponding to totality, i.e., perfection, is represented by similar gestures: a transverse line and a circle. But the latter will not be drawn with the hand. Since perfection and precision are often related, the circle will be represented by the thumb and forefinger joined at the tips to form a ring as if to hold something very fine.

CUMULATION/ADDITION.Cumulating is depicted by an increasing height, the palm rising parallel to the ground (The price of the dollar is rising, * rising. * It will go through the ceiling). Adding is depicted by a forward leap (We should * add some, if I may say so).

EXPANSION/DEVELOPMENT.While rapid expansion (Fr. essor) may be assimilated with flight, with ‘taking off,’ and hence is depicted by a forward rise (* There was the rise of Hitler), progress is represented by a forward ‘leap’ which portrays the beginning of development.

REDUCTION/CONDENSATION.The gestural expression of reduction involves a shrinking of the space between the two palms held sagittally or horizontally, or between the thumb and forefinger held parallel. The equivalent notion of condensation assumes however that the unity of the whole is maintained. The concentration of a given mass is thus depicted by the spread fingers which, by coming together at the tips, compress the space enclosed by them. They converge to form a reduced whole.

Let us now look at signifiers involving two elements. Some of the notions expressed are union, exchange, opposition, and enclosure.

FRAMING/ENCIRCLING.The hands held in sagittal planes on each side of the eyes, limiting the field of vision, depict narrow-mindedness: You and I, in our forgotten little hole, * have blinders like this. Lowered with the palms facing, the hands illustrate the idea of framing or supervision. Is there a curved way to delimit? The curved version of framing is encircling, literally and figuratively. With cupped palms, the hands draw a horizontal circle: All women * are surrounded by a pack of men who eye them closely and take possession of them.

CONFINEMENT FROM WITHOUT / FROM WITHIN.We distinguish between the person trapped by exterior elements, sandwiched between opposing forces represented by the flat palms, and the person who curls up in his shell; interior imprisonment is illustrated by cupped palms facing each other, closing in completely.

CONTRARY: OPPOSITE/INVERSE.Conflict is represented by two antagonistic entities, the two hands (There is a lot* of squabbling between landlords) or the two forefingers directed one toward the other (* They are at daggers drawn). But contrast in the course of something can only be illustrated by a reversal of direction; a rough, backward, vertical circle depicts logical contrast in the course of reasoning: *Inversely—* On the contrary—* On the other hand.

EXCHANGE: BARTER AND RECIPROCAL COMMUNICATION / SUBSTITUTION. Moving the hand outward, then toward oneself, depicts tit for tat. Performed alternately with both hands, the gesture * expresses an exchange of viewpoints or a negotiation: * That provoked a lot of debate and animation. A left-to-right flopping of the hand *corresponds to the impersonal, free circulation of ideas or products: The sciences are not a reflection of reality; moreover * the process of discussion. . . . How can substitution, or changing places, be depicted? An abrupt change can be an upheaval, an overturning, a turning around, a revolution. It is therefore logical that reversal be depicted by a circular movement of the hands, each one replacing the other in a sagittal or frontal plane: * It’s interchangeable.

UNION: BINDING/SOLIDARITY.The French words soudure and solidarité both derive from the word ‘solid,’ but the former is depicted by the union of two straight-line elements, and the latter by a curved movement. Indeed, the tips of the forefingers are joined to ‘solder’ or bind, and the palms are stuck together to depict the intimate union involved in merging. As for solidarity, it is defined by interdependent elements operating in a given overall process. The cupped hands are joined face-to-face in a solidary whole (Even with different political stances, we stand* absolutely together) or with interlocked curled fingers to depict attachment or mutual aid (We must plan for both * even if the secondary school has to be linked to the primary school).

ROUND TRIP / CYCLE.A round trip, coming and going, ebb and flow, are depicted by an advance and retreat of the hand. However, a progressive return can be illustrated only by a circular movement forward. Repeated, this gesture illustrates the notion of a cycle (G. kuklos, circle) which involves the repetition of a series of events in a determined order.

APPROXIMATION: BETWEEN TWO LIMITS / ABOUT.Among the various possible gestures, the head moving back and forth repeatedly between two limits located to its left and right* seems to illustrate the notion of a margin (Now, I think so, * it is a 10- to 15-year deal), while the rounded hand oscillating (Illustration 3) conveys the etymology of the words grosso modo, en gros, grossièrement, autour de, and environ used to signify averageness, approximation (We made * a rough calculation, nearly . . .). This gesture, which is common and can substitute for speech, seems to be based on a general symbol, one that is found in Hungarian in the etymology of the word ‘nearly’: körülbelül (lit. around—kör, circle—and within).

LOSS OF EQUILIBRIUM: UNBALANCE/UPHEAVAL.With the palms initially held horizontally side by side, unbalance is depicted by moving one up and the other down: * Sometimes, there’s a risk that the passive tense will prevail over the active. A backward arc evokes a reversal of the situation, and a complete forward circle evokes its total disruption: No, because at that point * hell turns over and becomes heaven.

NUANCES IN MOVEMENTS NEAR THE FOREHEAD: INTELLECT.The forefinger popping off the forehead depicts the idea which bursts out, the instant of discovery, the streak of genius. In the same way, the forehead is touched or designated to suggest the knowledge or intelligence of someone. In contrast to a linear, cutting movement, which depicts scientific analysis, vague circular movements at forehead-level suggest reverie and creative imagination: You are stating * artistic ideas—* Everyone has fantasies running through his head. Mental confusion implies a mix-up in the brain; it is depicted by two symmetric, interlocking circles in a frontal plane, right in front of the forehead. Note that the existence of two possible gestural illustrations of stupidity or madness—one linear, the other circular—does not indicate a symbolic nuance but is etymological in origin.

Visual symbolism of the circle

Here, I propose to address the specific physical and symbolic nature of circular movements and to show by placing them in parallel that the graphic symbolism and gestural symbolism of the circle are parts of a single whole: visual symbolism.

Symbolism of the circle outside verbal communication

Referring to a dictionary of symbols (‘Circle,’ Chevalier and Gheerbrant 1973: 303–309), we note that the universe is perceived as a round whole containing a multiplicity of moving elements: the sphere and the circle (its projection on a plane) symbolize undivided totality. According to the movement of the sun and stars across the sky, the circle symbolizes time:

Recalling the planets turning about the sun, the circle depicts the vortex of everything that moves:

Depicting the notions of time and movement (astral (r)evolution), the circle also represents heaven, principial unity. It is seen as the concentric extension of a point:

or as a section of the primal egg:

As an image for heaven, for God, or for divine manifestation, the circle depicts spirituality:

Whether it be because the universe is seen as an infinite extension nonetheless enclosed within a sphere, whether it be by similitude with the movement of a satellite around a planet, seeming to enclose it, or whether it be a reference to the fetus enclosed and protected in its mother’s womb, the circle symbolizes protective enclosure:

Symbolism of the circle in verbal communication.

Here we will consider neither configurational movements nor gestures reproducing literal or figurative movements, but only symbolic gestures. These directly represent an abstract signification which does not derive from a concrete meaning. They are presented in the same order as the visual symbols. Since the notions of time, totality, mixture, change, development, and encirclement have already been considered from a different angle (symbolism of linear vs. curved movements), examples will not be given for them.

PLURAL UNITY: UNDIVIDED TOTALITY / MIXTURE.In the notions of generality and mixture, there is the paradox of plurality in unity, the latter being symbolized by the circle. The sphere or circle depicts a global or collective whole, what is general or shared: the unity of a plural. In a different way, the horizontal circle, or better each hand turning around the other in vertical circles, symbolizes either the action of mixing and uniting to form a whole, or else the result: a combination of different elements. In French, the same word can be used for both notions: mettre ensemble (put together) to form un ensemble (a set or whole).

MOVEMENT: ANIMATION—CHANGE.Life is manifested by movement, which is symbolized, in reference to the movement of heavenly bodies, by a vertical circle (It is important to start up a mechanism * that will provide animation . . .). Moreover, movement involves change: ‘transmute,’ ‘mutate,’ and ‘move’ all have the same root. An abrupt change can be described in French by boule-verser (upset) and chambouler (turn upside down) with the root boule (ball).

TIME.We will see that the arc, the circle, or loops depict the repetition of days, the cycle of seasons, the living evolution of things and their perpetual reproduction, i.e., ‘celestial’ time (Chapter 4, Time).

DEVELOPMENT.The concentric extension of a point, the principial unity, which is difficult to draw gesturally, seems to be replaced by a series of loops (Figure 6: 1-4). It is as if the prime force (1) is unrolled (2) in a selfpropelling (3) process (4). This gestural unrolling can evoke the development or continuation of an affair, as well as a chain of reasoning or an unfolding in time. Note that a personal train of thought is most often depicted by an unrolling toward oneself.

Figure 6 - Various notions evoked by vertical loops.

INTERNAL CHARACTER.To surround is to encircle or enclose. A horizontal circle thus represents the internal character of something, such as a circle of friends or acquaintances and its intimate quality, ‘among us’ (In France, in Belgium, * that is, in our countries), or a circular movement closed on itself (The union headquarters * seems to be going in circles) or self-sufficient operation (The campus housing was a place where you could live * in complete autarky—Ideology * is closed, self-justifying, and self-censuring). We thus pass from that which encloses to that which is enclosed, from the movement of encirclement to internal movement.

While many of the interior spaces that man has created for himself are essentially cubes and boxes, the fundamental observation of the sky and of the body seems to have led us to associate the concept of interior with the sphere or circle. As ‘World Egg,’ the universe englobes the moving planets as the maternal womb envelops the fetus. And the spherical head contains all private thought! Finally, the movement of a satellite around a planet seems to enclose or contain it. These analogies have already been applied to the notion of protective enclosure. Complete enclosure is depicted by a (hemi)sphere. For example, a person raised sous cloche (under a bell-jar) and who has become apprehensive will live closed off, ‘in his shell.’ Finally, the image of a circle harmoniously reconciles opposites. To draw or sketch a circle is to gather into a unity (totality, mixture), to continue through change (evolution), to advance by starting over (cycle), to enclose or withdraw (internal character).

Specificity of gestures toward one’s own body

Gestures toward oneself can either locate pain, indicate a particular permanent or temporary shape of a part of one’s body, or depict things on the body (clothes or objects in relation to sensory organs) or used on the body, e.g., toiletry and make-up items. These gestures are generally descriptive, but not necessarily since psychosomatic disorders linking the physical and psychological allow for a transition to ‘transfer gestures’ signifying an abstract reality, for example, striking the top of one’s head to suggest the hammer of fate landing on one’s head, or raising a hand to one’s cheek to depict an affront, an emotional blow. In the same way, certain gestures evoke clothing and its signification, for example the presumed stilted, haughty character of someone who wears a tie. Another series of gestures refers to bodily functions, either their normality, improvement, protection, or hindrance, such as self-punishment following defective operation, or total cessation at death.

The variety of gestures on the forehead or temple allows one to make a synthesis of the diverse reasons for movements toward the body. These movements can evoke a physical description, for example a bump represented by the cupped hand, or an added piece of clothing such as a headband drawn by the parallel thumb and forefinger. Derived from a physical reaction—sweating profusely after a fright—the gesture of wiping the forehead with the back of the hand refers to fear: On a eu chaud (lit. we were feeling hot = It had us scared). As an example of localizing pain, the hand pressing against the forehead soothes the headache that results from intense concentration. Here, through a reference to the good or poor functioning of the brain, we shift to a symbolic gesture. Each intellectual activity is specified by a particular vehicle, configuration, or movement. Intelligence, knowledge, memory, discovery are signified by straight movements of the hand or forefinger, while vague circular movements better correspond to daydreaming or imagination. The strength of a thick-headed, narrow-minded, or stubborn person’s head is tested by hitting it with the palm or fist. The brain with a failing memory is punished in the same way. The gestural reference to mental deficiency appears etymological: tapping on the temple refers to someone who might be called marteau (lit. hammer), toc-toc, or to the brain which is fêlé (cracked), timbré (stamped); boring into it indicates that someone’s mind is tordu (twisted), complètement siphonné (siphoned), ne tourne pas rond (lit. does not turn circularly). Similarly, rumination (turning over in the head) or confusion (mixing up) are illustrated by a circle or two interconnected circles in front of the forehead. Finally, the gesture becomes even more conventional and opaque if it illustrates a verbal cliché. This is the case for the superstitious expression ‘Touch wood,’ which sometimes leads the speaker to touch his forehead, implicitly asserting that he is une tête de bois (lit. wood-headed = stubborn).

Specificity of the body segment

The shade of meaning carried by a substitution between vehicles can be explained by the specificity of each of them. Here are examples concerning the forefinger and the thumb.

Specificity of the forefinger

The forefinger, or index finger, serves to indicate. Extended along the axis of the forearm, it constitutes a directrix which makes it the prime instrument for situating or designating, literally and figuratively. However, it shares this function with the head, hand, and thumb. Although equivalent, each of these vehicles specializes in a given direction, clarifies a specific aspect, or carries a particular nuance.

ABSTRACT, UPWARD DESIGNATION.The following significations, derived from an abstract spatial localization, are expressed only by the raised forefinger, never by the hand. Pointing toward the sky, the forefinger refers to a celestial divinity or to the Most High. To speak in the name of heaven, to be a representative of the Almighty, implies knowledge of the future and, more generally, gives authority or importance to the speaker, and value and truth to the ‘message.’ This gesture, distinctive of prophets, has been adopted by preachers, tribunes, and orators. It accompanies any declaration of a prophetic, preaching, or solemn nature, or one deemed of paramount importance. It should be noted that throughout the declaration, the forefinger is held raised at head level and marks the segments of the discourse. It thus sets the rhythm of the speech, underlines the major points, and by its reference to heaven, imposes the message on the listeners. The speaker may want to insist or make supplementary or restrictive points, but the index will be a bit lower, since the reference to heaven is no longer necessary. Depending on the situation, the forefinger gesture of ‘making a point’ serves to augment, amplify and enrich, or on the contrary, to restrict, to object, to signal a point of contention, to nurse suspense, to give or repeat a warning, or to set down a condition.

All these significations focus attention on a point: a clarifying point, whether amplifying, restrictive or conditional, a point of contention, or one that is paramount and must be remembered. Warnings, often tainted with menace, are almost always accompanied by a stiff, raised forefinger. The conditions under which this finger is seen as threatening are specified below.

While far from the notion of threat, suggestion and hypothesis, in the sense of a solution glimpsed, are also liable to be marked by a raised forefinger, though differently. There is a certain analogy between making a suggestion and requesting permission, ‘May I suggest. . . .’ For the brilliant hypothesis that may be the solution to a problem or enigma, the forefinger is raised in front of the face, equally distant from the forehead, eyes and nose to evoke the solution (brain-forehead) glimpsed (eye) and astuteness (the nose representing intuition, perspicacity, subtlety) at having found it.

THREAT.That the forefinger may be perceived as threatening is confirmed by the unexpected results of a test⁶ performed with photographs of raised forefingers (Calbris 1979). The gesture is isolated by reframing the full-view slides corresponding to six situations: (a) indicating the direction ‘up,’ (b) indicating the quantity ‘one,’ (c) asking for authorization to speak, ‘Excuse me’ (Fr. S’il vous plaît), (d) asking for attention, ‘Listen,’ (e) threatening, ‘Watch it!’ and (f) refusing, ‘No.’ Only the height, verticality, rotation, and tension of the finger vary.

In actual situations, the latter two gestures are distinguished from the others by a repeated front-back or up-down movement for threatening, and a left-right movement for refusal. I wanted to see whether, despite the suppression of speech, facial expression, and movement, these gestures could be decoded by reconstructing the movement from the position of the hand: parallel to the body, palm outward for the left-right movement of refusal, perpendicular to the body and in profile for the front-back movement of warning. Since the partial views were not very differentiated, the interpretations of the isolated gestures were inverted:

However, the full-view photographs were correctly interpreted (Illustration 3(e) and (f)) due to the facial expression showing for refusal a neutral expression with the head tilted slightly back, and for threat, the head tipped to the side, a sideward gaze, eyes squinting, eyebrows raised and lips pulled into a slight grimace:

Table 19. Interpretation of photos of forefinger gestures

It is possible that during the photographing session, the facial expressions were intuitively enhanced with respect to a natural situation in order to compensate for the loss of information due to the frozen gesture.

The 28 French subjects were also asked to name the attitude which the gesture evoked for them and to specify that attitude by a sentence. This free interpretation yields the diverse significations possible for the photographed gesture. The results are given in Table 19. Aside from the permutation between refusal and threat, the attitudes were in general correctly identified, but it is very surprising that cautioning and warning are found as a leitmotiv in the responses for all but one of the photos: 6 for (a), 4 for (b), 7 for (d), 3 for (e), 13 for (f), but 0 for (c). Comparing the responses to the photographs shows that any raised forefinger from chest height to above the head, whether vertical or diagonal, can be understood as a cautioning, a more or less threatening warning, on the condition that the finger be stiff. The height and verticality are not relevant, only the straightness of the finger. This is confirmed by the interpretations given for the photograph (c) which, while showing a vertical forefinger raised above the shoulder, is the only one in which there is no tension: the forefinger is not entirely extended and the other fingers rest lightly on the palm. This slackness on the physical level seems to reflect timidity (2 responses) and indecision (2 responses) on the psychological level, and corresponds particularly to a question, asking to speak or asking for permission expressed by the utterance ‘Excuse me . . .’ or ‘May I?’ (12 responses). Of the 28 subjects, 10 did not give responses, but in contrast with the other photos, none of them suggested a cautioning or a warning. These results confirm the phallic symbolism of the forefinger (Fibl-Eibesfeldt 1970), since any phallic threat implies an erect phallus . . . a stiff finger.

Illustration 3. Warning (e) and Refusal (f). From Calbris 1979: 99

To the phallic threat is added the threat of a slap. The forefinger in the most diagonal position is associated most with cautioning, warning or threatening. One cannot help but think of the diagonal constituted by the profile of a hand ready to slap, for which the finger would be a substitute.

‘INDEX’—FOREFINGER.Any action derived from the word ‘index’ is accompanied by a movement of the index finger, or forefinger. The word indiquer (indicate) has as equivalents: announce, reveal, signal, denounce, designate, draw, trace. All these actions are indeed accompanied by a raised forefinger, directed toward someone or something, or in motion.

In summary, by its physical characteristics (directional, slender, pointed) or symbolic characteristics (designating heaven, or as a phallic substitute), the forefinger essentially functions to attract attention to someone or something, to give an indication, or to make an important, imperative, or threatening point.

Specificity of the thumb

As one digit among others, the thumb illustrates the unit ‘one,’ but as the leading digit, it represents that which is first, in an enumeration for example, and it generally accompanies the beginning of an explanation, ‘First of all. . . .’ It serves to signify priority or excellence, the idea of ‘first’ going from the comparative to the superlative: Super . . . Comme ça!

Separated naturally from the fingers and directed inward, it is of course the thumb which is lifted to the mouth, to be sucked or bitten. Biting it is a manifestation of anxiety or embarrassment in an adult. Sucking it is a sign of shyness or sulking in children. Biting and sucking appear to be manifestations of a single relic gesture:

As a substitute for the nipple or teat, through which the infant draws its first liquid food, the thumb is associated by extension with drinks and poured liquids in general. The thumb is lowered toward the mouth in imitation of drinking à la régalade, i.e., with the head thrown back and pouring the liquid (thumb) into the mouth without letting the lips touch the container. The thumb is also used as a sign of failure, refusal, or privation: with Que dalle! (Nothing!), synonymous with Rien à se mettre sous la dent (lit. nothing to put under the tooth), the thumbnail is flicked off an upper front tooth.

Perpendicular to the fingers, the thumb is naturally directed backward when held at shoulder level. It thus serves for all signifieds related to the backward direction.

Being the strongest digit, the thumb is used to illustrate the application of any significant pressure, whether it be against a vertical surface, as when ringing a doorbell or honking a horn, or against a horizontal surface in order to crush something.

In summary, as the foremost digit, the thumb represents the number ‘one,’ then priority, and, by extension, excellence; the ordinal number shifts from the comparative to the superlative. Separated from the fingers and naturally directed toward the speaker, the thumb is the digit brought near the mouth to symbolize drinking. It serves as a compensation for timid or pouting children and for nervous or embarrassed adults. Perpendicular to the fingers, it is naturally directed backward and thus is linked with all the notions associated with this direction.

Specificity in cases of substitution

Both the thumb and forefinger can be used to situate something above, below, or to the side, or to designate a concrete object or person, including oneself. Lifted in profile or inward, they represent the number ‘one.’ Lifted outward, they refer to a signification synonymous with stopping. Both digits, as well as the middle finger, serve to press down on or to insist on something. However, within the bounds of shared signification, nuances appear.

LOCALIZATION.The thumb and forefinger indicate a high position, such as ‘above,’ but only the forefinger (doubtless because of the threatening character associated with it) can designate God and hence accompany a prophecy or important declaration.

A similar situation obtains in the opposite direction. Only the forefinger can designate, with the same downward movement, spatial presence ‘here,’ or the present time ‘now,’ hic et nunc. The spatial localization can be extended; the forefinger gesture may apply to ‘Here at my feet’ or to ‘In this world here below.’ There is also differentiation between the various downward movements. Doubtless because of its special position with respect to the fingers, the thumb pours and turns over, while the forefinger, longer and more slender, ‘plunges’ or ‘nose-dives.’

The thumb and forefinger indicate a spot, an object, or a person to the right or left. Here again, the forefinger seems preferred for abstract localizations: We’re waiting for the latest information * on the Chinese side.

In summary, the forefinger has a monopoly on abstract localization in all directions except backward, the latter being reserved for the thumb.

(SELF-)DESIGNATION.Can we say that the thumb and forefinger are used indifferently to designate someone or localize something concrete? No, they are not entirely equivalent. The use of the thumb is considered cavalier:

I would add to this interpretation the fact that the thumb, specialized in the backward direction for physiological reasons, seems to refer par dessus l’épaule (over the shoulder) which gives an impression of rudeness.

ONE: PRIORITY/UNIQUENESS.The raised thumb or forefinger both represent the number ‘one.’ The thumb, the leading digit, is associated with the notion of priority, while the forefinger is associated with uniqueness. A sign of insistence, precision, and restriction, only the raised forefinger, nail pointing outward, can signify ‘Only one.’

HALT: REQUEST TO STOP / CORRECTION.Raised with the palm outward, in substitution for the hand, the thumb or forefinger halts. The thumb serves to call Pouce! (lit. thumb = Time out), both in sports and figuratively. The forefinger stops to make a point, or to correct.

CONTACT.Anatomically, the forefinger is longer and more slender, the thumb stronger and thicker. While the thumb presses on the horn or crushes, the forefinger pokes, drives in, plants. The former erases; the latter crosses out.

Directional symbolism: backward

Pointing over one’s shoulder with the thumb can designate physically following: * We were at the back of the train.—* They’re coming ( = They’re right behind us). In addition, the gesture depicts either what comes after something (unfinished enumeration: X * and company) or the act of following, whether it involves following someone’s reasoning (understanding: * You’d better follow closely, it’s difficult) or trying to do as well as someone (challenge: Tu peux toujours t’aligner [lit. you can always get into line = Just try to beat that]). A challenge implies the expected failure, hoped for or predictable, of another person. The most common verbal expression corresponding to this, Il peut toujours courir (lit. he can always run = he can try as he likes), and the associated gesture evoke the image of a poor runner left behind. The failure of one is often due to the refusal of another. These are two terms related by a role reversal. For both of these attitudes, we find the same expression, Je/Tu (I/You) peux toujours courir, and the same thumb gesture, which in this case might signify not only being behind but also throwing over one’s shoulder in rejection, as mimed by the hand in conjunction with expressions of offhand or rude refusal. Finally, the thumb pointing behind also illustrates a reference to something not present, be it someone or something missing, absent, or in the past, or something virtual: Did you hear * the other day, on TV?—I’ m calling * my aunt who lives in Nantes.—* You’ll see in the booklets. The reason for this gestural expression is simple: what is not real or not present is not visible, and hence not in front of oneself; it is logical to represent such a thing figuratively as behind oneself.

It is the direction which is relevant, and not the body segment, since the head, turned over the shoulder, can replace the thumb for all these signifieds.

Symbolism of alternating movement

Alternating movements depict various signifieds according to the axis along which they are performed.

EQUILIBRIUM.The idea is expressed concretely by the word ‘balance’ and by the alternating rise and fall of the pans of a balance about their equilibrium points. The pans are depicted by the two palms, often pointing upward: * It’s the balance of payments—* Along with a commandment, there comes a responsibility. The same alternating movement evokes imbalance and reequilibrating, whether the movement is performed with both hands (What you lose on one side, you get back on the other; * it’s the principle of communicating vessels) or by the forefinger and middle finger, with the palm facing down (There are some details that have to be* corrected [ = re-equilibrated]).

COMPARISON.Comparison implies both contrast (differences) and parallelism (resemblance). These are depicted by an alternating front-back movement of both hands, held flat in sagittal *^a or frontal *^b planes, respectively: There are things *^a which can exist on the level of comparison.—*^b It’s a little bit like the rise of François I.

Figure 7 - Gestural representation of hesitation.

ALTERNATIVE.This implies a choice limited to two options, often interdependent, which are considered each in turn. The gesture depicting this situation is an alternating rotary movement of the forearm (pronatesupinate-pronate) with the thumb and forefinger held perpendicular to one another*; each of the two digits thus seems to replace and succeed the other in a turning movement: What I am trying to set up * is another type of alternative. The same gesture illustrates the two-way relationship between elements: * And it is in that tension that faith is situated.—The problem * of the relationship between mood and tense.

HESITATION.This notion is illustrated by an arbitrary body segment oscillating from one side to the other about an equilibrium position (Figure 7: 1-4): a horizontal plane (1), a sagittal plane (2, 3), or a frontal plane (4). Each nuance on the level of the signifier expresses a nuance on the level of the signified:

• Wavering (1). Palm downward, the spread fingers are wiggled in a wavy motion * which remotivates the verbal metaphor of ‘wavering,’ an unsteady state due to hesitation: Yes, I think * she had a moment of wavering doubt.—* You’ve got three or four chairs.

• Intellectual hesitation (2). A listener tilts his head left and right along with the affirmation: The left/right [political] opposition is finished. This movement * depicts mental weighing, in making a prediction for example: Valenciennes vs. Caen? * I’d say it’ll be a tie. The gesture is sometimes supplemented by a moue of doubt ° which makes the hesitation restrictive: She’s going to fall in love with a Frenchman, *° but. . . —*° Yes, maybe.

• Skeptical hesitation (3). Whereas the hand held flat in a sagittal plane (edge downward) depicts what is straight, rigid, and clear, its oscillation about this plane (by a rotation of the wrist) evokes something or someone dubious, to be careful of: * That looks a little shady.—. . . while Moscow * remains prudent and wary.—But in that case, I don’t think * that can be true.

• Hesitation-test (4). With the thumbs pointing up, the hands are bent at a right angle, so that the fingers are in a frontal plane. An alternating frontback movement of the fingers of each hand which keeps them from coinciding in the same plane represents a trial technical adjustment: The socialists do not know * what political stance to take. With regard to a soccer game: Because there * might be something with one of the selectors that wasn’t quite right.

APPROXIMATION.This, too, is illustrated by various alternating movements that indicate different shades of meaning:

• Oscillation ‘about.’ A lack of clarity and failed adjustment express imperfection, approximation. In one case, the oscillation of the hand, which is unable to stay in a sagittal plane * (Figure 7.3), expresses fuzziness: An image * that did not exactly coincide. In another case, the oscillation of the fingers of both hands from one side to the other of a given frontal plane * (Figure 7.4), the impossibility of aligning them, expresses inadequacy: Without X having told me * exactly under what conditions.—* Not entirely.

• A margin. By a lateral shaking of the head *, the gesturer depicts the interval between two given limits, one to the left and one to the right: We have * between 500 and 600 police officers on duty—* Over nearly five years.

• Average or mediocre, ‘So-so.’ The notion of balance, ‘half-and-half,’ ‘more or less,’ is not in this case illustrated by an up-and-down oscillation of the two supine hands; instead, the two edges of one prone hand represent the pans of the balance. The gesture can be symmetric:** So-so.

Specificity of the head

Aside from the reproduction of concrete gestures such as hitting one’s head against a window or illustrating the movements referred to in utterances such as à se taper la tête contre les murs (lit. to hit one’s head against the walls = It’s enough to send you up the wall), the head also mimes attitudes whose underlying motivations concern sight, hearing, or eating.

• In the case of indignation at a reported scandal, a person might stick his whole head forward, with eyes wide open and eyebrows raised: *What!! The gesture depicts great curiosity; the neck is stretched forward so one can be ‘all eyes and all ears,’ to see and hear from closer up.

• The particular point of view indicated in sentences like *Me, I liked it and *She’s not really wrong is expressed by a sideways tilt of the head allowing one to ‘see from a certain angle.’

• To show disdain, one looks at someone else de haut en bas (from top to bottom), eyeing them scornfully from head to foot.

• Since a challenge implies the failure of someone, the speaker places himself symbolically above and in front of the adversary in order to look at him ‘from above’ and ‘over the shoulder’: * Wait just a minute! Who do you think you are? In provocation, the rapid lifting of the chin depicts hitting the listener with one’s head (as in ‘heading’ a soccer ball) and looking at him ‘from above’: * So what? Is that your business?

• Concealment and, by role reversal, mistrust involve looking ‘from below’ ( = underhanded) and ‘out of the corner of the eye’ with a sideways tilt of the head.

• At times of delayed understanding, the head is slowly lifted back, doubtless by a natural movement of surprise but also to ‘back up’ or ‘look over the question,’ while the eyes squint in order to see and understand better: * Ah, I see! In illustrating the various figurative meanings, does the gesture recall their concrete origins?

• To refuse by turning the head away is a relic gesture, that of the infant refusing the breast, or the food offered on a spoon (Morris 1977: 50). While one turns away in order not to see (what is repugnant, bothersome, scary) and not to be seen (out of modesty, to hide emotion, to avoid someone), one also turns away in saying * Je ne peux pas le voir en peinture (lit. I can’t see him in paint = I can’t stand him),* Je ne peux pas le sentir (lit. I can’t feel him = I can’t stand him), or* Ah, ne m’en parle pas (lit. Don’t talk to me about it = Don’t remind me) which people often say before recounting some unlucky episode, claiming not to want to hear about it!

Holding the head high or low and raising or lowering it are gestures rich in opposing significations. I will begin by recalling Morris’s statements on submission (Morris 1977: 142–147): in man, submission does not differ from that of animals. The intention is to appear smaller by rolling the body into a ball and lowering it with respect to the attacker. From earliest antiquity, subjects, slaves, and prisoners completely prostrated themselves, as Catholic priests do today at their ordination. Full kneeling, once commonly practiced before sovereigns, was replaced in the Middle Ages by kneeling on a single knee, full kneeling being reserved for God as it is today. Curtseying, a start toward kneeling, appeared at the time of Shakespeare. Restricted to women in the seventeenth century, it is now practiced only in exceptional circumstances by women introduced to royalty. There now remains only a quick lowering of the head and eyes. Taking off one’s hat has also been reduced to lightly touching the rim or else the temple. The diverse military salutes are variants of this. All gestures of submission are now quite attenuated: tipping one’s head is a relic of full kneeling, just as in the Orient bowing seems to be an abbreviated form of the kowtow.

These bodily expressions are the object of certain figurative utterances, mimed in their turn. One can s’incliner (bow—admission of defeat), plier la tête, courber le front (bend the head, bend down the forehead—obedience), s’incliner devant quelqu’un (bow before someone—deference), faire des courbettes (bow low—obsequiousness, lowliness). Inversely, one can se dresser contre quelqu’un (rear up against someone—resistance), marcher la tête haute (walk with head high—pride), while being careful not to porter haut la tête, prendre des airs trop hauts, le prendre de haut (carry the head high, take on high airs, take something in a high and mighty way—arrogance) or traiter du haut de sa grandeur (look down on—despising and condescension). While the allusion to lifting off one’s hat (tirer son chapeau, coup de chapeau, chapeau bas) accompanied by a nodding of the head is a sign of admiring deference, marcher la tête basse (walk with lowered head), baisser le nez (lower the nose), baisser les yeux (lower the eyes) express the painful feeling of inferiority, of being low in the opinion of others, in a word, shame.

The head naturally reproduces the head movements described in literal and figurative expressions. In addition to these specific gestures, the head can also mime in a reduced manner the movement of the whole body, as when illustrating the sentence: * It took off right away.

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5. The figures were drawn by Michel Calbris.

6. The forefinger test involved 20 photographic slides of gestural poses (gesture isolated by reframing each slide). These were shown on two occasions a week apart, to 28 French subjects. They were instructed to write down the attitude which the gesture evoked for them, and to specify it with a sentence. Here is a sample of responses to gesture (c):