Language in the Body

Gestures are integral to spoken language. However, much of modern linguistic enquiry has been based on analyses of language as text. This book is situated in the turn towards face-to-face interaction as the primary source of linguistic data. Taking a cognitive and usage-based approach, it provides data-driven investigations of the conventions of spontaneous conversation, going beyond linguistic features of utterances to include manual gestures, head movements, shoulder shrugs, postural shifts, eye-gaze and brow movements, collectively known as co-speech behaviour. The volume marshals evidence for the coordinated and recurrent bodily enactment of grammatical and discourse-level expressions, thus contributing to a more robust understanding of the role of the body in natural discourse.