Gesture is everywhere. We wave our hands when we talk, even if we’re alone. Signed languages are, of course, full languages that use gesture. And it could even be argued that emoji are the online equivalent of gesture. It’s inescapable. And why would we want to do without it, when it’s so useful? So we’re talking about gesture and language with Dr Lauren Gawne, author of Gesture: A Slim Guide.
Our chat with Lauren is available on video, so you can see all the gestures! Link: https://youtu.be/kHPgyXhl8Kk
Timestamps
Intros: 0:19
News: 7:42
Related or Not: 23:20
Interview with Lauren Gawne: 44:10
Words of the Week: 1:32:53
The Reads: 1:48:10
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Video
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Become a Patron!Show notes
News
Is the Southern accent fixin’ to disappear in parts of the US South?
https://www.abccolumbia.com/2025/05/12/is-the-southern-accent-fixin-to-disappear-in-parts-of-the-us-south/
Georgia’s Accent is Fading, New Research Shows
https://modlangs.gatech.edu/news/item/669523/georgia-accent-fading-research-shows
Boomer Peak or Gen X Cliff? From SVS to LBMS in Georgia English
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-variation-and-change/article/boomer-peak-or-gen-x-cliff-from-svs-to-lbms-in-georgia-english/6AEA44E9263DFAE376F3BB20E087E5F9
One Class, One Day: On the Trail of Boston’s Missing Rs
https://www.bu.edu/articles/2016/one-class-one-day-boston-accent/
Do accents disappear?
https://theconversation.com/do-accents-disappear-192548
Boonta Vista podcast
https://boontavista.com
Ancient Filipino script making a comeback with new generations
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/baybayin-ancient-filipino-script-winnipeg-1.7485942
RETRO FIND: Filipinos preserved dying language through tattoos in 1999
https://www.kcci.com/article/baybayin-preservation-filipino-tattoo-1999/64729515
Baybayin | Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baybayin
Baybayin: The Ancient Filipino Script Lives On
https://narrastudio.com/blogs/journal/baybayin-the-ancient-filipino-script-lives-on
Gesture
Gesture: A Slim Guide by Lauren Gawne
https://academic.oup.com/book/59637
A Manual of Gesture (1875) | The Public Domain Review
https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/a-manual-of-gesture-1875/
How Humans Went From Hissing Like Geese To Flipping The Bird
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-humans-went-from-hissing-like-geese-to-flipping-the-bird
Inferno 25 (figs)
https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/inferno/inferno-25/
Listeners use gestures to predict upcoming words
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/04/250422131205.htm
Cappuccio, M. L., Chu, M., & Kita, S. (2013). Pointing as an instrumental gesture: Gaze representation through indication. Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies, 24, 125-149.
https://www.mpi.nl/publications/item1835877/pointing-instrumental-gesture-gaze-representation-through-indication
Object-Choice Test | Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior
https://link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_100-1
Goats Follow Human Pointing Gestures in an Object Choice Task
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00915/full
One-year-olds comprehend the communicative intentions behind gestures in a hiding game
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2005.00440.x
Graham and Hobaiter: Towards a great ape dictionary: Inexperienced humans understand common nonhuman ape gestures
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001939
language and choking
[PDF] ‘Colin McLeod quips that “The human vocal tract evolved so that we could cry out ‘Help, I’m choking!'”‘
https://unstable.nl/andreas/ai/langcog/part3/arbib.language.pdf
see also a footnote in this DOCx file from Michael Arbib:
‘The Perth psychologist Colin McLeod [personal communication] quips that “The human vocal tract evolved so that we could cry out ‘Help, I’m choking!'”‘
but the observation has been made since Darwin, for instance:
Tracking the Evolution of Language and Speech: Comparing Vocal Tracts to Identify Speech Capabilities
https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/tracking-the-evolution-of-language-and-speech/
Descent of the larynx in chimpanzee infants
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC165807/
[$$] Hands speak: how casual gestures shape what we hear | Nature
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00125-9
The Timing of Beat Gestures Affects Lexical Stress Perception in Spanish
https://www.mpi.nl/publications/item3582989/timing-beat-gestures-affects-lexical-stress-perception-spanish
Beat gestures influence which speech sounds you hear
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7893284/
“Thus, we provide converging evidence for a manual McGurk effect: relatively simple and widely occurring hand movements influence which speech sounds we hear.”
Superlinguo
https://www.superlinguo.com
Words of the Week
What Are Dirty Sodas, and Why Is Everyone Drinking Them?
https://www.eater.com/23041658/dirty-soda-trend-tiktok-coffee-mate-creamer
Dirty Martini
https://www.liquor.com/recipes/dirty-martini/
What Is Dirty Chai?
https://www.thespruceeats.com/dirty-chai-definition-765697
Popping a manu: New Zealand’s unique water jumping obsession
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/24/popping-a-manu-new-zealands-unique-water-jumping-obsession
‘Manu jumping’: The physics behind making humongous splashes in the pool
https://theconversation.com/manu-jumping-the-physics-behind-making-humongous-splashes-in-the-pool-255837
Transcript
Coming soon.