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Language Is Gesture
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Product Details
Author:
David McNeill
Format:
Paperback
Pages:
240
Publisher:
MIT Press (August 5, 2025)
Language:
English
Audience:
General/trade
ISBN-13:
9780262552912
ISBN-10:
0262552914
Weight:
10.4oz
Dimensions:
6.06" x 9" x 0.67"
File:
RandomHouse-PRH_Book_Company_PRH_PRT_Onix_delta_active_D20260617T074521_156615831-20260617.xml
Folder:
RandomHouse
List Price:
$45.00
Country of Origin:
United States
Pub Discount:
65
Case Pack:
27
As low as:
$34.65
Publisher Identifier:
P-RH
Discount Code:
A
QuickShip:
Yes
Imprint:
The MIT Press
Overview
A new way of viewing language, as a dynamic mode of meaning-making of which gesture is a fundamental part.
When David McNeill began his work on gesture more than forty years ago, language and the action of speaking were regarded as separate realms. But language, says McNeill in Language Is Gesture, is dynamic and gesture is fundamental to speaking. Central to his conception of language, and distinct from linguistic analysis, is what McNeill calls the “growth point,” the starting point of making thought and speech one. He uses the term “gesture–speech unity” to refer to the dynamic dimension of adding gesture to speaking. It is the growth point that achieves this unity, whereby thought is embedded in gesture and speech at the same time.
Gesture is the engine of language. It is foundational to speaking, language acquisition, the origin of language, animal communication, thought, and consciousness. Gesture is global and synthetic and brings energy; speech is linear and segmented and brings cultural standards. The growth point is a snapshot of an utterance at its beginning psychological stage, the starting point of unifying thought and speech. Growth points create gesture–speech unity by synchronizing a bundle of linguistic features with a gesture that carries the same meaning. This gesture–speech unity is a form of thought, a unique form of cognition.
When David McNeill began his work on gesture more than forty years ago, language and the action of speaking were regarded as separate realms. But language, says McNeill in Language Is Gesture, is dynamic and gesture is fundamental to speaking. Central to his conception of language, and distinct from linguistic analysis, is what McNeill calls the “growth point,” the starting point of making thought and speech one. He uses the term “gesture–speech unity” to refer to the dynamic dimension of adding gesture to speaking. It is the growth point that achieves this unity, whereby thought is embedded in gesture and speech at the same time.
Gesture is the engine of language. It is foundational to speaking, language acquisition, the origin of language, animal communication, thought, and consciousness. Gesture is global and synthetic and brings energy; speech is linear and segmented and brings cultural standards. The growth point is a snapshot of an utterance at its beginning psychological stage, the starting point of unifying thought and speech. Growth points create gesture–speech unity by synchronizing a bundle of linguistic features with a gesture that carries the same meaning. This gesture–speech unity is a form of thought, a unique form of cognition.
