Gesture and embodiment in Chinese discourse
手势在中文篇章显示认知的情境性与动态性
Kawai Chui 徐嘉慧
Abstract 摘要
Embodied cognition has been supported by a wide body of evidence from different areas of research, including language. However, despite the fact that the spontaneous use of hands and arms along with speech is indispensable and prevalent in daily communication, and the neural connection between speech and gesture is supported by numerous studies, little evidence from gesture has been provided in support of the embodiment of conceptual knowledge. The present study provides visible and empirical evidence to show that gestures in conversational interaction not only bear out embodiment in language, but also embodiment in gesture. The knowledge embodied in gesture is grounded in bodily and perceptual experiences situated in people’s habitual interaction in recurrent socio-cultural activities or in personal incidences. Among the various perspectives to incorporating the body, a situation, the world, and interaction in the study of the mind, the independent evidence from the gestural modality can reveal the situated and dynamic aspects of cognition.
Subject Keywords 关键词
Gesture Language 手势语言 Situated Aspect of Cognition 认知的情境性 Dynamic Aspect of Cognition 认知的动态性