Article published In:
GestureVol. 20:3 (2021) ► pp.417–452
Locational pointing in Murrinhpatha, Gija, and English conversations
It has been suggested that the gestural accuracy used by speakers of Australian Aboriginal languages like Guugu
Yimidhirr and Arrernte to indicate directions and represent topographic features is a consequence of absolute frame of reference
being dominant in these languages; and that the lackadaisical points produced by North American English speakers is an outcome of
relative frame being dominant in English. We test this claim by comparing locational pointing in contexts of place reference in
conversations conducted in two Australian Aboriginal languages, Murrinhpatha and Gija, and in Australian English spoken by
non-Aboriginal residents of a small town in north Western Australia. Pointing behaviour is remarkably similar across the three
groups and all participants display a capacity to point accurately regardless of linguistic frame of reference options. We suggest
that these speakers’ intimate knowledge of the surrounding countryside better explains their capacity to accurately point to
distant locations.
Article outline
- Introduction
- Methods, data, and the languages
- Locational pointing in Murrinhpatha conversations
- Locational pointing in Gija conversations
- Locational pointing in an Australian English conversation from outback Western Australia
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Abbreviations
-
References
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