Mower County transcript., 1871-07-13
Gesture.Language In Italy.

crablc story, which is here given with all
reserve, as the diplomats say; in other
words, it is totally unworthy Of belief.
The story is this: A stranger present at a
cabinet-council in Naples, after some
silent pantomime had taken place, asked
when business was going to begin, and
was told that it was over
"But," objected the astonlshcd stranger,
"nobody has said u word.'
"rruc," was the answer; "but surely
you observed what was going ou?'
IL SAW nothing going on" said the
stranger, "except few shrugs and grim.
aces, and the king signing his name. You
don't mean to say you call that business -
"Of course was the answer. W hats
the use of long lalk, when We can cx-
press our meaning as we'll, and more
quickly, by signs
The story, though an exaggeration, is,
nevertheless, MT SD utterly absurd as it
seems to the English reader. southern
Italians use great deal of gesture while
speaking; not because they are deaf Or
dumb, for they are quick of hearing, ever
lasting takers, and remarkably intelligent,
but because they have picturesque instincts
and are not satisfied with expressing their
ideas by feeble words; while they satisfy
GIClI iuk'0t1SANC ~ uSAuS - otu1Co
in lieu Of whole sentences, and can, and
do, occasionally carry on conversations
without any speech at all. For example
have seen man in balcony near the
top of honsc narrate entirely by gestures
his days adventures to a friend on the
ground floor of ~ house on the opposite
side of a street.
The gesture Language is believed to be,
in the main. the same all the world over
still, in places widely apart, in which the
habits of life arc very different, it is natu-
raj to expect a corresponding diffe renee in
a language which is plainly initiative, and
nothing else In Mr. Tylor's work upon
the" Early History Of Mankind" which
contains very interesting account of this
language, it is stated that, according to the
general practice of mankind, shaking the
head is the sign for the negative "No."
In Southern Italy, however, shaking the
head never means NO." but always, 81
don't understand you; what do you
mean ?" while "No"is expressed Ivy elc-
waiting the chin and protruding the under
lip little; and a still stronger negative
by the same movements, to which is added
scraping the under side of the chin with
the tips of the righthand fingers, holding
the knucklcs outward, and the fingers
slightly bent. In the curious affidavit in
support of the will of deaf and dumb
man, unable to read and write, quoted by
Mr. Tylor, which explains the signs used
by the testator to express his testamentary
wishes, it. is to be observed that the testa-
tor expressed his death by laying the side
of his head in the palm Of his right hand,
and then lowering the right hand, palm
upward, to the ground. In Southern Italy,
al h,I,
making the sign of the cross with the first
gcther, upright, before the face,
that being the final action of tho
priest when administering the
sacrament to dying person. The gesture
by which the English deaf anddumb man
expressed his death would, omi,ting the
lowering Of the hand, mean, in Southern
Italy, sleep. In this country we bcck.n IL
person toward by holding u hand or fin gcr
with the tips upward. In Southern llaIy,
however, the tips are held downward, and
the English manner Of beckOning is used
for salutation. The verb "go' is express
ed in Southern Italy by holding the open
hand, the palm perpendicular, to the
ground, and pointed in the intended dircc.
ton, and shaking the hand up and down
from the wrist; while in this country we
simply point with the index finger. In
Sothcrn italy, hunger is expressed by cx-
tending the thumb and iir;t finger, keep
ing tho others closed, over tho ,no,uh, and
giving rotary motion from the wrist.
The render is at liberty to try this upon
any organ-grinder he meets, and mark the
result "'1o'ay"! is expressed by closing
all the fingers of the right hand except
the index, then pointing dnwnwar,l, max
ing rapid light movement of The htn.t
up nuo :sorr !; - to-1nurrow'' is tho same,
except that the movement is greater, and
from '|c elbow. Numbers, Of course, are
shown by holding up the lingcrs.-Apple-
TOMS JournaI.