Gesture : visible action as utterance Gesture or visible bodily action that is seen as intimately involved in the activity of speaking has long fascinated scholars and laymen alike. Written by a leading authority on the subject this long awaited study provides a comprehensive treatment of gesture and its use in interaction drawing on the analysis of everyday conversations to demonstrate its varied role in the construction of utterances. Adam Kendon accompanies his analyses with an extended discussion of the history of the study of gesture a topic little dealt with in previous publications as well as exploring the relationship between gesture and sign language and how the use of gesture varies according to cultural and language differences. Set to become the definitive account of the topic Gesture will be invaluable to all those interested in human communication. Its publication marks a major development both in semiotics and in the emerging field of gesture studies. Jacket The domain of gesture Visible action as gesture Western interest in gesture from classical antiquity to the eighteenth century Four contributions from the nineteenth century: Andrea de Jorio Edward Tylor Garrick Mallery and Wilhelm Wundt Gesture studies in the twentieth century: recession and return Classifying gestures Gesture units gesture phrases and speech Deployments of gesture in the utterance Gesture and speech in semantic interaction Gesture and referential meaning On pointing Gestures of precision grip: topic comment and question markers Two gesture families of the open hand Gesture without speech: the emergence of kinesic codes Gesture and sign on common ground Gesture culture and the communication economy The status of gesture Transcription conventions The recordings