Body Portions Thread

Direction of the Whole Body Expressed by Body Part Gestures
Submitted by Charlotte Wile- August 29, 2003

In the paradigm I use for indicating the body portion involvement of direction signs, a plain direction sign, as in Ex.1a below, indicates movement in which body portion involvement is irrelevant or unspecified. The whole body moving in a direction is indicated as in Ex. 1b, and a body part moving in a direction is indicated as in Ex. 1c. (See my June 5, 2001 posting in the Motif Symposium thread).

There are several ways to interpret Ex. 1b, such as traveling forward (Ex. 1d), going forward in the air (Ex. e), falling forward (Ex. 1f), and stepping forward (Ex. 1g).

Ex. 1b could also be read as movement of body parts gesturing forward in a manner that suggests the body-as-a-whole is going in that direction. (Note: All body parts need not go in the stated direction. What is required is gesturing that is dynamic enough or done by enough body parts to make the movement feel or look like the whole body expresses the direction) As I see it, we do not have an adequate way to indicate this concept. (Ex. 1h) Some might say it could be written with multiple indications, as in Ex. 1i. However, I do not think Ex. 1i captures the intent of moving the whole body. Rather, it seems to convey gesturing by discrete body parts.

What is needed is a way to clearly and succinctly stipulate that the body-as-a-whole expresses a given direction through gesturing body parts. I propose indications such as those in 2a-d. The indications contain a whole body pre-sign, and a direction sign that contains a “hold sign” at the bottom (as in the sign for “a gesture” shown in Ex. 2e); i.e., the whole body “gestures” in the stated direction.

Examples using the proposed indications are shown below. (Note also the use of the traveling and “movement in place” indications which were discussed in my July 16, 2002 posting the Motif Symposium thread, and the indication for a being in a “short zone” which was discussed in my October 25, 2002 and July 29, 2003 postings in the Spatial Locations and Directions Thread).

Ex. 3a. Traveling, beginning with the whole body doing backward movement that is expressed by body part gestures.

Ex. 3b. Traveling to the left, beginning with the whole body doing right side movement that is expressed by body part gestures.

Ex. 3c. Moving in place, with the whole body doing upward movement that is expressed by body part gestures.

Ex. 3d. Falling left-backward, with the whole body doing right-forward movement that is expressed by body part gestures.

Ex. 3e. Backward aerial movement, with the whole body doing right side movement that is expressed by body part gestures.

Ex. 3f. Stepping backward high, with the whole body doing forward low movement that is expressed by body part gestures.

Ex. 3g. Moving to a short zone, with the whole body doing forward movement that is expressed by body part gestures.

Ex. 3h. Stepping backwards and going to a short zone, with the whole body doing forward movement that is expressed by body part gestures.

Ex. 3i. Moving in place and going to a short zone, with the whole body doing forward movement that is expressed by body part gestures.

Ex. 3j. A body part gestures forward high, then two body parts gesture right side low, then the whole body does forward high movement that is expressed by body part gestures.