Gestures are communicative movements of the body and include movements of the hands and arms, the head and even the eyes. Gestures are produced spontaneously and ad-hoc at the moment of speaking. They can be "freely invented" or already established and therefore conventionalised. Examples of the latter are so-called emblems, such as the upwardly stretched thumb or the victory gesture, but also recurrent gestures such as the gesture of holding away or the hand pointing upwards. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Description

Gestures can represent objects, actions, spatial relationships or abstract concepts. They create references to the extra-linguistic reality and are thus able to shape parts of the propositional content of multimodal utterances. This function is particularly prevalent in spontaneously created gestures that imitate the characteristics of the objects or actions depicted or represent spatial relationships and proportions. Spontaneously created gestures, such as the representation of an action, the tracing of a shape or spatial indications, form the majority of the gestures we use every day.

Expression

The expressive function of gestures refers to the physical expression of the speaker's emotions, feelings and attitudes. These are not only shown in the form of the gesture, such as a clenched fist, but especially in the way in which the gesture is performed, for example in an energetic, powerful movement.

Call

Gestures can fulfil an appellative function by addressing the interlocutor directly and demanding a reaction or action. This function manifests itself in gestures that function at an interactional level and often establish a reference to the addressee. Gestures with an appellative function can be used, among other things, to mark parts of an utterance and make them relevant for the addressee (discursive function). This is often found in gestures that emphasise parts of an utterance by moving up and down. However, gestures can also perform a communicative action themselves (performative function), for example when the open hand is used to request an answer or to assign someone a place. They thus interact with speech on a pragmatic level

The complexity of gestures is revealed in their ability to fulfil several of these functions simultaneously, whereby one of the functions usually dominates. This multifunctionality, combined with the close connection between gesture and speech, emphasises the complexity of human communication and the central role that gestures play in it.

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References:

An introduction to language and gesture can be found in:

Ladewig, Silva H. (2018). Gestures as part of language - Modern gesture research. In: Moike Jessen, Johan Bloomberg & Jörg Roche (eds.), Cognitive Linguistics. (Compendium DaF/DaZ, Vol. 2) Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 290-300.

Ladewig, Silva H. (2018) Gestures and their meaning. In: Moike Jessen, Johan Bloomberg & Jörg Roche (eds.), Cognitive Linguistics. (Compendium DaF/DaZ, Vol. 2) Tübingen: Narr Verlag, 300-31

https://www.lexikon-mla.de/lexikon/moderne-gestikforschung/

For the three functions mentioned, see:

Müller, C. (2013), Gestures as a medium of expression: The linguistic potential of gestures. In: C. Müller, A. Cienki, E. Fricke, S. H. Ladewig, D. McNeill & S. Teßendorf (eds.) Body - Language - Communication: An International Handbook on Multimodality in Human Interaction. Berlin, Boston: Mouton de Gruyter, 202-217. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110261318.202

Müller, C., Ladewig, S. H. & Bressem, J. (2013), Gesture and speech from a linguistic point of view. In: C. Müller, A. Cienki, E. Fricke, S. H. Ladewig, D. McNeill & S. Teßendorf (eds.) Body - Language - Communication. An International Handbook on Multimodality in Human Interaction. (Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science 38.1.). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 55-81. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110261318.55

Müller, C. (1998), Redebegleitende Geste: Kulturgeschichte, Theorie, Sprachvergleich. Berlin: Arno Spitz.

On the upward-facing flat hand, see:

Cooperrider, K., Abner, N.& Goldin-Meadow, S. (2018). The Palm-Up Puzzle: Meanings and Origins of a Widespread Form in Gesture and Sign, Frontiers in Communication, 3(23). DOI: 10.3389/fcomm.2018.00023

Kendon, A. (2004), Gesture. Visible action as utterance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511807572

Müller, C. (2004), Forms and uses of the Palm Up Open Hand. A case of a gesture family? In: C. Müller & R. Posner (eds.) Semantics and Pragmatics of everyday gestures Berlin: Weidler, 234-256.

On the gesture of holding away see:

Bressem, J. & Wegener, C. (2021). Handling talk: A cross-linguistic perspective on discursive functions of gestures in German and Savosavo, Gesture, 20(2), 219-253. **https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.19041.bre

Bressem, J., Stein, N. & Wegener, C. (2015). Structuring and highlighting speech-Discursive functions of holding away gestures in Savosavo, G. Ferré et M. Tutton (ed.) Proceedings of GESPIN, 4, 49-54.