LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Gestures
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According to Brunvand, "Gestures are a silent language made up of movements of the body, or part of it, used to communicate emotions or ideas. As such, they are an important aspect of informants' total performances...." In order for you to become more aware of how prevalent gestures are, try collecting at least ten examples of gestures you observe during the next week. Remember, gestures include such actions as shrugging the shoulders, crossing the fingers, winking the eye, raising an eyebrow, thumbing the nose, gestures of greeting, occupational gestures, obscene gestures, etc. You should have no trouble collecting these, but be sure to indicate the informant, specific gesture, and a short analysis of function.
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Gestures are reflections of every speaker's individual personality. What's right for one speaker may not be right for another; ... the following six rules apply to anyone who seeks to become a dynamic effective speaker.
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Gestures on these screen-contact computers have a variety of variables to distinguish them from each other. One is the shape of the gesture, determined by the path the finger or stylus takes while in contact with the screen. Another is the position of the gesture and the parts of its path, if any. Finally, there is the timing, both within the gesture itself and relative to other events. Sometimes the operating system generically interprets the gesture and sometimes a particular application interprets the user input with varying degrees of common assistance from the system.
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Gestures do not have invariable or universal meanings. Even simple gestures like pointing at someone can give offense if it is not done correctly. In the USA and western European countries it is very common for people to point with an extended finger but in Asia this is considered very rude (see Etiquette in Asia for details) and it is safer to use the whole hand.
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Abstract Gestures have been investigated primarily as pictorial representations intended to communicate information to their perceivers visually. This paper argues that affiliative gestures, the gestures affiliated with words, are neither visual nor communicative. They are kinaesthetic apprehensions directed by gesturers to themselves. Perceivers do glean information from the gestures but this is not their primary intent. Gestural practices in a somatic therapeutic session provide a unique opportunity to examine the way gestures can be used to influence the gesturer. Specifically, gestures invest the gesturer in the narrative realm she conjures up on the therapeutic occasion, in this instance, a dream world.
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Gestures play a central role in religious or spiritual rituals such as the Christian sign of the cross. In Hinduism and Buddhism, a mudra (Sanskrit, literally "seal") is a symbolic gesture made with the hand or fingers. Each mudra has a specific meaning, playing a central role in Hindu and Buddhist iconography. An example is the Vitarka mudra, the gesture of discussion and transmission of Buddhist teaching. It is done by joining the tips of the thumb and the index together, while keeping the other fingers straight.
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