ABSTRACT
When one considers human gestural behavior, two instances are likely to come to mind: the gestures that hearing people use spontaneously as they speak (which we call gesticulation) and the formal sign languages that deaf people use (without speech) as their sole linguistic communication system. According to McNeill (1992), the distinctions among different types of gestural behavior can best be captured with a continuum based on the functional relationship of gesture to speech. For example, at one end of the continuum, gesticulation and speech form an integrated communication system, each functioning to convey information generated by a single underlying psychological process. Thus, the function of gesticulation is deeply connected to speech, as the two simultaneously communicate a shared concept. In contrast, at the other end of the continuum, is conventional signed language, in which gesture (or more properly, sign) functions as a primary communication system in its own right. In such systems, gesture/sign has no dependent relationship to speech (which is absent).
