02 August 2024

Confusing Semantic Entities With Gestural Expressions

Ngo, Hood, Martin, Painter, Smith & Zappavigna (2022: 96):

The SHAPE of a paralinguistic entity may be default, which means that it is rendered simply as a thing held in one or two hands in front of the body – with hand and fingers in a relaxed naturally cupped configuration. At the end of the ‘Hair Dye’ phase, for example, the vlogger is interrupted by her hungry children, and when filming resumes she explains that she has already given them a heaping bowl of ‘Chex Mix’ with applesauce squeeze – and she uses a default entity gesture for the applesauce.


Blogger Comments:

[1] As previously explained, terms such as 'paralinguistic entity' and 'entity gesture' confuse discourse semantics (entity) with paralanguage misunderstood as an expression-only semiotic system (shape, gesture).

[2] Strictly speaking, the hand shape does not realise the meaning 'applesauce'. Instead, it realises (mimes) the manner of holding a pouch of applesauce Squeez.

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