Gestures Realising Elements Rather Than Figures

Martin & Zappavigna (2019: 14, 15):

As noted above, for this paralinguistic sequence handshape and motion are combined. In other cases handshapes occur on their own (Fig. 21). In the following sequence our vlogger concentrates on the size of the snack she has given her children, without setting the bowl in motion.

// then they had a snack I
// gave them each a bowl
// like a heaping bowl full of Chex Mix and applesauce squeeze //

Blogger Comments:

[1] To be clear, epilinguistic body language (rebranded here as 'semovergent paralanguage') is potentially expressed through the whole body, not just through handshapes and their movements.

[2] To be clear, the timing of these gestures functions as linguistic body language (rebranded here as sonovergent paralanguage'), since they beat with the rhythm of the speech, the first on the salient syllable hea-, the second on the tonic bowl, the focus of New information.

[3] To be clear, this demonstrates that these gestures realise elements rather than figures, the latter being what the authors claim to be analysing. These two very rapid gestures are made while the speaker utters the two words heaping and bowl, suggesting that they realise the semantic elements Quality (sense-measurement) and Thing (non-conscious material object) in parallel with the meaning realised in the wording.

[4] To be clear, this is not a sequence.  The two figures

• then they had a snack
• I gave them each a bowl like a heaping bowl full of Chex Mix and applesauce squeeze

are not structurally (logically) related into a sequence.  Any implicit relation between them is a cohesive (textual) relation between messages.

Moreover, the three tone groups presented as a sequence are further misanalysed for tonality.  The last "tone group" actually comprises three tone groups, with tonic prominence on bowl, Mix and squeeze, highlighting each as a Focus of New information.