Why Humans Use Hand Gestures While Speaking

In a breathless episode of The Language Files (previously), host Tom Scott explains why humans gesture with their hands while speaking. Linguists who study these paralinguistic movements have categorized them into five different categories.

1. Iconic. These gestures represent a literal object, such as a flat surface, or a car weaving through traffic.

2. Metaphoric. Gestures that symbolize an abstract concept, like “before” and “after”, or “working together”.

3. Deictic. That’s pointing to things, positioning yourself to people, or places or things.

4. Pragmatic. Like offering the floor to someone, or “don’t bother me right now”.

5. Beat. The rhythm of gestures alongside the natural stress patterns of speech.

Why Do We Move Our Hands When We Talk

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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