Gesture Coding Reference Page

How to Use this Page

With six columns to keep track of at once, there is a lot to keep in mind while coding gesture. Use this guide to find all forms currently in use, as well as what body parts might be used to make each gesture and which glosses may be used for each conventional gesture. Note that some conventionals have forms in brackets; these brackets are a part of the form and should not be left out. Also, some forms do not require every column to have an entry. This is notated by “(blank)” in the chart below.

Deictics

form	lrb	obj	gloss	orient	mspd
hold	L/R/B/LF/RF/WB	cookie, toy, etc.	cookie OR take cookie	shake, (blank)
point	L/R/B/LF/RF/H	cookie, toy, etc.	cookie, toy, etc.	tap, touch, (blank)	points with object, (blank)
cont point	L/R/B/LF/RF	cookies, toys, etc.	cookies, toys, etc.	touch, (blank)	points with object (blank)
palm	L/R/B	table, cookie, etc.	cookie OR give cookie	tap, touch, palm up, palm down, palm side, palm out
cont palm	L/R/B	tables, cookies, etc.	tables, cookies, etc.	touch, palm up, palm down, palm side, palm out

Conventionals

form	lrb	obj	gloss	orient	mspd
aok	L/R/B		ok, sure, good, great
attitude	L/R/B		attitude
beat	L/R/B/H		emphasis
come	L/R/B/LF/RF/H/WB		come here, go ahead
cut it out	L/R/B		cut it out, no
dismiss	L/R/B/LF/RF		no, go away, all done, go ahead
flip	L/R/B		all gone, all done, don’t know, where?, exclamation, whatever, question, of course
got it	L/R/B		got it, get it, you know, ok, etc
hug me	L/R/B		hug me
listing	L/R/B		listing
naughties	L/R/B/LF/RF		warning, gotcha
nod	H		yes, emphasis
number	L/R/B		number (four)
oh my	L/R/B		surpise, exclamation
pick me	L/R/B		pick me, i know
pick up	L/R/B/LF/RF		lift C
prep	B		preparation, anticipation
shake	H		no, emphasis
shh	L/R/B/LF/RF		be quiet
shrug	L/R/B		don’t know, doesn’t matter, exclamation, whatever
shrug with flip	L/R/B		don’t know, doesn’t matter, exclamation, whatever, all done, all gone, where?, question
sweep	L/R/B		all, all gone, all done
tada	L/R/B		exclamation
the finger	L/R/B		fyou
thinking	L/R/B		thinking
time out	B		time out
wait	L/R/B/LF/RF		wait, slow down, cool down, stop
wave	L/R/B/LF/RF		greeting, attention, goodbye
<aha>	L/R/B		i know!, got it!, i have an idea, oh!
<back off>	L/R/B		back off, don’t move
<darn it>	L/R/B		darn it
<hero fist>	L/R/B		victory, jubilation, encouragement
<listening>	L/R/B		listen, hear that, pay attention
<oh man>	L/R/B		oh man
<pray you>	L/R/B		please
<score>	L/R/B		victory, jubilation, encouragement
<so so>	L/R/B		so so, sort of, not really
<thumbs up>	L/R/B		good job, yes, no, maybe	side, down, (blank)
<whew>	L/R/B		whew, close call, all done, that was hard

Representationals

form	lrb	obj	gloss	orient	mspd
demo	L/R/B/LF/RF/H/WB		tying shoelaces, etc.		detailed description of action
iconic	L/R/B/LF/RF/H/WB		rotate up, big circle, thinking, eating, etc.	trace path trace shape (blank)	detailed description of action
metaphoric	L/R/B/LF/RF/H/WB		idea, connection, etc.	trace path trace shape (blank)	detailed description of action