The depiction of negativity: The case of the Brushing Hands gesture used by Hebrew speakers

Abstract

In the present study, using Hebrew data, we discuss the formation and semiosis of gestures associated with a cognitive domain of negativity, and delve more deeply into analysis of one such gesture: the Brushing Hands gesture. We propose that this manual gestural form originates in a recurrent everyday experience—cleaning one’s hands of food scraps at the end of a meal—and propose that an indication of this particular physical action or experience may develop into an indication of an abstract notion of negativity which can be expanded by the interlocutors in various ways that suit the current context. More generally, we discuss similarities between such gestures and lexical items in various domains, such as metaphoric and metonymic routes and the process of grammaticalization that they may undergo.