gestures and prosody

[Jeff ALLEN]

Brian MacWhinney wrote:
>  However, other topics are a bit tougher.  For example, reducing Jeff
>Allen's questions about prosodic structures and gestures to a series of
>key word queries is not easy.   Jeff's question is not a mere
>bibliographic question.  He is advancing a couple of specific claims
>(prosody learned before syntax, and 50 percent of language is
>gestural).  So, his question is really about whether anyone has
>defended these specific claims. 
> For example, Ann Peter and Lise Menn
>might conceivably (underscore "conceivably") say that they have
>evidence in support of the idea that parents can understand their
>children's intonation before they understand the content of their
>utterances.  

Thank you Brian for your comments.  I have heard that articles/papers
have discussed the concept of prosody being acquired before syntax.
What I am interested in specifically is that prosody is a very
important factor in communication.  In some instances of adult
communication, the only way to distinguish between a declarative, 
and a question is from prosodic structure when the phonemic string
is the same.  In the case of children, especially children who I have
not spent much time with, I sometimes cannot make out the individual
lexical items, but the prosodic nature of the utterance is the glue that
allows me to understand what they are trying to communicate. If there
are articles in favor or against this concept, I would be more than
willing to receive more info along these lines.


>I will leave it up to others to decide if anyone would
>support the idea that 50% of communication is gestural. 

The number 50 is completely arbitrary.  It might be 10%, 20%
30% etc.    I remember reading a paper on this topic several years
ago and simply cannot remember the number that was attributed,
nor the author of the paper.  It is certain that gestures make up a
part of general communication, but I would like to get some information
on studies that try to quantify it, even in specific contexts.

>The ideal situation seems to be something like this.  Before posting
>a query to the list, the researcher or student consults either PsychLit
>or CHILDES/BIB. 

The problem is that my Internet access is very limited.  I can easily send
and receive e-mail. I am sorry if this request increases the bandwidth 
of the discussion list at the moment.   Given my current internet situation, 
asking questions via lists is the best way for me to obtain information.

Thanks in advance for the replies and comments.

Jeff



=================================================
Jeff ALLEN - Directeur Technique
European Language Resources Association (ELRA)  &
European Language resources Distribution Agency (ELDA) 
(Agence Européenne de Distribution des Ressources Linguistiques)
55, rue Brillat-Savarin
75013   Paris   FRANCE
Tel: (+33) (0) 1.43.13.33.33 - Fax: (+33) (0) 1.43.13.33.30
mailto:jeff at elda.fr
http://www.icp.grenet.fr/ELRA/home.html