pointing, not with finger

[Margaret Noori]

I have been taught not to point with your finger or a "thing" unless you
mean it.

We say "zhinomaa" (a transitive animate verb with morphological relations
to "through") for pointing which I think refers to a range of behavior that
spans from a subtle, humble or polite lip point to a  more formal,
militaristic or angry finger/spear/weapon point of going through someone in
a real or ceremonial way.

Meg


On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 10:14 AM, Richard Preston <prestonr at mcmaster.ca>wrote:

> found by Preston for Cree on the E. Coast of James Bay
> minimum - rude; putting a person "on the spot"
> maximum - sorcery; a visible and tangible threat
> a shout where a well placed whisper would be good
>
> On 2013-03-06, at 8:54 AM, Amy Dahlstrom wrote:
>
> > Hello Algonquianists,
> >
> > I'm a discussant at an upcoming conference on gesture, and one thing I
> thought I would mention to the (extremely diverse) audience is the practice
> among at least some of the Algonquian peoples of pointing with the lips or
> with the chin, rather than pointing with the finger.
> >
> > I would like to ask you all how widespread this practice is.  And for
> native speakers (native pointers? :-) ), do you have any intuitions about
> why pointing with the finger is avoided?  Would it seem rude to point with
> the finger?  Or inappropriate in some other way?
> >
> > thanks in advance for any thoughts you can share!
> >
> > Amy
> >
> > P.S.  if you hit "reply" remember that you are replying to the whole
> list! :-)
>



-- 

Margaret Noori



Director, Comprehensive Studies Program

University of Michigan

1111 Angell Hall

435 S. State St.

Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1003

www.lsa.umich.edu/csp/


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