pointing, not with finger

[Richard RHODES]

Ouch! That's so sad to hear! Where's the community pressure that got the
program started in the first place?

Rich


On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 10:48 AM, Margaret Noori <mnoori at umich.edu> wrote:

> Ahhh . . . Hap McCue-ba . . . gii maajaan 3-3-2008 and this semester the
> Ojibwe language courses have been reduced to only 2 with no
> definite guarantee they will resume in Fall.
>
> Revitalization is endless unforgiving work.  I'm so glad this group exists
> as a way for academics and community members to exchange info each year.
>
> Margaret Noodin
> Univ of Michigan
>
> On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 1:00 PM, Richard Rhodes <rrhodes at berkeley.edu>wrote:
>
>> On the question of other gestural uses of the finger. Hap McCue would
>> point upwards with his finger sometimes when he said "ni" -- the
>> interjection that means "Shh. Pay attention."
>>
>> Richard A. Rhodes
>> Department of Linguistics
>> University of California
>> Berkeley, CA 94720-2650
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>> On Mar 6, 2013, at 9:48, David Lessard <david.lessard2 at mail.mcgill.ca>
>> wrote:
>>
>>  Another question is whether raising a finger does not mean something
>> else. Pointing with the lips definitely meant something else a few years
>> ago.
>>
>> As a French Canadian, I was always told that it is a lack of education to
>> point someone with a finger, but not to a thing or to an animal. However,
>> it is not so much of a taboo and you see people pointing at each other in
>> Montreal everyday. However, when not using the hand to point, people will
>> seldom use their chin. They will use their chin or more commonly their feet
>> if they got their hands full, and their eyes and manners of speech (the guy
>> on the right, the lady sitting with the glasses...) to refer to someone
>> they don't want to be seen pointing to. This is all I can say from my
>> unformal observations.
>>
>> Envoyé à partir de mon Windows Phone
>>  ------------------------------
>> De : Jennifer Brown
>> Envoyé : 2013-03-06 12:23
>> À : ALGONQUIANA at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>> Objet : Re: pointing, not with finger
>>
>>  Google Crazy Horse monument; Wikipedia has some discussion of that
>> sculpture being designed with Crazy Horse pointing. When I first saw that
>> design I thought this might surely be an issue, and it is in some quarters.
>>
>>
>>
>> I think, from what I’ve read and heard, that Cree and Ojibwe people have
>> seen the gesture as invasive and possibly as connoting a play for power.
>>
>> But I also recall, as a child of parents of British/ Canadian background,
>> being told that it was rude to point at people.
>>
>>
>>
>> Jennifer Brown
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* ALGONQUIANA [mailto:ALGONQUIANA at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG<ALGONQUIANA at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>]
>> *On Behalf Of *David Lessard
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 06, 2013 8:44 AM
>> *To:* ALGONQUIANA at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>> *Subject:* Re: pointing, not with finger
>>
>>
>>
>> I have seen this among the James Bay Cree. I asked why and they told me
>> it was more efficient when they had their hands full. I did not investigate
>> further though.
>>
>> I have been told that it is an habit in Ecuador too.
>>
>> David
>>
>> Envoyé à partir de mon Windows Phone
>>   ------------------------------
>>
>> *De : *Conor Quinn
>> *Envoyé : *2013-03-06 10:29
>> *À : *ALGONQUIANA at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>> *Objet : *Re: pointing, not with finger
>>
>> Dia dhaoibh, a chairde!
>>
>> Definitely had this pointed out to me by Penobscots; not sure how it may
>> be among the Passamaquoddies, but it rings a bell there, too.  No clue as
>> to why, though pointing with the lips (= the acceptable and common
>> strategy) is also common in Australia, I'm told.  I might imagine that,
>> other society/culture/belief-system factors aside, being well trained not
>> to point with your hands helps in hunting, since the game-spooking motion
>> is far less salient.  But that's just pure speculation on my part.
>>
>> Till later, keep safe and sane.
>>
>> Slán,
>> bhur gcara
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 6, 2013 at 8:54 AM, Amy Dahlstrom <a-dahlstrom at uchicago.edu>
>> 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/
>
>
>


-- 

Richard A. Rhodes
Associate Dean, Undergraduate Division
College of Letters and Science
206 Evans #2924
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720


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