pointing, not with finger

[Conor Quinn]

It's interesting that there's a parallel cross-linguistic pattern of distal
deictics ('that') often having a negative/derogative connotation when used
in reference to people.  This is definitely the case in my dialect of
English ("that person" is fine, but "that" alone is pretty unpleasant), and
forms like Turkish şu 'that' are evidently similar.  So even "words that
point" can sometimes be tied into this system.

On Sat, Mar 9, 2013 at 3:26 PM, Anne-Marie Baraby <baraby.anne-marie at uqam.ca
> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I asked about what is going on in another native language, berber
> (tachelhit dialect) spoken in south of Morrocco and I had the following
> answer that I translate in English:
>
> "In berber culture (south of Morocco), pointing with the finger is
> impolite and may be perceived as aggressive (above all, when one look at
> the person in the eyes). What is preferred in that culture is a chin
> movement toward the person. Sometimes, one also use the hand, but with
> opened fingers (I mean that the hand has to be opened, not closed). This is
> an interesting matter probably linked to oral cultures."
>
> Anne-Marie Baraby
>
> Bonjour,
>
> Dans la culture berbère (sud du Maroc), pointer avec le doigt est impoli
> et pourrait être même agressif (surtout lorsqu'on regarde la personne dans
> les yeux). Ce qui est privilégié dans cette culture, c'est le mouvement du
> menton en direction de la personne ciblée. Parfois, on utilise aussi la
> main, mais avec les doigts ouverts (je veux dire ici que la main doit être
> ouverte, et non pas fermée).
> Voilà, c'est une thématique intéressante qui est surtout liée aux cultures
> orales.
>
> Abdallah El Mountasser
>
> Le 2013-03-06 à 08:54, Amy Dahlstrom a écrit :
>
> 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!
> :-)
>
>
>


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