Human manual action exhibits a differential use of a non-dominant (typically, left) and a dominant (typically, right) hand. Human communication exhibits a pervasive structuring of utterances into topic and comment. I will point out striking similarities between the coordination of hands in bimanual actions, and the structuring of utterances in topics and comments. I will also show how principles of bimanual coordination influence the expression of topic/comment structure in sign languages and in gestures accompanying spoken language, and
suggest that bimanual coordination might have been a preadaptation of the development of information structure in human communication.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:Potsdam/oai:kobv.de-opus-ubp:1941 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Krifka, Manfred |
| Publisher | Universität Potsdam, Humanwissenschaftliche Fakultät. Institut für Linguistik / Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft |
| Source Sets | Potsdam University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | InBook |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/doku/urheberrecht.php |
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