Is it language (yet)? The allure of the gesture-language binary
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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Author Spotlight: Deciphering the Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Gesture in Communication
Published on: January 26, 2024
1Department of Psychological Sciences,Department of Linguistics,University of Connecticut,Storrs,CT 06269-1020.marie.coppola@uconn.eduhttp://www.languagecreationlab.uconn.edu.
Abstract:
Goldin-Meadow & Brentari (G-M&B) challenge the traditional separation between gestural and categorical language by modality, but they retain a binary distinction. However, multiple dimensions, particularly discreteness and combinatoriality, better carve up the range of linguistic and nonlinguistic human communication. Investigating transformation over time along these dimensions will reveal how the nature of language reflects human minds, rather than the world to which language refers.
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