Multimodality’s role in nano-scale niche construction
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12824476 |
|---|---|
| Authors | N J Enfield (0000-0003-3891-6973, The University of Sydney, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Publication date | 2025-12-10 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Gesture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1568-1475 • E-ISSN: 1569-9773 |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1075/gest.25029.enf |
| OpenAlex | W4417185546 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
Human communicative discourse can be understood as a form of nano-scale niche construction. If our burst-like communicative moves in the medium of language are to create niches that persist long enough to be exploited as shared informational environments, then we need ways to bind individual moves into larger, temporarily stable structures. One important resource for this purpose is multimodality, as found in pioneering work in gesture research by Adam Kendon and by David McNeill, among others. The discussion points to areas where gesture studies and evolutionary approaches to human communication have potential for collaboration and innovation
Gesture · Human language · Niche · Niche construction · Work (physics · Hand Gesture Recognition Systems · Hearing Impairment and Communication · Nanotechnology research and applications
The Anatomy of Meaning
Language and Gesture
Using Language
Grammar, Gesture, and Meaning in American Sign Language
The extended evolutionary synthesis
The Ultimate Ecosystem Engineers
D arwin's D angerous I dea
Some Relationships Between Body Motion and Speech
Orality and Literacy
Other-initiated Repair in Argentine Sign Language
Catchments, prosody and discourse
Weakest link or strongest link
Home position
Stance, Alignment, and Affiliation During Storytelling
Differential Perception and Attentional Frame in Face-to-Face Interaction
Place reference in story beginnings
Fission-Fusion Dynamics
| Highly cited | No |
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