Gesticulation in Italian
Around 251 specific hand gestures have been identified, with the belief that they developed during a period of occupation in which seven main groups are believed to have taken root in Italy: the Germanic tribes (Vandals, Ostrogoths and Lombards), Moors, Normans, French, Spaniards, and Austrians.
De Jorio interprets the endurance of hand gestures in Southern Italy in particular as a cultural legacy of the Romans, who used the art of chironomia in everyday communication and in oratory.
Ancient Greek colonization of the Mediterranean coast, including southern Italy, can be traced back via research to the early eighth century BC.
[6] After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, local languages did not assume a dominant position over one another due to the arrival of new immigrants and colonizers from other regions.
[7] Additionally, an extant funeral stone from the 5th century BC (currently in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin) depicts two soldiers shaking hands.
[8] This is believed to be proof of gestures in Ancient Greek culture, which passed to and affected Italian non-verbal communication through generations even more than spoken language.
[10] As the Renaissance emphasized the restoration of human nature in the classical era with the aim of breaking the shackles of religion,[11] people became more willing to express themselves and attract others' attention.
[3] This may be due to the emergence of large, highly populated city-states throughout Italy, such as Florence and Naples, in which people were compelled to make themselves more understood.
[14] This separation is evident between Northern and Southern Europe as well as within Italy; for instance, speakers of English and Dutch generally use gesticulations considerably less in their speech than Italians and Greeks.
[2] In a contemporary context, hand gestures are primarily used amongst Italians as a form of expression to accompany conversation rather than a substitute for verbal communication.
[20]In the oldest surviving images of the Annunciation, the Archangel Gabriel is generally found raising his hand before mentioning something important, a gesture widely adopted by Roman rhetoricians for the same purpose.
[21] More recent research suggests that the thumbs-up and thumbs-down gestures originated from Roman gladiatorial arenas, being used to decide the destiny of the loser of a fight.
[24] The elaboration of hand and daily communication shows some advantages and the use of gestures help the Italian's expression more easy-understanding which is believed by psychologists.
Whereas, it is found that people who prefer to use gesturing during their conversation tend to be defined with warm, agreeable and energetic characteristic, while less animated speakers are relatively logical, cold and analytical.
