Gestures and Adaptive Niches

This proposal presents an evolutionary analysis of three types co-speech gestures: symbolic emblems, indexical pointing gestures and iconic representational gesticulations. Synthesizing insights from a range published sources in gestural studies, general linguistics sign language linguistics, primate studies analyses biological evolution, these are analyzed as evolved traits adapted to particular niches or roles within broader systems. Niche boundaries comprised element’s distinct properties functions, routes learning transmission degrees innateness evolvability populations. Rather than elements distributed along flat productive-analytical continuum stages diachronic pathways, terms adaptive peaks valleys with landscape representing the system comprising human gesture language. The same processes used analyze speaking populations linguistic derived signing approach offers new ways approaching proposed universals long-standing issues such listability languages, while offering formal gestures.