Every culture uses hand and other gestures in communication. Some gestures are the same in different cultures. This is very helpful if they have the same meaning; however, if they don't, it can cause various degrees of misunderstanding, ranging from the minor and funny to the major and offensive.
Take the gesture demonstrated by the boys in this picture: a hand extended, palm down. What does this mean to you?
In my home country, Canada, this gesture is used to show the height of a person (usually a child) or an animal.
However, here in the Dinka Malual area where I live, it's only used to show the height of animals, never people.
Using this gesture to show the height of a child will elicit snickers or perhaps even outright laughter from listeners. It's not a huge cultural faux pas, but it shows that the one using it is still rather a cultural outsider.
So how do my neighbours show the height of a person? Like this:
The hand, held vertically with the palm facing forward, shows the height of the head of the child.
I must admit I didn't clue into the use of this gesture until I had been here some years--how did I not notice this? People probably chuckled when I showed the height of a child in the "hand extended-palm down" way, but I must have just assumed it was because of something I had said in my far-from-fluent Dinka. 😊 Finally some kids at school set me straight. 😀
Take the gesture demonstrated by the boys in this picture: a hand extended, palm down. What does this mean to you?
In my home country, Canada, this gesture is used to show the height of a person (usually a child) or an animal.
However, here in the Dinka Malual area where I live, it's only used to show the height of animals, never people.
Using this gesture to show the height of a child will elicit snickers or perhaps even outright laughter from listeners. It's not a huge cultural faux pas, but it shows that the one using it is still rather a cultural outsider.
So how do my neighbours show the height of a person? Like this:
The hand, held vertically with the palm facing forward, shows the height of the head of the child.
I must admit I didn't clue into the use of this gesture until I had been here some years--how did I not notice this? People probably chuckled when I showed the height of a child in the "hand extended-palm down" way, but I must have just assumed it was because of something I had said in my far-from-fluent Dinka. 😊 Finally some kids at school set me straight. 😀
Samuel and I learned an important detail!
ReplyDeleteHello, Jan. I have just spent the greater part of the evening enjoying all of your posts from 2012 up to a few days ago!! Thanks for all the details. These posts are very enjoyable and informative. I appreciate your eye for beauty as revealed in your photographs and in your appreciation for colors, sites, and sounds. I have learned so much!!! I will be sharing what I learned with my children (grade school and above), who will also find it interesting. I will also be praying for the work in Aweil. Thanks again, and I look forward to future posts.
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