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. 😀
