Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (1) (remove)
Year of publication
- 2007 (1)
Document Type
- Article (1)
Language
- English (1)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (1) (remove)
Keywords
- Handedness (1) (remove)
Institute
Human manual action exhibits a differential use of a non-dominant (typically, left) and a dominant (typically, right) hand. Human communication exhibits a pervasive structuring of utterances into topic and comment. I will point out striking similarities between the coordination of hands in bimanual actions, and the structuring of utterances in topics and comments. I will also show how principles of bimanual coordination influence the expression of topic/comment structure in sign languages and in gestures accompanying spoken language, and suggest that bimanual coordination might have been a preadaptation of the development of information structure in human communication.