Small Quantity Gesture Construction

Language: English

Handedness One-Handed
Handshape Middle, right, and little fingers retracted toward the palm.
Handshape Thumb and index extended or crooked and parallel to each other.
Movement Static hold or beat.
Orientation Palm Lateral.
Position Central space or at face level.
Timing Usually for the entire duration of the co-occurring verbal construction.
Pragmatic property Affective/evaluative framing.
Pragmatic property Foregrounding the small quantity of the referent.
Semantic property Small quantity.

Links

Element of (en) This close to V-ing construction Spoken American English

Research

Research Question How can multimodal phenomena be modelled in Construction Grammar?
Findings The meso construction is a semi-schematic multimodal construction: the verbal form is fixed, while the gestural component is a schematic slot. This slot accepts specific gesture types, primarily those indicating height or cutting motions. The meanings of these gestures are metaphorically extended to the domain of emotions conceptualized as a liquid.

Metadata

Date Created 2026-07-07
Annotator Yassine Iabdounane

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