A study of using metaphoric and beat gestures with motion-based and non-motion-based metaphors during retelling stories
Date
2022-04Materias
Metaphoric gestures
Motion-based metaphors
Static event-based metaphors
Static object-based metaphors
Static space-based metaphors
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Abstract
In this paper, we classify metaphors into four categories: motion-based metaphors, static
space-based metaphors, static object-based metaphors, and static event-based metaphors. Then, a
study that investigated the use of gestures with these types of metaphors is reported. The aim was
to examine how these types of metaphors are used with metaphoric and beat gestures during the
process of re-telling stories. The participants of the study listened to three audio stories. Each story
contained two motion-based metaphors, two static space-based metaphors, two static object-based
metaphors, and two static event-based metaphors. After listening to each story, they had to retell
the stories in front of a camera. The videos were analyzed to determine the number of metaphoric
gestures and beat gestures that had been used by participants during the retelling of the stories. The
results showed that the highest number of metaphoric gestures had been used with static space-based
metaphors. This was followed by motion-based metaphors, static object-based metaphors, and static
event-based metaphors, respectively. On the other hand, the highest number of beat gestures was
used with static event-based metaphors. These findings indicate that the use of metaphoric gestures
and beat gestures accompanying metaphors is highly dependent on the spatial and motoric properties
of the base of the metaphors, which supports the idea of embodied metaphor comprehension.