Gestures applied to an object:

We move forward to some discussion on transitive gestures (or hand actions):

One can classify these gestures according to physical characteristics of the object or device manipulated:[7]

{object type: solid, fluid or gaseous;{change effectuated: position, orientation or shape;{number of hands involved;{indirection level: direct manipulation or through another object or tool.

Another classification of transitive (or ergotic) gestures is according to their functions: prehensile or non-prehensile. In order to finish this section, lets present some remarks:

• Mulder considers that it is possible to consider the semiotic function as always present in ergotic gestures, in a conscious or unconscious way. He claims that "the expression of emotions during an ergotic gesture adds some semiotic content to the actions so that the hand movements are differently interpreted by an observer".
• As we have already mentioned, we also consider the epistemic function of the gesture as present in transitive or ergotic gestures, due to the tactile and kinaesthetic feedback received.
• Cadoz considers the instrumental gesture as possessing these three functions, as we will shown in the following section.

Wed Feb 10 10:07:20 MET 1999