(Salle 106)
Brookes, Heather
(Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa)
Amagama amathathu ‘The three letters’ (HIV) : The
emergence of a quotable gesture
The gesture for HIV (Human Immunodefi ciency Virus), in which
the last three fi ngers are extended with thumb and forefi nger held
together at the tips, emerged in 2002 in South Africa. Before May
2002, it appeared mainly to accompany and illustrate phrases such
as amagama amathathu ‘the three letters’ a common euphemism
for HIV. In May 2002, we observed this gesture being used as an
accompaniment to metaphorical spoken phrases using the concept
of ‘three’ to refer to HIV. Although observed in everyday conversations
simultaneously with speech, native speakers insisted there was
no gesture for HIV and that this gesture meant ‘three’ when used
independently of spoken language. However by July 2002, native
speakers readily glossed this gesture as meaning HIV and produced
the gesture if asked for the gestural equivalent of HIV. Examining
instances of use independently of speech, its most common uses
appear to be to communicate secretly about a person’s status in
situations where a person might be overheard, or to substitute the
gesture in preference to saying a person may be HIV positive when
communicating in private. Implications for the origin and development
of gestures in terms of conventionalization and detachability
from spoken language are discussed as well as methodological challenges
in capturing the emergence of quotable gestures.
