From Tom Scott’s video Why Do We Move Our Hands When We Talk?
- Iconic, represent a literal object
- Metaphoric, symbolise an abstract concept
- Deictic, pointing of things
- Pragmatic, context dependent
- Beat, rhythm of gestures
- Emblems, named gestures
Gestures help us communicate more effectively and elaborate ideas, and even blind individuals use them. They add redundancy to spoken words and allow for emphasis and clearer explanations.