Syntax and the body: the structuring of language in multimodal sense-making

Among the different organizational layers of language, syntax has been treated as the most rule-governed structure, even reducible to transformational algorithms.

In this collaboration, we take a radically different approach and argue that syntax is fundamentally anchored in the systematics of embodied interaction in various cultures.

By documenting syntactic-bodily patterns in video recordings of interaction across typologically different languages (Swedish, Estonian, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin), we will provide an empirical basis for a theory of embodied syntax as practiced by its speakers.

Bringing together research on syntax and embodiment, and using the micro-sequential methods of conversation analysis, we aim to establish a new frontline of multimodal studies of language.

Engaging six experts in four countries, the project aims to a) generate and systematize knowledge on the coordinated organization of bodily and linguistic behavior in real-time interaction, b) reveal differences in syntactic-bodily patterns due to the varied affordances of typologically different languages, and thereby c) advance dialogic and functional theories of language as anchored in the embodiment of interacting parties.

This fundamentally different conceptualization of language to incorporate embodiment will be consequential for how we understand communication in immediate human contexts and has implications for language education and digital interaction design.