Italian Hand Gestures: A Short History | The New York Times
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2013
- Can Italians talk without using their hands? Gestures that insult, beg and swear offer a window into Roman culture.
Read the story here: nyti.ms/1avwKYQ
Please visit nyti.ms/10uNGck in order to embed this video
Subscribe to the Times Video newsletter for free and get a handpicked selection of the best videos from The New York Times every week: bit.ly/timesvideonewsletter
Subscribe on RUclips: bit.ly/U8Ys7n
Watch more videos at: nytimes.com/video
---------------------------------------------------------------
Want more from The New York Times?
Twitter: / nytvideo
Facebook: / nytimes
Google+: plus.google.com/+nytimes/
Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch. On RUclips.
Italian Hand Gestures: A Short History
/ thenewyorktimes
Some Greeks & Italians i know literally put the phone on loud speaker just so they can gesture with both hands while talking.
I’m Italian and I can confirm, we prefer have hands free even if we are on the phone, we just can’t avoid gesture... very often when I send an audio while chatting with my friends I say things like “that way/a little bit/like this” and I interrupt myself forgetting to end the sentence because I ended it with my hands, than I remember the other person can’t see me... It’s very weird 😂
awhahahahahhahaha
TRUE.
I do the same, i feel uncomfortable to talk without using hands. It's like being a robot!
greek , can confirm
fact: almost everyone watching this is italian
I’m Russian 😅
Vero 😂
Facts
sonó 12.5% italiano 🤌🏽🤌🏽🤌🏽🤌🏽
Anche io sono italiano
RUclips algorithm be like:
2013: nah
2014: nah
2015: nah
2016: nah
2017: nah
2018: nah
2019: nah
2020: nah
2021: NOW IS THE TIME TO HAVE THIS VIDEO ON YOUR HOME
RUclips comments be like:
2013: nah
2014: nah
2015: nah
2016: nah
2017: nah
2018: nah
2019: now is the time to copypaste the same comment about YT algorithm everyhere
2020: now is the time to copypaste the same comment about YT algorithm everyhere
2021: now is the time to copypaste the same comment about YT algorithm everyhere
I'm annoyed by the fact that you got 500 likes from this
Wow it’s almost like there’s literally millions of videos on this sight!
Ikr
These type of comments seem even more stupid years later and I didnt think it was possible
Why? Because we stand in the middle of the Mediterranean sea , once upon a time the centre of the world , unbelievable number of languages from literally everywhere, the beginning of the 'globalization'.
This is a sort of Esperanto, a sort of universal language , there is always a reason and the reason is history.
This whole globalization thing is a lie. World was globalised way before it. What we have got is speed.
For example few years ago I was reading about a battle between Portugal fleet and an island in Indian Ocean which was ruled by a Russian who was a Muslim. And this island was an ally of Venice.
@@arminius6506 it turns out that with the acceleration of communication comes the intensification as well, and subsequently the viabilization... this is globalization
There already was an Esperanto used by sailors. It was a pidgin called Mediterranean Lingua Franca or Sabir. It was a mishmash of Romance languages and Greek with some Berber and Turko-Arabic vocabulary. It’s mentioned in American Gods when the Vikings try to speak with the Newfoundland natives.
It is very convenient to communicate with your hands. Especially in noisy, crowded places, or from a distance - instead of yelling. And it comes handy when you play cards in teams...
"Instead of yelling"? INSTEAD?
@@lodovicoconrado3297 Stop yelling, he's 7 years away, he can't hear you
@@leandroulpio7473 If you yell very loud, it can travel both space and time
@@lodovicoconrado3297 I HOPE SO
@@lodovicoconrado3297 what's wrong with instead?
From what I know, we gesture like this because in Italy we never really had a main language, we (as a whole, from south to North) started speaking ITALIAN in the second Half of 1900, so we've been using hand gestures to try to understand each other better.
(My history teacher told me this, I'M not bein Ipothetical)
Hahahahaha really???? Hahahaha....very funny.
Say to your teacher that we speak our language from 2.000 year B.C, latin first and than italian, and we teach all the other european nations to talk and to write, and our greek "fathers" even 3.000 years B.C.
Our gesture it's a plus (that it's an italian word)
@@Francesco-js8nk Dude, Rome literally wasn't even a thing in 2.000 B.C. wth
@@Talia_Vantas yes you are wright, i express wrong myself.
The meaning was that we speak our language 2.300 years.
The moderno italian, called "volgare", started 1000 AD, but volgare is son of latin.
Your teacher is wrong.
@@Francesco-js8nk non è vero , verso l'inizio del 900 circa abbiamo iniziato a parlare tutti italiano , anzi , anche più in là, prima eravamo molto divisi a causa dei dialetti
@@luigigotbigtiddies9869 i dialetti ci sono tutt'ora ma tutti conoscono l'italiano.
Il volgare ha dato inizio all'italiano moderno, ma dall'anno 1000, quindi la fondazione parte da lí.
Non possiamo considerare ogni dialetto di ogni paese e di ogni regione altrimenti l'italiano non esisterebbe tutt'oggi.
si più o meno
Oi Fede
Perchè quando gesticoli prendi tempo per organizzare cosa dire xD
È vero ahahahahah
Sorry, I don't speak Italian
Ok I don't speak any Italian, but I speak English, French, and a little bit of Spanish, so I think I can work out what this says. Can someone please confirm if I'm right? "Because when we are gesturing we are taking the time to organize the things we want to say"
@@procrastination2204 So, I actually don't speak italian either lol, I speak portuguese, another romance language. But I think that's pretty much it, just personally I think that instead of "what I want to say" it's better like "what I will say, end up saying".
Like they're stalling the conversation to simply figure out how to say it.
@@procrastination2204 I speak Italian and that’s exactly what it says :)
In spite of everything, proud to be italian
:) tranquillo\a, ti ringrazio per la gentilezza!
always
Lindo nombre
I'm not Italian, but I think I just found a way to cuss some annoying person in my country without actually saying any cuss words lol, and the funnier thing is, there was a time in my life where my friends in middle school suddenly started to make the pinecone gesture and instead of doing it by knowing what it means, they did it then wondered and asked why some people are mad if that gesture is being directed towards them... (This happened in my country btw, that's why they were wondering)
That's said, thank you fellow Italians for your unique gestures, it might come in handy when things get out of hand, so I'll borrow some of those gestures for my personal emotional vent, and since I would only use them towards people who most likely don't understand it, it hopefully won't hurt anyone (unless they ask or someone tells them ofc)
Im from south america and italy has contributed to the world more than others like the Arts and Food and Architecture and the Sciences . Even though im from south america i believe my ancestors came from the boot.
Lately I've noticed a lot of people watch my hands while I talk. I didn't know it was so noticeable.
Italian People are the best. ..I love them. ..
Dimitris ULTRA' Bianconero for once someone loves me
Thank you
Grazie mille!
grazie!! are you greek?
thanks ❤️
im Italian-American, and yes, i definitely use my hands to talk. which i didnt think was that unusual, until several people pointed it out. it was then that i realized most people did notice it when i do it, and that they find it weird. i find it weird that their hands stay in the same position while we talk. it's like im missing half the conversation.
im not american or italian but i do speak with hand gestures too but only in moderation, i dont do it all the time
I agree with you, is weird how little some other cultures gesticulate (hope the word is correct).
Even when I watch some political debate in the European o British parliament... It really seems strange the stillness and composure of the body that other nationalities keep while speaking.
Sorry for my poor English, not being able to communicate with my hands didn't help 😉😁
👋
all my life i thought it was normal , and i did it without even knowing it . Until my english teacher told me : dont use gestures so much when u will be taking the english exam , it maybe weird for the examiners . When i sat for my english certification exam , i had my hands under the table and still did it
@@rezievotrex2040 holding (or hiding) your hands under the table without stopping the movement might result in an even worse situation ahah
Right? What are the hands for? It gives even more expression. We are not robots :)
1:52 AUMMA AUMMA
ALCUNE MIE AMICHE DEL NORD NON SANNO NEANCHE COSA VUOL DIRE E LA COSA MI SHOCCA
@@cfantini1913 Io ad esempio non ho idea di cosa significhi quel gesto (e nemmeno tanti altri nel video)
@@severinocicerchia7668 sì, la cosa continua a shoccarmi
@@cfantini1913 io sono del nord e capisco ma forse lo usiamo in modo differente
@@elenasofiasanti7722 brava
So this is the reason why studying Italian is hard.
@@dionisiodori1842 sì che il participio passato di aprire è "aperto"
@Giacomo Campanelli può essere, mi aveva tratto in inganno il "in italian we say". In ogni caso se si dimostra così esperto un minimo di italiano per capire quello che ho scritto lo saprà, no?
Italian is a really musical, artistic and, of course, funny language...proud to be Italian!!!!
Ahahah il miglior popolo
Finché ce lo diciamo noi....
@@Francesco-js8nk ce lo dicono in tanti, poi ci sono quelli come te
@@ron2112 completa la frase? Io cosa?
Queste accuse sottointese che significano tutto e niente, dimmi quello che hai da dire, facciamo un confronto!
@@Francesco-js8nk a dire il vero è il tuo commento che è incompleto, finché ce lo diciamo noi cosa? Sei per caso uno dei soliti che leccano il culo agli inglesi e agli americani? Ti fa schifo la tua lingua? Puoi spiegarti meglio?
As an Argentinian I know many of those gestures i personally use them unconsciously wtf this is amazing
Yo creo que es porque ahí en argentina son casi todos de origines italianos…
The real question is how do you non-Italians not gesticulate while you speak?
They're more intelligent, so they don't need their hands to think about what to say.
@@alicesacco9329
here is the "HaHa YoU aRe sO sAvAge" you wanted, 7 months late but whatever
Hands gesture adds an emotional content to the words spoken.
0:07
You think you got jokes eh
exactly the same gestures here in Libya ,maybe because of the Italian occupation
Negative, we use them in Algeria as well
@@souheib9343 I think most of the mediterranean countries use more or less the same gestures but americans can only keep in mind one country at a time...
@@souheib9343 and so do we in Spain
I guess it's a Mediterranean thing
Maybe it's due to the Roman Empire or maybe it's even older, who knows
Most definitely Mediterranean common heritage.
I live in Australia with an Italian father and an Irish-Italian/Southern mother and all my Irish and anglo friends always say it's clear I have Italian in me because I speak with my hands without even realising haha. That's why they call me 'wog boy', I just do it without realising. Really must be genetic.
wog?
really isn't genetic, makes no sense biologically speaking
It's just that you've grown up watching your father doing it and thus you learned to do it yourself
Wog? Don’t they mean wop?
@@DrunkGeko well I’ve wised up in my age and have to agree with u. Haha
@@elisaleo3862 that’s what they call Mediterranean’s in Australia
We brazilian, we also have a little bit of hand gestures too. I think it's because of the italian heredity.
É verdade agente também usa as mãos!
Nem todos , mas ...
yeah, here in the interior of northeast I hardly see a person not talking with their hands. I think it's just something natural for people.
Im from netherlands my father italian and i do the same since i was small we just born with it
This video in 2021: its my time to shine now
I studied in Italy. I am American and live in France. I was just in the Occitane region of the Southeast and they freely state, they like to use their hands, Italian style.
I´m an argentine from Buenos Aires, a city with HUGE italian heritage, and we use our hands A LOT too. And we may speak spanish (another big cultural influence) but we have taken italian words and argentinized them. For instance the italian for "Mangiare" (to eat) we say "manshar", and lavoro (work) we say "laburo"
“Some things really shouldn’t be expressed in words”
Wow that’s deep
In Greece we also have many hand gestures, some of them common with our Italian neighbors, some of them different. But I can totally relate to this video as a concept. We are Mediterraneans after all!
È chiaro che usare il corpo per "aiutare" la comprensione del "discorso" era necessario. In Italia, paese dai mille dialetti e lingue fu obbligatorio codificare anche il "gesto" come parte del discorso. La necessità aguzza l'ingegno. Se negli altri Paesi questo sistema non si è generato è stato perché avevano raggiunto lo "standard" linguistico prima di noi. Stessa cosa possiamo dire per la nostra "varietà" culinaria. Buongiorno da Roma.
I'm half Italian, but I've never been to Italy and I can not speak without using my hands..
even typing this comment im using my hands. im from south america and i know i have italian in my heritage. i been to italy many times and believe me your missing the best country in the world, with its culture, history, arts, music , no country has this many attribute to the world.
@@littlebigjohn69argentina or brazil?
Colombia but my ancestors came from italy.
God, here in Azerbaijan we all talk like that. I mean, i didn't even realize that something different is about Italians right before i dived into comment section 😂😂😂 🇮🇹❤🇦🇿
In Croatia too, or at least the southern parts of the country.
@@zajaiva5 oh, i didn't know about that 😂 🇦🇿❤🇭🇷
@@zajaiva5 aye, Croatia is close to Italy so it'll be similar in several ways
This is so interesting!
Odds are that given enough context you can communicate using only hands without saying a word
I agree. Cut out the 30 second intro and just jump right into the history. Then have the rest of the video providing examples of the gestures. Pretty weak by the NYT.
Cari Italiani,
vi voglio tantissimo bene
Not even one emoji hand gesture in the comments ☝️✊✋✌️👆👇👐👋👌👍
Io non parla bene l’italiano, ma salve amici dall’america che parle l’inglese e l’espagnolo. 🇺🇸❤️🇮🇹
Que preconceito contra o português br
Kkkkkkk
@@bmx-fz8qp Usted habla portugués?
@@bmx-fz8qp Disculpa, es que hablo los dos idiomas ingles y español, pero también creo que el portugués es una lenguaje bella. Estoy aprendiendo italiano por que quiero aprender una idioma romance, y el único que tengo en mano de mi casa es italiano y francés, pero también en una día aprender portugués también. Mi “goal” ahorita es que aprender los idiomas mayores de la familia romance (italiano, francés, portugués, y rumana) con latín. Saludos mi amigos que habla portugués 🇺🇸❤️🇧🇷🇵🇹
Não falo portugûes, por isso estou usando o google como ajuda. Olá meus colegas amgos portugûes nativos.
note, eu usei as duas bandeiras porque não sei de que nacionalidade você é, e ouvi dizer que Portugal e Brasil não são muito amigos. Eu sei que eles falam seus próprios dialetos, mas eu apenas uso a bandeira para o idioma, não a nação, apenas para evitar uma guerra de comentários
I feel so embarassed when i see someone from a foreign country talking about our hand gestures, even though i use hand gestures because i'm italian
Why?
Dont. Im from Brooklyn, NY where us New Yorkers CLEARLY gained our accent as a whole, from Italian Americans, and the hand gestures as we speak, just came along with it 😁. To me, it adds another layer of sense to conversation. Instead of just hearing, you get to see what we are saying. Its my FAVORITE part of who I am as an individual, and I honestly think its beautiful that I have ZERO Italian roots, but part of who I am, can be traced back to your country, and its beautiful people and language. I could NOT picture living in a world where I can't speak with my hands! It should be against the law NOT to!
I wish you wouldn't feel embarrassed, that's one of the most charming thing in my opinion. It's very common here in São Paulo, where mass migrations of Italians arrived in Brazil, influencing the language and accents.
I use hand gestures to talk all the time. My dads side is Italian and from a very early age I used my hands when i talked.I did it because I was always seeing him do it.
My Italian friend keeps saying I speak like an Italian because I speak with my hands...like...a lot.
In India we also have some hand gestures in informal chit chat, but they are constantly discouraged by our elders. As they consider it inappropriate to use hands while speaking.
your elders are right.
I am italian and for me it's natural use my hands a lot. I can communicate certain ideas and concepts that are sometimes abstract or related to the artistic world. But it is not only this, it is precisely that I instinctively gesticulate regardless of the speech and of the situations.
Gives you flare and charisma
This made my day. And I can't talk without hand gestures.
I USE ALL THESE HAND GESTURES😂
In France we also speak with some hand gestures i guess it's part of latin country's culture !
yes i was gonna say that. hand gestures are pretty common in latin america.
Greetings from Naples
Well, that taught me absolutely nothing.
It’s definitely in the blood because I always did this and I never knew I was half Italian until last year
I'm sorry to read it. Are you a foundling?
@@leandroulpio7473 No, just had an absent father I never asked about. I did get in touch with the rest of the family though and I’m glad I did
@@teleportsaroundyou4629 I also am glad you did
1:51 sfido CHIUNQUE nel mondo a trovare una parola che riassuma il significato di questo gesto!
Io direi "magheggio"!
@@NoFuckingMind "aumm aumm" 😂
fantastic
People in Northern Egypt talk with their hands due to a heavy influence by Italians and Greeks residing there till the 1940s
I liked her comment at the end, "...some things really shouldn't be expressed in words."
I wonder if she was thinking of specific examples?
Actually yes! As soon as I saw some of the shots it does indeed remind me of Greek gestures
Especially when you yell 'parta' with that gesture!
Quasi tutti esatti bravi complimenti 😊😊😊😊😊
wow awesome
My great grand parents were italian and so is my grand mother. My mom
Picked it up an so did i.
If only the one I love could understand. It's beyond language
good view for vlog..
0:07 I expected a fist to come out of the screen and punch me in the face
Unique
I miss you ten years ago 😢
Start by learning the language if you want, it's beautiful.
On the Italian News they said this video was offensive...
Really? 😮 Do you have a link. 😂
I talk with my hands all the time. My husband will smile and laugh a little when my hand goes up the air and makes a swirly motion while I’m describing something. I use my hands while I sing too. I feel like it may be an easier way to talk instead of just using words.
HI MRS. MCMAHON I WATCHED THIS FOR LANGUAGE CLASS
i'm going to learn this and impress my friends
Dude i love italians!
Everyone talks with hand gestures. Italians are just more expressive
Poetic
berlusconi can gesture even more with his 11th finger LOL
1:02 the dude acts like he's the quiet kid in class
Now I'm self-conscious lol
you have to see us Greeks to make gestures...very funny. Especially moutza, the open palm.
Hahahahaha 🇮🇹🇬🇷♥️🇮🇹🇬🇷♥️🇮🇹🇬🇷
we have the same gestures in Greece
The video explains this.
Im swiss from a southern part (close to italy but speaking french) and I and especially my dad but also most people use hands to talk a lot. More than northern swiss people. A lot of people tell me that i use it a lot and i find it cool. It's a form of body language and expression. Not complex as they say in this video. It's intuitive. You want something you take. You dont want you push. Simple as that.
addirittura il NYTimes 😂😂😂
Google translate has a handwriting input option for Chinese characters, next update gotta be camera integration to read hand movement for Italian input option.
I love that about them. So amazing and animated. My dad acted very Italian as we are part Italian.
I comment with hand gestures as well
its kinda like when you nod or shake your head
When they whisper, the hand gesture are softer?
Beautiful culture
talking hands. Paradise for deaf people !
im not Italian , and i use my hands more than my Italian Ex boyfriend lol
Karen Schatz lol
Because you are latina?
Italian is music and Italians are conductors!
Interesting
Don't call an Italian if you know they are driving..... I lived in Milan, believe me
bel video ahahaha
solo una parola: CULTURA
I'm Hispanic and I speak with my hands XD
Yeah, Brazilian and so do I. I guess it's kinda a Latin thing, speaking with our hands.
1:25 I thought she's saying "Zip it/shut up"😅
English people always ask why I speak with my hands - it's in my blood!
I always ask to English people why they don’t speak with their hands. It’s weird to stay still like an owl while you speak, plus your message has less comprehensibility if you don’t use vocal tones, face expressions, and body language.
My friend from Spain also do that. LOL
Half Italian but fluent in all 4, speech, reading, writing, and da hands.
If one didn't see this video and travelled to Italy, he/she would think why are they so upset. In some cultures using hands to say something, is actually showing disappointment or disapproval.
It definitely isn't blood, rather a way to show the meaning of words that varied between places. I'm fluent in Italian but I stand out for never using gestures (we Cherokee don't move our hands around much, as it's viewed as threatening.)
Yeah...I tried the gesture and it felt natural 😂
1:29 How chic!