Analysis: Moving hands are not simply expressions of temperament but symbols of language contact, regional identity, and social change.
By Chiara Marchetiello, Trinity College Dublin
Let us be honest, it is easy to spot Italians abroad. If you have ever met an Italian or travelled to Italy, you have probably noticed how often hands move during conversation. These movements, including hand gestures and facial expressions, often carry specific meanings. It is not a coincidence that one of the most famous gestures is referred to simply as "The Italian Gesture" in both scientific and public domains. But what does this gesture actually mean? When Italians bring their fingers together in a bunch and lift them upward, they are usually asking a question.
Such examples are common in everyday interaction. Brushing the back of your fingers under your chin would likely mean I don't care. Tapping your index finger against your temple can signal 'Use your head' or 'You are smart'. Rotating your hand side to side, palm down, often conveys 'Maybe. We’ll see'.
These gestures are widely recognised as Italian. They appear in films, memes, and tourist guides about Italy. The idea is simple and widely accepted: Italians speak with their hands. The problem is that this statement is only partly true.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Podcast's Brainstorm, Ah sure, you know yourself': why Irish people never say what they mean
Research over the past decades has shown that gestures are not random movements. In many – if not all – languages of the world, gestures contribute to the meaning of spoken utterances. Gestures can convey information, mark contrasts, or even replace speech altogether. They are not separate from language systems. They are part of them. If the language changes, gestures do it as well.
Hence, it is true that Italians gesture. However, Italy is not linguistically homogenous. Although many are not officially recognised by the state, Standard Italian coexists with regional varieties and with local languages often called dialetti. Unlike the English term "dialects", dialetti are not just accent variations. Rather, they are languages with their own histories and language developments. Some local languages are not mutually intelligible. For instance, a person from Turin (north) and a person from Naples (south) can speak Standard Italian, but the language they use at home or in their everyday life can differ substantially in sound, vocabulary, and structure.
In southern Italy, gesture has long formed a particularly rich and codified repertoire. In 1835, before Italy became a unified state, Andrea De Jorio published a detailed study of Neapolitan gesturing. He treated local gestures as a structured system with stable meanings. Some were so conventionalised that they could stand alone without speech. Still today, gesturing is not ornamental in Naples. Quite often, it is expected.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Today With Claire Byrne, Ye, yiz, yous: Are we losing our accents?
This does not mean that every Italian uses the same gestures in the same way as Neapolitans. In many southern regions, gestures may vary in form or meaning. In northern regions, gestures are more restrained. Hence, Italians themselves may not recognize all the gestures used across the country.
When we label gestures as "Italian", we overlook this variation. We compress a complex linguistic landscape into a single national image. This helps explain why public performances of "Italian gestures" provoke mixed reactions. When Brenda Lodigiani recently staged a scene at the Olympic ceremony, many viewers abroad found it amusing. In Italy, however, reactions were divided. Some welcomed the tribute. Others said they did not recognize themselves in it. Some felt the country had been reduced to a caricature.
The disagreement was not only about humour, but also about identity. Gestures are often treated as harmless stereotypes. They shape how Italians are seen abroad and how Italians imagine their own identity. When a group of gestures becomes the national emblem, internal diversity fades from view.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime, Irish identity 100 years later
There is also a deeper issue. Across Italy, many local languages are under pressure. They are not taught in school, and in some cases, parents discourage their children from acquiring them to avoid social stigma. As a result, younger generations increasingly rely on Standard Italian. At the same time, gestures have often been discouraged in formal and educational settings, where they were considered impolite or inappropriate. If gesture is tied to language, then shifts in language use may also affect gestural practices. Some gestures may change in meaning. Others may disappear.
Do Italians speak with their hands? Many do. Some do so frequently and with highly conventionalised forms. Others gesture less. Most adjust depending on who they are speaking to and which language they are using. There is no single Italian gestural code handed down unchanged through centuries. There are multiple systems that interact and evolve.
To understand gesture in Italy equals to understand Italy’s linguistic diversity. Moving hands are not simply expressions of temperament. They are symbols of language contact, regional identity, and social change. The next time we are around Italians and we see them gesturing, we might wonder: which language does that gesture truly belong to?
Follow RTÉ Brainstorm on WhatsApp and Instagram for more stories and updates
Chiara Marchetiello is a PhD student in Linguistics at Trinity College Dublin. She is currently the lab manager of the GestuGram Lab , where she also works as a research assistant.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
