Head shake
 | This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: the article lacks context, sources, among other things. (October 2017) |
A head shake is a gesture in which the head is turned left and right along the transverse plane repeatedly in quick succession. In many cultures, it is most commonly,[1] but not universally, used to indicate disagreement, denial, or rejection. It can also signify disapproval or upset at a situation, often with slower movement. Head shaking while trying food, in Western cultures, can also communicate one is enjoying the food or a strong approval of it.
To indicate rejection
Different cultures assign different meanings to the gesture. Shaking to indicate "no" is widespread, and appears in a large number of diverse cultural and linguistic groups. Areas in which head shaking generally takes this meaning include the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe, South America, North America and Australia.
To indicate approval
However, in some Southeastern European areas such as Bulgaria,[2] Turkey[3] and southern Albania, it is used for the opposite purpose, to indicate affirmation, meaning "yes". In those regions, nodding in fact means "no", the complete reverse of most other places in the world.[4]
Origin
There are varying theories as to why head shake is so frequently used to mean "no". It has been stated[5] that babies, when hungry, search for their mother's milk by moving their heads vertically, but decline milk by turning their head from side to side.
An early survey of head shake and other gestures was The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, written by Charles Darwin in 1872. Darwin wrote to missionaries in many parts of the world asking for information on local gestures, and concluded that shaking head for "no" was common to many different groups.[6]
See also
Notes
- ^ "Why do we shake our heads when we want to say". www.uni-stuttgart.de. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ Angelova, Maria. "Why Do Bulgarians Shake Their Heads to Say Yes?". Culture Trip.
- ^ "A 'nod' for no - visitors grapple with Turkish gestures". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ "Some uses of the head shake - Adam Kendon".
- ^ Darwin, Charles. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1913; Page 272, accessed through Google Book Search.
- ^ "Darwin, C. R. 1872. The expression of the emotions in man and animals. London: John Murray. 1st edition". darwin-online.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
References
- Bross, Fabian (2020): Why do we shake our heads? On the origin of the headshake. In: Gesture, 19(2/3). 269–299.
External links
