Pointing at others as an embodied connection device: linking back to prior talk in multi-party interaction

This paper discusses an embodied strategy for making topical connections transparent by utilizing the co-presence of interlocutors: Pointing at co-participants. Building on previous research on common ground-related pointing gestures, I demonstrate that index finger pointing can be used to link back to prior parts of a conversation associated with the person being pointed to. This creates cohesion between discourse units in naturally occurring conversation. As the analysis shows, gestural backlinking can be done in sequential proximity to the conversational reference point, but also across longer distances of talk so that an earlier thread of conversation is picked up again. Pointing can thus be used to refer to the personal common ground accumulated over a shared interactional history. This discourse deictic usage of pointing is found mainly in pre-turn and turn-initial position and helps navigate the topical landscape in multi-party interactions. Data comes from naturally occurring German conversations.