Multimodality’s role in nano-scale niche construction

Abstract Human communicative discourse can be understood as a form of nano-scale niche construction. If our burst-like communicative moves in the medium of language are to create niches that persist long enough to be exploited as shared informational environments, then we need ways to bind individual moves into larger, temporarily stable structures. One important resource for this purpose is multimodality, as found in pioneering work in gesture research by Adam Kendon and by David McNeill, among others. The discussion points to areas where gesture studies and evolutionary approaches to human communication have potential for collaboration and innovation.