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If you watch television with the sound turned off, or observe a conversation at a distance, you become aware of almost constant motion, especially with the hands and arms. People wave their arms, they shrug, they waggle their fingers, they point, they scratch their chests, and they pick their noses.
如果你看電視時把聲音關掉，或在遠處觀察一次對話，你就會注意到那些幾乎不間斷的動作，尤其是手和臂的運動。人們揮動手臂、聳肩膀、擺動手指、指向某處、抓撓胸脯或者摳鼻子。
These various activities can be divided into three major categories: manipulators, emblems, and illustrators.
這些各種各樣的動作可以劃分為三大類型：操縱性動作、象征性動作與說明性動作。
In a manipulator, one part of the body, usually the hands, rubs, picks, squeezes, cleans or otherwise grooms some other part. These movements have no specific meaning. Manipulators generally increase when people become uncomfortable or occasionally when they are totally relaxed.
操縱性動作是指用身體的某個部位的動作，通常是用手，做出摩擦、摳、擠壓、清潔或者清理身體其他某個部位的動作。這些動作并沒有具體的含義。當人們感到不適或偶爾完全放松時，操縱性動作一般都會增加。
An emblem is a physical act that can fully take the place of words. Nodding the head up and down in many cultures is a substitute for saying "Yes." Raising the shoulders and turning the palms upward clearly means "I don't know," or "I'm not sure."
象征性動作是一種能夠完全代替言語的身體行為。在許多文化中，上下點頭都表示“是”的意思。聳肩的同時雙掌朝上明顯表示“我不知道”或者“我不確定”。
Illustrators are physical acts that help explain what is being said but have no meaning on their own. Waving the arms, raising or lowering the eyebrows, snapping the fingers and pounding the table may enhance or explain the words that accompany them, but they cannot stand alone. People sometimes use illustrators as a pantomime or charade, especially when they can't think of the right words, or when it's simply easier to illustrate, as in defining "zigzag" or explaining how to tie a shoe.
說明性動作是本身沒有含義但可以用來解釋所說的話的身體行為。揮動手臂、揚起或使眼眉低垂、打響指和敲桌子都可以用來加強或解釋伴隨這些動作的話語，但這些動作本身并不能單獨使用。人們有時用說明性動作來表現某種意義或動作，尤其是當他們想不出合適的詞語，或者用動作更容易說明問題的時候，比如在解釋“Z字形”的意思或如何系鞋帶的時候。
