It could be a cyclical motion of the index finger to indicate the progression of time, like hands on a clock. French people say they talk with their hands a lot because they are French. New research by Nicoladis published in the journal Language and Cognition suggests this variation might be more than just a simple question of style. It might reflect a deeper psychological insight, not just about how people use their hands, but how they construct stories in their minds. Her research showed that native speakers of the Asian languages Hindi and Mandarin showed a clear preference for fables, as compared to the chronological summaries of native French or Spanish speakers.

Source: National Post March 29, 2019 10:52 UTC