12.3 Is “Body Language” a Language?

In informal settings, nonverbal communication is often referred to as “body language.” The reason is obvious: just like spoken or written languages, your body can express thoughts and emotions, persuade or control others, organize activity, and form bonds between people. Add to that the common perception that thoughts and emotions expressed through your body are more genuine than words (captured in the Shakira song title, “Hips Don’t Lie”). People have long relied on nonverbal signals, such as eye contact, fidgeting , or stress reactions, to try to ascertain if someone is lying [LINK TO “SPOTTING LIARS” BELOW]. And people who can’t speak due to disabilities can still convey information through other bodily channels,^[1] and nonverbal communication transcends language barriers.

Why, then, do serious scholars usually avoid the term “body language”? It helps to turn to another academic discipline that has defined the necessary components of language: linguistics. For something to qualify as a language, linguists will tell you, it must have a vocabulary and a grammar — a set of syntax rules . The vocabulary is a set of words or symbols with agreed-upon meaning, like the words “that,” “dog,” “is,” “biting,” and “Kate.” The grammatical rules tell you that “That dog is biting Kate” means something different from “Is Kate biting that dog?,” and that “Biting is dog Kate that” is meaningless nonsense.

How do bodily gestures fit those requirements for language? Certainly there are many gestures that can convey meaning, from hand signals to shoulder shrugs to foot positions to how you stand. The question is: is the meaning of those gestures “agreed-upon”? Some sources will confidently tell you what these movements and positions mean, but can they be trusted?

If someone is holding their forearms in a crossed position in front of their stomach, for example, what does that mean?

It may mean they are not open to what you are saying and doubt or disagree with it. The relevant word in that sentence is “may,” which leads to the followup questions, “Does it always mean that?” and “What else could it mean?” Those crossed arms could also convey:

The person is cold.

The person is covering up a mustard stain on their shirt.

The person is embarrassed about their pot belly.

The person doesn’t have pants pockets and doesn’t know where to put their hands.

The person is mirroring what you are doing, which can mean they are open to what you are saying.

Likewise, a yawn can mean “I’m bored with what you’re saying,” “I’m fascinated…but I didn’t get enough sleep last night,” or “I saw someone else yawn and it’s contagious.” How can you have a language if there is so little agreement about what the vocabulary means? Sources that tell you any particular gesture has only one meaning are usually ignoring all the other possibilities or oversimplifying things. Of course, many words also have multiple meanings, but one way to sort out semantic ambiguity (when a person says “box,” do they mean a square cardboard structure or the act of punching someone?) is to look at syntax: how is the word used in a sentence? In reference to nonverbal communication, are there similar rules about how bodily movements are combined?

The acknowledgement that “body language” may not meet the requirements to qualify as a language doesn’t mean that it’s a less legitimate form of communication. It does, however, mean that it’s more difficult to study than verbal language. Aside from the ambiguity of many gestures, there are other challenges that make nonverbal communication a more ambiguous terrain than verbal language, and influence how people communicate nonverbally.