ABSTRACT
Cognition arose in living organisms, in nature it is inseparable from a body, and only makes sense in a body. Likewise, natural communication and human language developed in intimate connection with body. When a person speaks, not only symbols are transmitted, but the whole body is in continuous motion. While speaking we can indicate the size and shape of an object by a few handstrokes, direct attention to a referenced object by pointing or gaze, and modify what we communicate by emotional facial expression. The meanings we transmit this way are multimodally encoded and strongly situated in the present context.
