German arm gestures as a means of modality representation

The paper is devoted to a study of arm gestures, representing modality in the modern German culture. The object of this study is different types of gestures used by representatives of German culture. The subject of this study is the analysis of examples describing modal arm gestures used by modern Germans in everyday life. The material is modern German bibliographic sources on linguistics and psychology of nonverbal communication. The objectives of the study are: to analyze information sources on the problem, to classify arm gestures expressing various ways of interpersonal interaction, to identify distinctive features of modal gestures and to describe situations of their usage.