Finger survey

[Jipí]

The reason is probably that there's lots of people who do it anyway. ;-)

True ;)

[Whimemsz]

What would be interesting is how the index is called in languages where it's impolite to point fingers at something/someone. Is it still the "pointing finger", since that seems to be very common, too?

Well, it's impolite in German culture and even more so in Russian culture (in German culture, it's impolite to point at people, in Russian culture it's impolite to point at all), and it's still called "pointing finger" in both languages. The reason is probably that there's lots of people who do it anyway. ;-)

It's considered very impolite to point in traditional Ojibwe culture as well, but the index finger is still called the "pointer finger" in Ojibwe too (though the descriptions I've read haven't been clear on whether it is/was impolite to point at anything, or just impolite to point at people)

[linguoboy]

Korean names.

Native first:

엄지(손가락) /emci(sonkalak)/ "thumb (finger)" [엄지 may be from 어마 /eme/ "mother" plus 지 (指) /ci/]
집게손가락 /cipkeysonkalak/ "tweezer finger"
가운뎃손가락 /kawunteysonkalak/ "center finger"
약손가락 /yaksonkalak/ "medicine (藥) finger"
새끼손(가락) /say.kkison(kalak)/ "baby finger)

And then Sino-Korean:

대지 (大指) /tayci/ "big finger" or 무지 (拇指) /muci/
두지(頭指) /twuci/ "head finger"
중지 (中指) /cwungci/ "middle finger", 장지 (長指) /cangci/ "long finger" (also 將指 "general finger").
약지 (藥指) /yakci/ "medicine finger" or 무명지 (無名指) /mumyengci/ "no name finger"
계지 (季指) "l(e)ast finger" or 소지 (小指) "small finger"

Tagalog:

hinlalaki "thumb" (laki "big")
hintuturo "pointer" (turo "point, show, "teach")
hinlalato/dato "middle finger" (dato "chief")
palasingsingan "ring finger" (singsing "ring")
hinliliit (liit "small"), kalingkingan "pinky"

[installer_swan]

What would be interesting is how the index is called in languages where it's impolite to point fingers at something/someone. Is it still the "pointing finger", since that seems to be very common, too?

Well, it's impolite in German culture and even more so in Russian culture (in German culture, it's impolite to point at people, in Russian culture it's impolite to point at all), and it's still called "pointing finger" in both languages. The reason is probably that there's lots of people who do it anyway.

I have no data on this, but maybe the taboo against pointing is newer than the act of pointing (which very likely is older than language even).

[hwhatting]

I have no data on this, but maybe the taboo against pointing is newer than the act of pointing (which very likely is older than language even).

Quite likely. At least in the European cultures, the "pointing taboo" is also not valid universally for the entire population, but is an indicator of higher class and level of education - I don't know how much that applies to e.g. Ojibwe.

[Whimemsz]

I have no data on this, but maybe the taboo against pointing is newer than the act of pointing (which very likely is older than language even).

Quite likely. At least in the European cultures, the "pointing taboo" is also not valid universally for the entire population, but is an indicator of higher class and level of education - I don't know how much that applies to e.g. Ojibwe.

As I noted, I don't know all the details of the taboo. But given the fact that traditional Ojibwe society involved primarily small family/clan groups with very little hierarchical stratification,* and given what I know of traditional Ojibwe culture in general, it's highly unlikely that the taboo was related to status or was confined to only some members of society.


*In terms of political power and amounts of Stuff possessed, at least. There definitely seems to have been a major discrepancy in the levels of spiritual power different people were thought to have, and they were treated differently as a result (but this was still something anyone could theoretically obtain: there was no hereditary priesthood -- you received power from a guardian manitou during your puberty vision quest, not by inheriting it by dint of birth or family connections).

[Astraios]

In Lakota culture I know it's customary to use the lips to point at certain things, but I don't know what things or what reason.

[Echobeats]

Lakota: škaŋkápiŋ ring finger ("reluctant to move")

Best. Name. Evar.

Seconded.

Has anyone pointed out English "pinkie" (except as a translation of some other language's word for the little finger)?

[Lyktorna]

In Lakota culture I know it's customary to use the lips to point at certain things, but I don't know what things or what reason.

Same with Tagalogs. There's a joke in my family that my great-aunt can point backwards and around corners.