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Greeting
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Greetingisanactofcommunicationinwhichhumanbeingsintentionally
maketheirpresenceknowntoeachother,toshowattentionto,andto
suggestatypeofrelationship(usuallycordial)orsocialstatus(formalor
informal)betweenindividualsorgroupsofpeoplecomingincontactwith
eachother.Greetingssometimesareusedjustpriortoaconversationorto
greetinpassing,suchasonasidewalkortrail.Whilegreetingcustomsare
highlycultureandsituationspecificandmaychangewithinaculture
dependingonsocialstatusandrelationship,theyexistinallknownhuman
cultures.Greetingscanbeexpressedbothaudiblyandphysically,andoften
involveacombinationofthetwo.Thistopicexcludesmilitaryand
ceremonialsalutesbutincludesritualsotherthangestures.Agreeting,or
salutation,canalsobeexpressedinwrittencommunications,suchasletters
andemails.
Someepochsandcultureshavehadveryelaborategreetingrituals,for
example,greetingofasovereign.Conversely,secretsocietieshaveoften
furtiveorarcanegreetinggesturesandrituals,suchasasecrethandshake,
whichallowmemberstorecognizeeachother.

Translationsofthewordwelcome
showninmanyplacesfrequentedby
foreignersortouriststowelcome
peopleofalldifferentnationalities.

Insomelanguagesandcultures,thesamewordorgestureisusedasbothgreetingandfarewell.Examplesare
"Goodday"inEnglish,"Aloha"inHawaiian,"Shalom"inHebrew,"Namaste"inHindiand"Ciao"inItalian.The
bowandhandshakearealsousedforbothgreetingandleavetaking.

Contents
1 Greetinggestures
1.1 Kisses
1.2 Othergreetinggestures
2 Voicemailgreetings
3 Seealso
4 References

Greetinggestures
Agreetingcanconsistofanexchangeofformalexpression,kisses,handshakes,hugs,andvariousgestures.The
formofgreetingisdeterminedbysocialetiquette,aswellasbytherelationshipofthepeople.
Beyondtheformalgreeting,whichmayinvolveaverbalacknowledgmentandsometimesahandshake,facial
expression,gestures,bodylanguageandeyecontactcanallsignalwhattypeofgreetingisexpected.Gesturesare
themostobvioussignal,forinstancegreetingsomeonewithopenarmsisgenerallyasignthatahugisexpected.[1]
However,crossingarmscanbeinterpretedasasignofhostility.Facialexpression,bodylanguageandeyecontact
reflectemotionsandinterestlevel.Afrown,slouchingandloweredeyecontactsuggestsdisinterest,whilesmiling
andanexuberantattitudeisasignofwelcome.
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Manydifferentgesturesareusedthroughouttheworldassimplegreetings.
InWesternculturesthehandshakeisverycommon,thoughithasnumerous
subtlevariationsinthestrengthofgrip,thevigouroftheshake,the
dominantpositionofonehandovertheother,andwhetherornottheleft
handisused.

ThecivilianSecretaryGeneralof
NATOJosephLunstipshishatata
troopreviewin1983,inlieuofa
militarysalute.This(thefullgesture
isshownhere)wasbythenbecoming
oldfashionedasageneralsocial
greeting,buthadoncebeennormal.

Historically,whenmennormallyworehatsoutofdoors,malegreetingsto
peopletheyknew,andsometimesthosetheydidnot,involvedtouching,
raisingslightly("tipping"),orremovingtheirhatinavarietyofgestures.
Thisbasicgestureremainednormalinverymanysituationsfromthe
MiddleAgesuntilmentypicallyceasedwearinghatsinthemid20th
century.Hatraisingbeganwithanelementofrecognitionofsuperiority,
whereonlythesociallyinferiorpartymightperformit,butgraduallylost
thiselementKingLouisXIVofFrancemadeapointofatleasttouching
hishattoallwomenheencountered.Howeverthegesturewasneverused
bywomen,forwhomtheirheadcoveringincludedconsiderationsof
modesty.Whenamanwasnotwearingahathemighttouchhishairtothe
sideofthefrontofhisheadtoreplicateahattippinggesture.Thiswas
typicallyperformedbylowerclassmentosocialsuperiors,suchas
peasantstothelandowner,andisknownas"tuggingtheforelock",which
stillsometimesoccursasametaphorforsubmissivebehaviour.
TheArabictermsalaam(literally"peace",fromthespokengreetingthat
accompaniesthegesture),referstothepracticeofplacingtherightpalmon
theheart,beforeandafterahandshake.

AChinesegreetingfeaturestherightfistplacedinthepalmofthelefthandandbothshakenbackandforthtwoor
threetimes,itmaybeaccompaniedbyaheadnodorbow.Thegesturemaybeusedonmeetingandparting,and
whenofferingthanksorapologies.
InIndia,itiscommontoseetheNamastegreeting(or"SatSriAkal"forSikhs)wherethepalmsofthehandsare
pressedtogetherandheldneartheheartwiththeheadgentlybowed.
Adab,meaningrespectandpoliteness,isahandgestureusedasaMuslim
greetingofsouthAsianMuslims,especiallyofUrduspeakingcommunities
ofUttarPradesh,HyderabadiMuslims,BengaliMuslimsandMuhajir
peopleofPakistan.Thegestureinvolvesraisingtherighthandtowardsthe
facewithpalminwardssuchthatitisinfrontoftheeyesandthefingertips
arealmosttouchingtheforehead,astheuppertorsoisbentforward.[2]Itis
typicalforthepersontosay"adabarzhai",orjust"adab".Itisoften
answeredwiththesameortheword"Tasleem"issaidasanansweror
sometimesitisansweredwithafacialgestureofacceptance.
InIndonesia,anationwithahugevarietyofculturesandreligions,many
greetingsareexpressed,fromtheformalizedgreetingofthehighly
stratifiedandhierarchicalJavanesetothemoreegalitarianandpractical
greetingsofouterislands.

APakistaniBridemakinganAdab
gesture.

Javanese,Batakandotherethnicitiescurrentlyorformerlyinvolvedinthe
armedforceswillsaluteaGovernmentemployedsuperior,andfollowwithadeepbowfromthewaistorshortnod
oftheheadandapassing,loosehandshake.Handpositionishighlyimportantthesuperior'shandmustbehigher
thantheinferior's.Muslimmenwillclaspbothhands,palmstogetheratthechestandutterthecorrectIslamic
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slametan(greeting)phrase,whichmaybefollowedbycheektocheekcontact,aquickhugorloosehandshake.
PiousMuslimwomenrotatetheirhandsfromaverticaltoperpendicularprayerlikepositioninordertobarely
touchthefingertipsofthemalegreeterandmayoptoutofthecheektocheekcontact.
IfthemaleisanAbdiDalemroyalservant,courtierorparticularly"pekopeko"(takendirectlyfromJapaneseto
meanobsequious)orevenahighlyformalindividual,hewillretreatbackwardswithheaddowncast,theleftarm
crossedagainstthechestandtherightarmhangingdown,nevershowinghissideorbacktohissuperior.Hishead
mustalwaysbelowerthanthatofhissuperior.YoungerMuslimmalesandfemaleswillclasptheirelder'sor
superior'soutstretchedhandtotheforeheadasasignofrespectandobeisance.
Ifamanualworkerorapersonwithobviouslydirtyhandssalutesorgreetsanelderorsuperior,hewillshow
deferencetohissuperiorandavoidcontactbybowing,touchingtherightforeheadinaveryquicksaluteora
distant"slamet"gesture.
ThetraditionalJavaneseSungkeminvolvesclaspingthepalmsofbothhandstogether,aligningthethumbswiththe
nose,turningtheheaddownwardsandbowingdeeply,bendingfromtheknees.Inaroyalpresence,theone
performingsungkemwouldkneelatthebaseofthethrone.
AgesturecalledawaiisusedinThailand,wherethehandsareplacedtogetherpalmtopalm,approximatelyat
noselevel,whilebowing.ThewaiissimilarinformtothegesturereferredtobytheJapanesetermgasshoby
Buddhists.InThailand,themenandwomenwouldusuallypresstwopalmstogetherandbowalittlewhilesaying
"Sawadeeka"(femalespeaker)or"Sawadeekrap"(malespeaker).

Kisses
InEurope,theformalstyleofupperclassgreetingusedbyamantoa
womanintheEarlyModernPeriodwastoholdthewoman'spresented
hand(usuallytheright)withhisrighthandandkissitwhilebowing.In
casesofalowdegreeofintimacy,thehandisheldbutnotkissed.Theultra
formalstyle,withtheman'srightkneeonthefloor,isnowonlyusedin
marriageproposals,asaromanticgesture.
CheekkissingiscommoninEuropeandLatinAmericaandhasbecomea
standardgreetingmainlyinSouthernEuropebutalsoinsomeCentral
Europeancountries.
Whilecheekkissingisacommongreetinginmanycultures,eachcountry
hasauniquewayofkissing.InRussia,Poland,Slovenia,Serbia,
DenisThatcher,husbandofformer
Macedonia,Montenegro,theNetherlands,IranandEgyptitiscustomaryto
PrimeMinisteroftheUnited
kissthreetimes,onalternatecheeks,butkisstwiceinBosniaand
KingdomMargaretThatcher,greets
Herzegovina.[3]Italians,HungariansandRomaniansusuallykisstwiceina
formerAmericanFirstLadyNancy
greetingandinMexicoandBelgiumonlyonekissisnecessary.Inthe
Reaganbykissingherhand,1988
Galapagoswomenkissontherightcheekonly[4]andinOmanitisnot
unusualformentokissoneanotheronthenoseafterahandshake.[5]
Frenchcultureacceptsanumberofwaystogreetdependingontheregion.Twokissesaremostcommon
throughoutallofFrancebutinProvencethreekissesaregivenandinNantesfourareexchanged.[6]However,in
FinistreatthewesterntipofBrittanyandDeuxSvresinthePoitouCharentesregion,onekissispreferred.[7]

Othergreetinggestures
Adab
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AjaliMudr
Bowing
Cheekkissing
Eskimokissing
Fistbump,inwhichtwoindividualstouchfists
Handkissing
Handshake
Hatraisingortipping
Highfive
Hug
Kowtow
Mano(gesture)
Namaste
Pranma
Pressingnoses
Salute
Sampeah
Tehniyat
Waving,thegestureofmovingone'shandbackandforth
Wai

Sampeah(Cambodiangreeting)

Voicemailgreetings
Voicemailgreetingsareprerecordedmessagesthatareautomatically
playedtocallers,whenthevoicemailsystemanswersthecall.Some
voicemailsystemsallowfordifferentgreetingstobeplayedtodifferent
callers.

Seealso
StevenGerrardperformingaWai

Waving

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Aloha
Ciao
Etiquette
HareKrishna
Mahalo
Partingphrase

Paschalgreeting
Salaam
Salutation
Salute
SatSriAkaal
Shalom
TashiDelek
Voicemail

References
1.GeorgeBoeree."personpercept.html".Webspace.ship.edu.Retrieved20110127.
2.Gambhir,Vijay(1996).TheTeachingandAcquisitionofSouthAsianLanguages.UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress.
p.87.ISBN081223328X.
3."GreetingsLesson".Hawaii.edu.Retrieved20110127.
4."GalapagosFAQsPreparingforyourtrip".Galapagosonline.com.Retrieved20110127.
5."Greetingsinothercultures".Brucevanpatter.com.Retrieved20110127.
6."FairelabiseFrenchGestures".French.about.com.20110102.Retrieved20110127.
7."210FrenchKissingMap".FrankJacobs.20071202.Retrieved20120102.
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