The Central Institute of Indian Languages was set up on the 17th July, 1969 with a view to assisting and coordinating the development of Indian languages. The Institute was charged with the responsibility of serving as a nucleus to bring together all the research and literary output from the various linguistic streams to a commonhead and narrowing the gap between basic research and developmental research in the fields of languages and linguistics in India.

The Institute and its six Regional Language Centres are thus engaged in research and teaching which leads to the publication of a wide ranging variety of materials. Materials designed for teaching/learning at different levels and suited to specific needs is one of the major areas of interest in its series of publications. Basic research relation to the acquisition of language and study of language in its manifold psycho-social relations constitutes another broad range of its interest. This book, Silent Talk : Nonverbal Communication, by Dr. M. S. Thirumalai, Professor-cum-Deputy Director, CIIL, discusses the aspects of nonverbal communication and links the same with social and psychological factors as well as verbal communication. The study of nonverbal communication always formed part of Indian traditional grammars. Grammar, then, was seen as a study of the comprehensive phenomenon involving both verbal and nonverbal elements. Modern linguistics courses, however, have not adequately focussed upon aspects of nonverbal communication and the inter-relationship between verbal and nonverbal communication will be found highly useful for culture analysis and description, sociological analysis, for language teaching and learning, for therapy purposes and for literary analysis, among others. I do hope and wish that, with the publication of this book, the students of linguistics and related disciplines will show a greater interest in the study of aspects of nonverbal communication.

(D. P. PATTANAYAK)
Director