Abstract The aim of this article is to propose a model of classifier predicates in Polish Sign Language (PJM). The model is couched within Cognitive Grammar, a theoretical framework created primarily by Ronald Langacker. We propose that classifiers are best described as expressions of integrated schematic events. Conceptually, they denote a nominal referent involved in some sort of action. The details of the action reside in the semantic specification associated with the form, especially the so-called elaboration sites (e-sites for short). When a classifier is used in a larger expression, some of the e-sites are elaborated by other elements of the expression resulting in a more detailed representation of the event. This analysis does justice to the intuition that in isolation, classifiers are primarily nominal in character, while in a context, they typically denote the referent involved in some sort of activity.
This article investigates different uses of the pointing sign directed at the signer (pt -> 1) in Finnish Sign Language (FinSL). It suggests that pt -> 1 has a variety of references that have not previously been identified. Prior research has shown that, in FinSL, pt -> 1 is used in referring to the signer of an utterance, a person quoted within quotative constructed action (CA), or for agent defocusing. The present corpus-based study provides a more extensive picture of different uses of this sign, which include, in addition to the uses just mentioned, reference to 'first-person plural', (i.e., a group including the signer), a group excluding the signer, a person other than the current signer without quotative CA and as a generic reference. The study also shows that pt -> 1 is used not only as a pronoun but also as a determiner.
Handshapes are a fundamental component of sign language phonology yet pose great difficulty for learners, who acquire handshapes according to physiological complexity, phonological features, and motor skills. Advances in machine-learning have led to handshape recognition models yielding high accuracy. Such models are designed for data processing, and it is unclear whether any errors made during training resemble those of humans. We present a handshape recognition model based on Hong Kong Sign Language, which was trained using input data equivalent to the average duration of study reported for beginner hearing adult learners (3 months, 968 signs, 62 handshapes). Unlike other models, ours was fed all frames surrounding each sign's peak, analogous to human perception, yielding an accuracy of 62%. The error output and target output exhibit phonetic similarities. These errors resemble the production errors commonly made by human learners, which can be attributed to markedness. This indicates that markedness structure can also be inferred from sign perception.
This study examines size-and-shape specifiers (SASSes) in Zinacantec Family Homesign ('Z sign'), an emerging sign language developed by three deaf siblings and their hearing family members in an indigenous community of Mexico. SASSes depict the visual attributes of objects via a hand configuration that portrays some aspect of the form of an entity and are considered by some scholars to incorporate both "linguistic" and "gestural" properties. The iconic nature of SASSes, and their putative gestural components, raise questions about their functions in newly-developed sign languages like Z sign. This study explores whether there are language-specific conventions that constrain the use of SASSes in Z sign. The findings indicate that SASSes constitute a highly conventionalized component of the lexicon, characterized by a hierarchical, paradigmatic organization not observed in the gestures produced by older hearing relatives of the deaf individuals who are not fluent signers. This study contributes to the scant body of literature on SASSes, their putative relationship to "gesture", and sheds light on the process by which signers can marshal raw iconic materials in the creation of a lexicon.
Work within variationist corpus-based sign language linguistics often has implications for linguistic theory in general, as this quantitative data-driven approach can be used to test claims in any linguistic theory. In this paper, I discuss a number of previous findings on variation in specific phonological, morphological, and syntactic features in Auslan, New Zealand Sign Language (Schembri et al. 2009; de Beuzeville et al. 2009; McKee et al. 2011) and British Sign Language (Fenlon et al. 2013) that appear to provide some support for usage-based theories of language. First, I discuss the role of lexical frequency effects and phonological reduction in Auslan, NZSL, and BSL. Second, I explore lexical frequency and the modification of indicating verbs in Auslan (de Beuzeville et al. 2009). Third, I discuss evidence for short-term structural priming in variable subject noun phrase expression (McKee et al. 2011) in Auslan. All of these different sources of evidence provide support for a usage-based theory of sign language grammar.
One aspect of the author's dissertation (Sheneman 2018) was the use of cognitive linguistics as a theoretical framework to address a relevant research question regarding how key cancer terms are translated from written English to American Sign Language (ASL). This study examined ASL translations by two Deaf interpreters and compared them with an ASL narrative about cancer by a deaf oncologist in the United States. The key difference between these two Deaf interpreters was that one was familiar with cancer and oncology, while the other was not. Cognitive linguistics was the approach for analyzing the three ASL texts following Fillmore's (1982, 1985) frame-semantic model, examining what knowledge is evoked when expressing meaning in their utterances.
This paper presents an analysis of four discourse genres in French Sign Language (LSF): narrative, explanatory, argumentative and dialogical. We examine the association between the frequency and type of linguistic categories with regard to the discourse genres considered. The linguistic categories used are based on the Semiological Approach (Cuxac 2000), which suggests the existence of two main types of units: units stemming from an illustrative intent, grouped under the name 'Transfer Units', in contrast with units without any illustrative intent, i.e., Lexical Units, Pointing Units, and Fingerspelling Units. The data for this study were taken from two corpora and annotations were performed using the ELAN software. A range of descriptive statistics were used to complement the overall qualitative view of the data. One of the main outcomes of the quantitative approach is the identification, through Principal Component Analysis and Specificity Analysis, of an association between the two main types of units and different discourse genres. These findings deepen our understanding of genre-based variation in sign language, and hold potential for practical applications in areas such as bilingual education and automatic sign language processing.
This article describes the use of a specific type of enactment — constructed action (CA) — by children acquiring Finnish Sign Language (FinSL) and adults who use FinSL as their first language. Constructed action was investigated from the recordings of two narrative tasks performed by the children and the adults. In the tasks, the signers were shown still-image and video materials and asked to retell the events happening in the materials. The children’s recordings were part of a larger cross-sectional dataset that evaluated the language development of children acquiring FinSL. The adults’ recordings were part of the Corpus of Finnish Sign Language. In the present study, the children’s and adults’ data were systematically annotated and analyzed for CA tokens. The corresponding analysis provided the opportunity to compare CA use practices between the two age groups. Statistical tests were conducted to examine whether any statistically significant differences could be found between the two narrative tasks and the two age groups regarding CA use. The results showed clear differences between the use of CA by the children and the adults. The children used CA significantly less than the adults did in both narrative tasks. However, the findings also showed similarities in the patterns of CA use. Both groups used CA significantly more when they were shown video materials than when they were shown still images. The differences found between the groups support the view that CA is a gradually acquired skill, whereas the similarities show how viewing the dynamic actions of human referents encourages the use of enactment in narrative discourse contexts.
This paper presents a protocol for annotating Italian Sign Language (LIS) that merges cognitive and socio-semiotic principles with the technical demands of sign language processing for automatic sign recognition. The protocol is applied to a preliminary LIS dataset and integrates insights from both formalist and functionalist frameworks in sign language processing, aiming to leverage their respective strengths to create a comprehensive and accessible documentation of LIS. Unlike traditional gloss translations, which often introduce ambiguity by not directly associating signs with their meanings and relying on verbal language categories, the proposed annotation model incorporates a multi-layered approach that includes vocal language labels in written Italian and English, information on the Unit of Meaning performed combined with the implementation Typannot, a language-specific system sign languages annotation. This hybrid approach ensures that the annotated data is both human- and computer-readable, enhancing accessibility for both signers and non-signers. The presented multi-layered annotation model not only mitigates ambiguity but also provides a richer, more precise annotation. Initial findings suggest that this protocol can enhance the clarity and usability of annotated data, positioning it as a valuable resource for both linguistic research and technological applications.
The recognition of sign languages' literary potential is relatively recent. A movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, starting with literary translation and expanding to original works (see Sutton-Spence 2005), established the concept of deaf literature. Jakobson (1959) identified three translation types: intralinguistic, interlinguistic, and intersemiotic. Scholars have examined translations involving sign languages, highlighting interlinguistic, intersemiotic (Buonomo 2009; Buonomo & Celo 2010), and intermodal aspects (Gambini & Fontana 2016). This study explores the intermodal/intersemiotic processes in translating poems between vocal and sign languages, emphasizing the body's role in embodied cognition and simulation (Gallese & Sinigaglia 2011). We discuss "intersensoriality" - the blending of senses in translation - and its impact on linguistic choices, illustrated with translations from Italian to Italian Sign Language (LIS) and vice versa. Specifically, we analyse translations of Giuseppe Giuranna's "Musica" into Italian and Giacomo Leopardi's "L'Infinito" into LIS, aiming to understand the sensory dialogue in translation.
Demonstratives are essential for coordinating joint attention during discourse. In contrast to spoken languages that typically distribute the work of establishing and maintaining joint attention across two or more demonstratives such as this and that in English, American Sign Language (ASL) does not have contrasting forms. ASL relies almost exclusively on pointing signs for the grammatical functions of demonstratives. This study investigates whether exophoric demonstrative points are modulated with nonmanual markers (NMMs) in response to different contexts of use. 455 demonstrative points were elicited in a puzzle completion task completed by ten ASL signers. Conditional inference trees were used to evaluate the effects of distance, intersubjective alignment and referent specificity on the NMMs produced with the demonstrative points. The results indicate that signers signal increasing distance from their body with an arc movement of the hand, as well as head and body leans, whereas NMMs on the face were associated with intersubjective functions. Contrary to our hypotheses, we found no NMMs associated with the need for greater specificity of demonstrative points when multiple potential referents were in the field of view.
This article traces the early history and formation of Czech Sign Language in the broader European context of deaf education. Drawing on nineteenth-century pedagogical texts, dictionaries, and archival records, it examines how sign language developed within the Prague Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, founded in 1786, and how it was shaped by contact with other sign traditions. Particular attention is paid to the influence of the Viennese Institute, which mediated elements of the French manual method while integrating German educational practices. Through comparison of early Czech and Austrian sources with French materials, the study identifies overlapping but distinct sign repertoires and shows that Czech Sign Language emerged as an independent linguistic system within the Austrian milieu. The findings highlight the interplay of institutional, linguistic, and cultural factors underlying the genesis of Central European sign languages and contribute to diachronic sign language linguistics through the application of sign language archaeology.
Children's use of constructed action (CA) has been linked to language as well as cognitive and social development, but the relationship among these aspects is not yet well understood. This research explores children's use of CA in their produced narratives and how its use relates to children's age and Finnish Sign Language (FinSL) skills. Twenty-one children aged 4 to 10 years who had acquired FinSL from early childhood onwards participated in the study. The children's use of CA was elicited and analysed in still-image story pictures and video-based materials. The association between children's use of CA and FinSL skills was analysed in terms of comprehension and production of FinSL vocabulary, grammatical structures, and narrative skills assessed with different assessment tools. The results revealed that children's use of CA was associated with their age and all aspects of FinSL skills. The more the children combined enactment with co-occurring lexicalised elements, the greater proficiency was required in different aspects of language skills. These findings offer a deeper understanding of how CA and FinSL skills are related, thereby supporting previous suggestions on CA's role in language acquisition.
