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.
