On the linguistic effects of articulatory ease, with a focus on sign languages

Abstract

Spoken language has a well-known drive for ease of articulation, which Kirchner (1998, 2004) analyzes as reduction of the total magnitude of all biomechanical forces involved. We extend Kirchner's insights from vocal articulation to manual articulation, with a focus on joint usage, and we discuss ways that articulatory ease might be realized in sign languages. In particular, moving more joints and/or joints more proximal to the torso results in greater mass being moved, and thus more articulatory force being expended, than moving fewer joints or moving more distal joints. We predict that in casual conversation, where articulatory ease is prized, moving fewer joints should be favored over moving more, and moving distal joints should be favored over moving proximal joints. We report on the results of our study of the casual signing of fluent signers of American Sign Language, which confirm our predictions: in comparison to citation forms of signs, the casual variants produced by the signers in our experiment exhibit an overall decrease in average joint usage, as well as a general preference for more distal articulation than is used in citation form. We conclude that all language, regardless of modality, is shaped by a fundamental drive for ease of articulation. Our work advances a cross-modality approach for considering ease of articulation, develops a potentially important vocabulary for describing variations in signs, and demonstrates that American Sign Language exhibits variation that can be accounted for in terms of ease of articulation. We further suggest that the linguistic drive for ease of articulation is part of a broader tendency for the human body to reduce biomechanical effort in all physical activities.*

Comparing sign language and gesture: Insights from pointing

“…Gesturers, however, showed a greater tendency to use two-handed pointing gestures. This tendency toward one-handed pointing signs-like the tendency toward shorter pointing signs-is likely related to the drive to conserve effort (Napoli et al 2014). One interesting question is why conservation of effort seems to impact sign more than gesture.…”

Languages in Drier Climates Use Fewer Vowels

“…It is also consistent with the recent finding that perceived phonatory effort and perceived tiredness are mitigated, amongst elderly speakers, when ambient humidity is increased (Sundarrajan et al, 2017). Since languages are biased toward less articulatory effort (Napoli, 2014), it is at least possible that they could be impacted by the heightened laryngeal challenges associated with the inhalation (especially oral inhalation) of dry ambient air. This possibility is difficult to evaluate conclusively given the many complex factors at work in language change, but I argue that it nevertheless merits further investigation.…”

Language evolution and climate: the case of desiccation and tone

“…Voiced velar plosives are less frequent than their alveolar counterparts at least in part, because it is more difficult to maintain the reduced supralaryngeal air pressure requisite for voicing when air is stopped at the velum rather than at the alveolar ridge. The same could be said for numerous other patterns in the world's sound systems, and the tradeoff between articulatory difficulty and cross-linguistic frequency is also present in sign languages (Napoli et al 2014). We have simply suggested [as in Everett (2013) study of ejectives and elevation] that characteristics of the air in a given environment likely impact the ease of articulation of particular sounds, namely tonal sequences relying on precise pitch modulation for the construction of meaningful units.…”