Past and current trends in sign language research

Vermeerbergen, Myriam

doi:10.1016/j.langcom.2005.10.004

Cited by 61 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In essence, this means that a syntactic unit in sign languages can share properties at both ends of the continuum and, consequently, can be very difficult to analyze in terms of its structure. The continuum interpretation of syntax also suggests that the degree to which signers lean toward either end in their language production, is highly individual and that, in fact, this degree depends ultimately on every signer's personal intentions (see Vermeerbergen 2006). This interpretation is supported by the FinSL data on CA and clauses presented in this paper.…”

Section: On the Nature Of Syntax In (Sign) Languagessupporting

confidence: 62%

“…The bi-polar picture of syntax including a continuum, which we have outlined in Table 9 and above, is by no means unique: it has been present, either covertly or overtly, in the works of many researchers. An overt example is Vermeerbergen (2006) who, building on the work of Cuxac (2000), uses the metaphor of 'still water' and 'sparkling water' (de l'eau plate and de l'eau pétillante) to characterize a similar type of distinction, mostly with respect to the lexicon, but also with respect to syntax. The use of the metaphor is illustrated in the quote below in which the notion of 'still water' (de l'eau plate) can be taken to refer to the categorial-conventional features summarized in Table 9 while the notion of 'sparkling water' (de l'eau pétillante) refers to the gradient-unconventional features (Vermeerbergen 2006: 183-184).…”

Section: On the Nature Of Syntax In (Sign) Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Constructed Action, the Clause and the Nature of Syntax in Finnish Sign Language

Jantunen

2017

Open Linguistics

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This paper investigates the interplay of constructed action and the clause in Finnish Sign Language (FinSL). Constructed action is a form of gestural enactment in which the signers use their hands, face and other parts of the body to represent the actions, thoughts or feelings of someone they are referring to in the discourse. With the help of frequencies calculated from corpus data, this article shows firstly that when FinSL signers are narrating a story, there are differences in how they use constructed action. Then the paper argues that there are differences also in the prototypical structure, linkage type and non-manual activity of clauses, depending on the presence or non-presence of constructed action. Finally, taking the view that gesturality is an integral part of language, the paper discusses the nature of syntax in sign languages and proposes a conceptualization in which syntax is seen as a set of norms distributed on a continuum between a categorial-conventional end and a gradient-unconventional end.

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Section: On the Nature Of Syntax In (Sign) Languagessupporting

confidence: 62%

Section: On the Nature Of Syntax In (Sign) Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructed Action, the Clause and the Nature of Syntax in Finnish Sign Language

Jantunen

2017

Open Linguistics

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“…: a sign can involve one hand (the so-called dominant hand ) or both hands; these can be symmetrically placed or not. SL's can be used to discuss any topic, from the simple and concrete to the lofty and abstract [20].…”

Section: Sign Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

We gratefully acknowledge …

2016

Healthcare Transformation

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Sign languages are visual languages used in deaf communities, mainly. They simultaneously combine shapes, orientations and movements of the hands, as well as non-manual components, e.g., facial expressions. Their spatial nature makes it difficult to write or even transcribe them. Moreover there is not a one-to-one relation between a sign language and the related verbal language; a word may be represented by more than one sign; likewise, one sign may be translated into more than one word. For instance, there is a single sign in Italian for the "cut with scissors" expression (see 383.1 in [15]). This makes the creation of a sign language dictionary quite a challenging one.The e-LIS project, for which we worked, aims at the creation of the first Electronic bidirectional dictionary for Italian Sign Language -Italian (Verbal Language). The creation of the e-LIS dictionary requires a combination of expertise and skills from various fields. In this thesis, we focus on the creation of an ontology for e-LIS, here conceived as a means for analysing, representing and reasoning with the entities and relations of the sign language dictionary. The enriched knowledge provided by the e-LIS ontology will guide users when they look up in the e-LIS dictionary for a specific sign; in particular users who are not familiar with Italian sign language or the transcription systems should benefit from the expert navigation provided by our ontology. Moreover, our ontology can be integrated with the SEWASIE query tool, which allows for the automated extraction of signs from the dictionary database.This thesis concludes with several open questions at the intersection of knowledge representation and reasoning, sign and computational linguistics, human computer interaction, data base design, internet technologies, which most elicited our research interests.

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“…The proportion of such lexical innovations in sign language use seems to be much higher than in spoken language use. Many sign linguists have attempted to categorize those innovations resulting in various, partly overlapping terms, such as ''classifier constructions'' (Supalla, 1986;Emmorey, 2003), ''sign constructions'' (Vermeerbergen, 1997(Vermeerbergen, , 2006, ''mix 'n' match signs'' (Brennan, 1990). In sign linguistics, it is widely recognized that these constructions show peculiar form-meaning associations, largely based on iconicity.…”

Section: The Relation Between Phonemes and Morphemes In Sign Languagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phonological patterns in a dependency model: Allophonic relations grounded in phonetic and iconic motivation

Demey¹,

Kooij

2008

Lingua

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Past and current trends in sign language research

Cited by 61 publications

References 10 publications

Constructed Action, the Clause and the Nature of Syntax in Finnish Sign Language

Constructed Action, the Clause and the Nature of Syntax in Finnish Sign Language

We gratefully acknowledge …

Phonological patterns in a dependency model: Allophonic relations grounded in phonetic and iconic motivation

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