Visual Iconicity Across Sign Languages: Large-Scale Automated Video Analysis of Iconic Articulators and Locations

Östling, Robert; Börstell, Carl; Courtaux, Servane

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00725

Cited by 45 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Building on the growing documentation of iconic phenomena across languages both signed and spoken, including the spontaneous gestures that are integrated with sign and speech, researchers are beginning to apply a comparative perspective to the study of iconicity (e.g., Voeltz and Kilian-Hatz, 2001 ; Kita and Özyürek, 2003 ; Dingemanse, 2012 ; Padden et al, 2013 ; Perry et al, 2015 ; Östling et al, 2018 ). Although most previous research has focused separately on signed or spoken languages, a comparative approach raises fundamental questions related to the modality of language.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Iconicity in Signed and Spoken Vocabulary: A Comparison Between American Sign Language, British Sign Language, English, and Spanish

et al. 2018

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Considerable evidence now shows that all languages, signed and spoken, exhibit a significant amount of iconicity. We examined how the visual-gestural modality of signed languages facilitates iconicity for different kinds of lexical meanings compared to the auditory-vocal modality of spoken languages. We used iconicity ratings of hundreds of signs and words to compare iconicity across the vocabularies of two signed languages – American Sign Language and British Sign Language, and two spoken languages – English and Spanish. We examined (1) the correlation in iconicity ratings between the languages; (2) the relationship between iconicity and an array of semantic variables (ratings of concreteness, sensory experience, imageability, perceptual strength of vision, audition, touch, smell and taste); (3) how iconicity varies between broad lexical classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, grammatical words and adverbs); and (4) between more specific semantic categories (e.g., manual actions, clothes, colors). The results show several notable patterns that characterize how iconicity is spread across the four vocabularies. There were significant correlations in the iconicity ratings between the four languages, including English with ASL, BSL, and Spanish. The highest correlation was between ASL and BSL, suggesting iconicity may be more transparent in signs than words. In each language, iconicity was distributed according to the semantic variables in ways that reflect the semiotic affordances of the modality (e.g., more concrete meanings more iconic in signs, not words; more auditory meanings more iconic in words, not signs; more tactile meanings more iconic in both signs and words). Analysis of the 220 meanings with ratings in all four languages further showed characteristic patterns of iconicity across broad and specific semantic domains, including those that distinguished between signed and spoken languages (e.g., verbs more iconic in ASL, BSL, and English, but not Spanish; manual actions especially iconic in ASL and BSL; adjectives more iconic in English and Spanish; color words especially low in iconicity in ASL and BSL). These findings provide the first quantitative account of how iconicity is spread across the lexicons of signed languages in comparison to spoken languages.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Iconicity in Signed and Spoken Vocabulary: A Comparison Between American Sign Language, British Sign Language, English, and Spanish

et al. 2018

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“…Third, we mentioned in §8 that sometimes with Method Two our signers rounded corners. Given that redundancy in spoken language often correlates with reduced articulation, particularly of vowels (Oshika, 1975; and many others), we might wonder if Method Two is more prone to reduced articulation and, since reduced articulation often correlates with speed of articulation in spoken languages, if the rate of movement of the manual articulators is faster in Method Two than in Method One. Furthermore, the use of Method Two is more informative about a shape in that it indicates that it is +YSym and -Curve, while the use of Method One indicates only that the shape is not both +YSym and -Curve.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spreadthesign is maintained by the European Sign Language Centre in € Orebro, Sweden, with local partners in each participating country, and deaf signers in all dictionary entries. Recent large-scale cross-linguistic studies rely on it (such as Sanders & Napoli, 2016;€ Ostling, B€ orstell, & Courtaux, 2018;Yu, Geraci, & Abner, 2018).…”

Section: Selection Of Dictionariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Manual Movement in Sign Languages: One Hand Versus Two in Communicating Shapes

Ferrara

Napoli

2019

Cognitive Science

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In sign languages, the task of communicating a shape involves drawing in the air with one moving hand (Method One) or two (Method Two). Since the movement path is iconic, method choice might be based on the shape. In the present studies we aimed to determine whether geometric properties motivate method choice. In a study of 17 deaf signers from six countries, the strongest predictors of method choice were whether the shape has any curved edges (Method One), and whether the shape is symmetrical across the Y‐axis (Method Two), where the default was Method One. In a second study of ASL dictionary entries for which the movement path of the sign is iconic of an entity's shape, the same predictors surfaced. These tendencies are captured in the Lexical Drawing Principle, which is coherent with biological constraints on movement in general. Drawing in the air with two hands, however, is costly, both cognitively and biomechanically. Furthermore, it distinguishes signers from non‐signers, who draw shapes with only one hand. Signers assume this extra cost in the lexicon because of the enhanced iconicity the possibility of two hands offers; they assume it in drawing shapes in the air because they apply the same linguistic principle they use in the lexicon. Additionally, having a choice of methods allows the signer to benefit from over‐specification in providing redundant information about the shape, enhancing comprehensibility and resolving ambiguity.

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“…The visual modality is full of iconicity (McNeill 2000;Brentari 2010;Channon & van der Hulst 2011;Östling et al 2018). Our reason for drawing on the visual modality to inform this methodology is because sign language and gesture researchers have clear ideas about what is iconic and what is systematic (Bellugi & Klima 1976;McNeill 2000;Kendon 2004;Emmorey 2014;Ortega 2017;Östling et al 2018). Research in this vein of the visual modality is based on gesture (handshape, hand movement), something which is analogically relatable via oral articulatory gesture to the spoken modality.…”

Section: Phonosemanticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following on from that, we take the position that phonosemantic mappings should be explainable in terms of imitation. When it comes to communication in the visual modality, this is highly intuitive and can be easily tested for universal tendencies by simply showing a sign or gesture to someone (Drijvers & Özyürek 2017;Ortega 2017;Ortega et al 2017;Östling et al 2018). But additional layers of language-specific complexity in spoken languages such as phonotactics, phonological inventories, or lexical association prevent the phonosemantics from jumping out at us like the imitation seen in the visual modality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining iconicity: An articulation-based methodology for explaining the phonological structure of ideophones

Thompson

2019

Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics

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Iconicity is when linguistic units are perceived as 'sounding like what they mean,' so that phonological structure of an iconic word is what begets its meaning through perceived imitation, rather than an arbitrary semantic link. Fundamental examples are onomatopoeia, e.g., dog's barking: woof woof (English), wou wou (Cantonese), wan wan (Japanese), hau hau (Polish). Systematicity is often conflated with iconicity because it is also a phenomenon whereby a word begets its meaning from phonological structure, albeit through (arbitrary) statistical relationships, as opposed to perceived imitation. One example is gl-(Germanic languages), where speakers can intuit the meaning 'light' via knowledge of similar words, e.g., glisten, glint, glow, gleam, glimmer. This conflation of iconicity and systematicity arises from questions like 'How can we differentiate or qualify perceived imitation from (arbitrary) statistical relationships?' So far there is no proposal to answer this question. By drawing observations from the visual modality, this paper mediates ambiguity between iconicity and systematicity in spoken language by proposing a methodology which explains how iconicity is achieved through perceptuo-motor analogies derived from oral articulatory gesture. We propose that universal accessibility of articulatory gestures, and human ability to create (perceptuo-motor) analogy, is what in turn makes iconicity universal and thus easily learnable by speakers regardless of language background, as studies have shown. Conversely, our methodology allows one to argue which words are devoid of iconicity seeing as such words should not be explainable in terms of articulatory gesture. We use ideophones from Chaoyang (Southern Min) to illustrate our methodology.

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Visual Iconicity Across Sign Languages: Large-Scale Automated Video Analysis of Iconic Articulators and Locations

Cited by 45 publications

References 58 publications

Iconicity in Signed and Spoken Vocabulary: A Comparison Between American Sign Language, British Sign Language, English, and Spanish

Iconicity in Signed and Spoken Vocabulary: A Comparison Between American Sign Language, British Sign Language, English, and Spanish

Manual Movement in Sign Languages: One Hand Versus Two in Communicating Shapes

Defining iconicity: An articulation-based methodology for explaining the phonological structure of ideophones

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