scholarly journals Echo phonology: Signs of a link between gesture and speech

1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-532 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bencie Woll ◽  
Jechil S. Sieratzki
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Evolutionary Development ◽  
Arbitrary Form ◽  
Iconic Signs ◽  
Insight Into

This commentary supports MacNeilage's dismissal of an evolutionary development from sign language to spoken language but presents evidence of a feature in sign language (echo phonology) that links iconic signs to abstract vocal syllables. These data provide an insight into possible mechanism by which iconic manual gestures accompanied by vocalisation could have provided a route for the evolution of spoken language with its characteristically arbitrary form–meaning relationship.

scholarly journals The Signs of Silence – An Overview of Systems of Sign Languages and Co-Speech Gestures

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-144
Author(s):  
Emilija Mustapić ◽  
Frane Malenica
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Simple Form ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Bona Fide ◽  
Basic Features ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Single Modality ◽  
Spatial Modality

The paper presents an overview of sign languages and co-speech gestures as two means of communication realised through the visuo-spatial modality. We look at previous research to examine the correlation between spoken and sign language phonology, but also provide an insight into the basic features of co-speech gestures. By analysing these features, we are able to see how these means of communication utilise phases of production (in the case of gestures) or parts of individual signs (in the case of sign languages) to convey or complement the meaning. Recent insights into sign languages as bona fide linguistic systems and co-speech gestures as a system which has no linguistic features but accompanies spoken language have shown that communication does not take place within just a single modality but is rather multimodal. By comparing gestures and sign languages to spoken languages, we are able to trace the transition from systems of communication involving simple form-meaning pairings to fully fledged morphological and syntactic complexities in spoken and sign languages, which gives us a new outlook on the emergence of linguistic phenomena.

Training sign language interpreters in Australia

Babel ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jemina Napier
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Innovative Approach ◽  
Professional Practices ◽  
Sign Language Interpreters ◽  
Delivery Modes ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Sign Language Interpreting ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Sydney Australia

Abstract This paper describes an innovative approach to training sign language interpreters, through a program established at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. The course is innovative because sign language and spoken language interpreting students jointly study key subjects, which enables all students to gain insight into the theoretical applications and professional practices of their respective working experiences. This component is particularly innovative as sign language interpreting programs are typically provided as language specific courses with little (if any) exposure to interpreting students of other languages. This paper will provide an overview of the program for both spoken and signed language interpreters, detailing the structure, content and delivery modes, with the aim of encouraging other interpreter educators to consider combining the teaching of all language interpreters.

scholarly journals Depicting and describing meanings with iconic signs in Norwegian Sign Language

Gesture ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Ferrara ◽  
Rolf Piene Halvorsen
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Language Discourse ◽  
Modes Of Representation ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Iconic Signs

Abstract There is growing momentum towards a theory of languaging that acknowledges the diverse semiotic repertoires people use with each other. This paper contributes to this goal by providing further evidence from signed language discourse. In particular, we examine iconic signs from Norwegian Sign Language, which can be interpreted as both “regular” lexical signs and token depictions. This dual potential is manipulated by signers in context. We analyze these signs as descriptions and depictions, two different modes of representation. Then we compare these signs to some of the description and depiction that occurs in spoken language discourse. In this way we aim to present some of the advantages of using description and depiction in analyses of communication and interaction. By doing this, we also forge links between the languaging of speakers and the languaging of signers.

scholarly journals The categorical role of structurally iconic signs

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent Strickland ◽  
Valentina Aristodemo ◽  
Jeremy Kuhn ◽  
Carlo Geraci
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Gradable Adjectives ◽  
Linguistic Sign ◽  
Iconic Signs ◽  
Distinguishing Sign

AbstractGoldin-Meadow & Brentari (G-M&B) argue that, for sign language users, gesture – in contrast to linguistic sign – is iconic, highly variable, and similar to spoken language co-speech gesture. We discuss two examples (telicity and absolute gradable adjectives) that challenge the use of these criteria for distinguishing sign from gesture.

Understanding the Communication Needs of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students Who Are Deafblind

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (12) ◽  
pp. 81-88
Author(s):  
Sandy K. Bowen ◽  
Silvia M. Correa-Torres
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Augmentative And Alternative Communication ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Culturally And Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Alternative Communication ◽  
Linguistically Diverse Students ◽  
The Past ◽  
Communication Needs ◽  
Different Cultures

America's population is more diverse than ever before. The prevalence of students who are culturally and/or linguistically diverse (CLD) has been steadily increasing over the past decade. The changes in America's demographics require teachers who provide services to students with deafblindness to have an increased awareness of different cultures and diversity in today's classrooms, particularly regarding communication choices. Children who are deafblind may use spoken language with appropriate amplification, sign language or modified sign language, and/or some form of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

The Medium and the Message

1999 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Sandler
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Prosodic Word ◽  
Special Stress ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Phonological Phrase ◽  
The Relationship

In natural communication, the medium through which language is transmitted plays an important and systematic role. Sentences are broken up rhythmically into chunks; certain elements receive special stress; and, in spoken language, intonational tunes are superimposed onto these chunks in particular ways — all resulting in an intricate system of prosody. Investigations of prosody in Israeli Sign Language demonstrate that sign languages have comparable prosodic systems to those of spoken languages, although the phonetic medium is completely different. Evidence for the prosodic word and for the phonological phrase in ISL is examined here within the context of the relationship between the medium and the message. New evidence is offered to support the claim that facial expression in sign languages corresponds to intonation in spoken languages, and the term “superarticulation” is coined to describe this system in sign languages. Interesting formaldiffer ences between the intonationaltunes of spoken language and the “superarticulatory arrays” of sign language are shown to offer a new perspective on the relation between the phonetic basis of language, its phonological organization, and its communicative content.

Embracing multidimensionality in phonological analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-139
Author(s):  
Abigail C. Cohn ◽  
Margaret E. L. Renwick
Keyword(s):  
Native Speaker ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Iterative Approach ◽  
Full Spectrum ◽  
Multiple Factors ◽  
Multiple Data ◽  
Language Data ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract We pursue the idea, implicit in much current phonological research, that understanding the multiple factors that shape speech production and perception is within the purview of phonology. In particular, increased access to naturalistic data has highlighted the multidimensional reality of variation in spoken language. At the same time, longstanding methods of doing phonology – including impressionistic analysis, and laboratory and experimental studies – remain crucial to understanding native speaker competence and grammar. We advocate for an expanded methodological toolbox in phonological analysis, using an iterative approach that crucially includes naturalistic corpus data. Integrating across multiple data sources offers fuller insight into the nature of the phonological system and native speaker-hearer ability. Several case studies highlight findings gained through linked, iterative studies, showing the importance of naturalistic data for a richer understanding of phonological phenomena, and leading us to reflect on desiderata for corpora to reveal speaker-specific patterns in fine phonetic detail and variability, which we argue are part of a speaker-hearer’s phonological competence. Phonological analysis that embraces the full spectrum of variation in spoken language data (from categorical to gradient, and systematic to sporadic) contributes to a deeper understanding of phonology in this richer sense.

scholarly journals Visible Meaning: Sign language and the foundations of semantics

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 123-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Schlenker
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Universal Grammar ◽  
Logical Form ◽  
Indirect Evidence ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
One Dimension ◽  
Dynamic Binding ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Context Shift

AbstractWhile it is now accepted that sign languages should inform and constrain theories of ‘Universal Grammar’, their role in ‘Universal Semantics’ has been under-studied. We argue that they have a crucial role to play in the foundations of semantics, for two reasons. First, in some casessign languages provide overt evidence on crucial aspects of the Logical Form of sentences, ones that are only inferred indirectly in spoken language. For instance, sign language ‘loci’ are positions in signing space that can arguably realize logical variables, and the fact that they are overt makes it possible to revisit foundational debates about the syntactic reality of variables, about mechanisms of temporal and modal anaphora, and about the existence of dynamic binding. Another example pertains to mechanisms of ‘context shift’, which were postulated on the basis of indirect evidence in spoken language, but which are arguably overt in sign language. Second, along one dimensionsign languages are strictly more expressive than spoken languagesbecause iconic phenomena can be found at their logical core. This applies to loci themselves, which maysimultaneouslyfunction as logical variables and as schematic pictures of what they denote (context shift comes with some iconic requirements as well). As a result, the semantic system of spoken languages can in some respects be seen as a simplified version of the richer semantics found in sign languages. Two conclusions could be drawn from this observation. One is that the full extent of Universal Semantics can only be studied in sign languages. An alternative possibility is that spoken languages have comparable expressive mechanisms, but only when co-speech gestures are taken into account (as recently argued by Goldin-Meadow and Brentari). Either way, sign languages have a crucial role to play in investigations of the foundations of semantics.

scholarly journals Key Word Signing Has Higher Iconicity Than Sign Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (7) ◽  
pp. 2418-2424
Author(s):  
Ellen Rombouts ◽  
Babette Maessen ◽  
Bea Maes ◽  
Inge Zink
Keyword(s):  
Intellectual Disabilities ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Typical Development ◽  
Local Sign ◽  
Communication Difficulties ◽  
Key Word ◽  
Wide Availability ◽  
Manual Signs ◽  
Iconic Signs ◽  
Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities

Purpose Key word signing (KWS) entails using manual signs to support the natural speech of individuals with normal hearing and who have communication difficulties. While manual signs from the local sign language may be used for this purpose, some KWS systems have opted for a distinct KWS lexicon. Distinct KWS lexicon typically aims for higher sign iconicity or recognizability to make the lexicon more accessible for individuals with intellectual disabilities. We sought to determine if, in the Belgian Dutch context, signs from such a distinct KWS lexicon (Spreken Met Ondersteuning van Gebaren [Speaking With Support of Signs; SMOG]) were indeed more iconic than their Flemish Sign Language (FSL) counterparts. Method Participants were 224 adults with typical development who had no signing experience. They rated the resemblance between a FSL sign and its meaning. Raw data on the iconicity of SMOG from a previous study were used. Translucency was statistically and qualitatively compared between the SMOG lexicon and their FSL counterparts. Results SMOG had an overall higher translucency than FSL and contained a higher number of iconic signs. Conclusion This finding may support the value of a separate sign lexicon over using sign language signs. Nevertheless, other aspects, such as wide availability and inclusion, need to be considered.

The Influence of Evolution upon the Functional Development of the Lateral Wall of the Nose

1987 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-57
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Smersh
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Lateral Wall ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Human Anatomy ◽  
Evolutionary Development ◽  
Anatomy And Physiology ◽  
Functional Development ◽  
Human Anatomy And Physiology ◽  
Nasal Disease ◽  
Insight Into

The nose has played a surprisingly critical role repeatedly in adaptation and survival of the vertebrate family line, in olfaction to detect food and predators, in respiration in adaptation to terrestrial existence, and in preservation of homeostasis in severe climatic changes as in the great ice ages that destroyed the giant reptiles. Most importantly to us, the study of evolutionary development will provide insight into human anatomy and physiology and is an aid in the management of medical and surgical treatment of nasal disease.

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