scholarly journals Bimodal code-mixing: Dutch spoken language elements in NGT discourse

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 104-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
RICHARD BANK ◽  
ONNO CRASBORN ◽  
ROELAND VAN HOUT
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Mixing Models ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Language Discourse ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Manual Signs ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Level Analysis

Mouthings, the spoken language elements in sign language discourse, are typically analysed as having a redundant, one-on-one relationship with manual signs, both semantically and temporally. We explore exceptions to this presupposed semantic and temporal congruency in a corpus of spontaneous signed conversation by deaf users of Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). We identify specifying mouthings (words with a different meaning than the co-occurring sign), solo mouthings (uttered while the hands are inactive) and added mouthings (words added to a signing stream without their corresponding sign), and make a sentence-level analysis of their occurrences. These non-redundant mouthings occurred in 12% of all utterances, and were made by almost all signers. We argue for the presence of a code-blending continuum for NGT, where NGT is the matrix language and spoken Dutch is blended in, in various degrees. We suggest expansion of existing code-mixing models, to allow for description of bimodal mixing.

The prominence of spoken language elements in a sign language

Linguistics ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bank ◽  
Onno Crasborn ◽  
Roeland van Hout
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Visual Modality ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Regional Origin ◽  
Manual Signs ◽  
Information Streams

Abstractin sign languages consist of simultaneously articulated manual signs and spoken language words. These “mouthings” (typically silent articulations) have been observed for many different sign languages. The present study aims to investigate the extent of such bimodal code-mixing in sign languages by investigating the frequency of mouthings produced by deaf users of Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT), their co-occurrence with pointing signs, and whether any differences can be explained by sociolinguistic variables such as regional origin and age of the signer. We investigated over 10,000 mouth actions from 70 signers, and found that the mouth and the hands are equally active during signing. Moreover, around 80 % of all mouth actions are mouthings, while the remaining 20 % are unrelated to Dutch. We found frequency differences between individual signers and a small effect for level of education, but not for other sociolinguistic variables. Our results provide genuine evidence that mouthings form an inextricable component of signed interaction. Rather than displaying effects of competition between languages or spoken language suppression, NGT signers demonstrate the potential of the visual modality to conjoin parallel information streams.

Use of code-mixing by young hearing children of Deaf parents

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 947-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
LAURA KANTO ◽  
MARJA-LEENA LAAKSO ◽  
KERTTU HUTTUNEN
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Simultaneous Production ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Deaf Parents ◽  
Hearing Children

In this study we followed the characteristics and use of code-mixing by eight KODAs – hearing children of Deaf parents – from the age of 12 to 36 months. The children's interaction was video-recorded twice a year during three different play sessions: with their Deaf parent, with the Deaf parent and a hearing adult, and with the hearing adult alone. Additionally, data were collected on the children's overall language development in both sign language and spoken language. Our results showed that the children preferred to produce code-blends – simultaneous production of semantically congruent signs and words – in a way that was in accordance with the morphosyntactic structure of both languages being acquired. A Deaf parent as the interlocutor increased the number of and affected the type of code-blended utterances. These findings suggest that code-mixing in young bimodal bilingual KODA children can be highly systematic and synchronised in nature and can indicate pragmatic development.

scholarly journals Sociopragmatics of Code Switching and Code Mixing in Reconciliation Case Proceedings: Shariah Courts of Northern Nigeria

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Ahmad Ado ◽  
Siti Jamilah Bidin
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Northern Nigeria ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
Judicial Discourse ◽  
The Common ◽  
Almost All

<p>Due to the peculiarity of the spoken language identified among parties involved in Reconciliation Case Proceedings (RCP) and their arbitrators in the Shariah Reconciliation courts, this paper explores some sociopragmatic aspects of the Hausa natives (Northern Nigeria, West Africa) Shariah reconciliation Courts judicial discourse. To this end, 12 various case proceedings of family disputes on marital issues were recorded through audiovisual recordings. The data were coded and analysed using Nvivo 10, focusing, amongst others, on Searle’s taxonomy of speech acts of expressiveness. It was found that Code Switching and Code Mixings (CSCM) appeared/employed constantly by almost all classes of speakers during RCP. The findings revealed that it is a sociopragmatic culture, behaviour and attribute of Hausa speakers of using Hausa switched, lexical mixed of Hausa-English or Hausa-Arabic CSCM expressive utterances in RCP. Arabic Terminologies and Hausanised of Arabic lexical are also employed by speakers in order to affirm, assert reciprocity, show respect, express gratitude or intention, offer defence, minimise imposition, and seek confirmation or explanation as well as Generic or honorific names/titles in RCP. Finally, the paper demonstrates that it is a cultural practice that during RCP, Hausa language is dominantly used as a medium of communication, hence, sometimes due to the Arabic and Islamic cultural influence of Hausa natives as well as being English as an official language in the Nigerian settings, CSCM of both the three languages is found to be part of the common feature of RCP within Bauchi state Shariah Commission of Nigeria.</p>

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.

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.

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.

scholarly journals Characterization by TGA, SEM, and EDX of Polymeric Matrices Used as Cocaine Camouflages

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Carlos A. Díaz V ◽  
William F. Garzón M ◽  
Juan C. Higuita V ◽  
Elisabeth. Restrepo-Parra
Keyword(s):  
Surface Morphology ◽  
Thermo Gravimetric Analysis ◽  
Soxhlet Extraction ◽  
Structural Type ◽  
Extraction Process ◽  
Gravimetric Analysis ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
Almost All

In this work, a study of samples that contained cocaine camouflaged inside unidentified polymers was performed. Samples were seized at the Dorado International airport in Colombia. Cocaine was adsorbed or occluded within the matrix. The objective of this research was to extract cocaine from the matrices using soxhlet extraction method. Thereafter matrices were analyzed to determine the surface morphology before and after the extraction. Several morphological differences were exhibited between samples including both adsorbed and occluded cocaine. Moreover, changes in the surface morphology were also observed before and after cocaine extraction. The chemical elemental composition of matrices was also studied using energy dispersive spectroscopy, observing that the alkaloid was totally removed in almost all samples after the extraction process. On the other hand, Thermo gravimetric analysis also allows comparing the results obtained for the samples with patterns of pure cocaine and other polymers as CMC, PVA and HEC, finding several similarities of structural type.

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