Clause-initial Vs in sign languages: Scene-setters

2021 ◽  
pp. 192-220
Author(s):  
Donna Jo Napoli ◽  
Rachel Sutton–Spence
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Clear Communication ◽  
Communication Calls ◽  
Broad Understanding

In our study, we seek to determine for sign languages the conditions under which a predicate can precede all its arguments. We consider data from the sign languages of Australia, Brazil, Britain, the Netherlands, and Sweden, examining interviews (informative dialogues) and narratives (monologues). While pressures of visualization converge to make SOV and SVO the unmarked orders in sign languages for most predicates, existential and presentational predicates may appear in sentence-initial position. In such instances, the predicate is a scene-setter, establishing a broad understanding of how we are to interpret the event we are about to visualize. We argue that pressures of visualization are again at work. Since sign languages are largely iconic – where the articulation itself brings up visual images – there is a stronger pressure for them to align articulation with mental visualization than for spoken languages; the goal of clear communication calls for this alignment whenever possible.

Word-Final Disfluencies in a School-Age Child: Beneath the Tip of the Iceberg

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Naomi Eichorn ◽  
Sidney Donnan
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Accurate Diagnosis ◽  
Clinical Profile ◽  
School Age ◽  
Timely Access ◽  
Clear Communication ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Disfluencies associated with stuttering generally occur in the initial position of words. This study reviews data from a school-age child with an atypical stuttering profile consisting predominantly of word-final disfluencies (WFDs). Our primary goals were to identify patterns in overt features of WFDs and to extend our understanding of this clinical profile by focusing on aspects of stuttering that lie beneath the surface. Method Analyses explored the patterns and distributions of the child's observable stuttering behaviors, in addition to his awareness, perceptions, and subjective experience of stuttering. Results Findings indicated that the WFD profile consists of relatively consistent and distinct overt features. We also found that, in many ways, the child perceived the impact of his disfluencies much like other children who stutter, even though his disfluencies manifested in a less common form. Conclusion Findings suggest the need for increased awareness of the varied forms stuttering may take in order to ensure accurate diagnosis, clear communication to clients and parents, and timely access to appropriate intervention.

scholarly journals How much can classifiers be analogous to their referents?

Gesture ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Sutton-Spence ◽  
Donna Jo Napoli
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Poetry ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Classifier System ◽  
Signed Languages ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
British Sign

Sign Language poetry is especially valued for its presentation of strong visual images. Here, we explore the highly visual signs that British Sign Language and American Sign Language poets create as part of the ‘classifier system’ of their languages. Signed languages, as they create visually-motivated messages, utilise categoricity (more traditionally considered ‘language’) and analogy (more traditionally considered extra-linguistic and the domain of ‘gesture’). Classifiers in sign languages arguably show both these characteristics (Oviedo, 2004). In our discussion of sign language poetry, we see that poets take elements that are widely understood to be highly visual, closely representing their referents, and make them even more highly visual — so going beyond categorisation and into new areas of analogue.

Rethinking handshape

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-111
Author(s):  
Ella Wehrmeyer
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
South African ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
Joint Angles ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Phonetic Variation ◽  
International Phonetic Alphabet ◽  
Hand Physiology

Abstract Concerted attention in sign language linguistics has focused on finding ways to document signs. Until now, most notation systems rely on a complex plethora of symbols and are under-specific, to the extent that visual images are still the most widely accepted way of recording primary data. This paper presents a novel phonetic notation of handshape in a step towards deriving an International Phonetic Alphabet for sign languages, based on digit shape (configuration) and position in terms of reference coordinates, aiming at both readability and precision. It is sufficiently hybrid to allow for both accurate measurements and estimates of digit positions, thereby affording a way of representing handshapes suitable for lexicography, studying phonetic variation and avatar programming. Originally tailored to describe handshapes in South African Sign Language, it can also notate gestures. After discussing transcription methods and hand physiology, digit configurations are defined in terms of joint angles. Variations in configuration positions are then specified in terms of Cartesian reference coordinates.

Frequency distribution and spreading behavior of different types of mouth actions in three sign languages

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Onno A. Crasborn ◽  
Els van der Kooij ◽  
Dafydd Waters ◽  
Bencie Woll ◽  
Johanna Mesch
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Frequency Distribution ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Spreading Behavior ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
British Sign

In this paper, we present a comparative study of mouth actions in three European sign languages: British Sign Language (BSL), Nederlandse Gebarentaal (Sign Language of the Netherlands, NGT), and Swedish Sign Language (SSL). We propose a typology for, and report the frequency distribution of, the different types of mouth actions observed. In accordance with previous studies, we find the three languages remarkably similar — both in the types of mouth actions they use, and in how these mouth actions are distributed. We then describe how mouth actions can extend over more than one manual sign. This spreading of mouth actions is the primary focus of this paper. Based on an analysis of comparable narrative material in the three languages, we demonstrate that the direction as well as the source and goal of spreading may be language-specific.

scholarly journals Signing not (or not): A typological perspective on standard negation in Sign Language of the Netherlands

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marloes Oomen ◽  
Roland Pfau
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Negative Element ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Typological Variation

AbstractThe expression of standard negation by means of manual and/or non-manual markers has been described for a considerable number of sign languages. Typological comparisons have revealed an intriguing dichotomy: while some sign languages require a manual negative element in negative clauses (manual-dominant sign languages), in others negation can be realized by a non-manual marker alone (in particular a headshake; non-manual-dominant sign languages). We are here adding data from Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) to the picture, and we demonstrate that NGT belongs to the latter group. Still, detailed comparison suggests that NGT patterns differently from other non-manual-dominant sign languages, thereby improving our understanding of the typological variation in this domain. A novel contribution of the present study is that it is based on naturalistic corpus data, showing more variation than often found in elicitation and grammaticality judgment studies of sign languages, but also presenting new problems of interpretation.

Weak hand holds in two sign languages and two genres

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Sáfár ◽  
Vadim Kimmelman
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Genre Analysis ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Modality Effects ◽  
Corpus Data

In this paper, we provide a quantitative analysis of weak hand holds based on corpus data. We include both a cross-linguistic analysis of these holds in narrative data from Russian Sign Language (RSL) and Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT), and a language-internal, cross-genre analysis comparing NGT narrative and conversational data. We classified the functions of all holds found in two corpora of RSL and NGT, and analyzed their formal characteristics. We found that holds in RSL and NGT have similar functions. However, holds are significantly more frequent in RSL than in NGT. In addition, we found that the distribution of holds across different functions varies between different genres in NGT. The similarities between RSL and NGT in the domain of holds may be attributed to modality effects. The differences in frequency of holds ask for a language-specific explanation, and we discuss several possible scenarios.

scholarly journals Event representations constrain the structure of language: Sign language as a window into universally accessible linguistic biases

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (19) ◽  
pp. 5968-5973 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent Strickland ◽  
Carlo Geraci ◽  
Emmanuel Chemla ◽  
Philippe Schlenker ◽  
Meltem Kelepir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Visual Form ◽  
Visual Boundary ◽  
Event Representations

According to a theoretical tradition dating back to Aristotle, verbs can be classified into two broad categories. Telic verbs (e.g., “decide,” “sell,” “die”) encode a logical endpoint, whereas atelic verbs (e.g., “think,” “negotiate,” “run”) do not, and the denoted event could therefore logically continue indefinitely. Here we show that sign languages encode telicity in a seemingly universal way and moreover that even nonsigners lacking any prior experience with sign language understand these encodings. In experiments 1–5, nonsigning English speakers accurately distinguished between telic (e.g., “decide”) and atelic (e.g., “think”) signs from (the historically unrelated) Italian Sign Language, Sign Language of the Netherlands, and Turkish Sign Language. These results were not due to participants' inferring that the sign merely imitated the action in question. In experiment 6, we used pseudosigns to show that the presence of a salient visual boundary at the end of a gesture was sufficient to elicit telic interpretations, whereas repeated movement without salient boundaries elicited atelic interpretations. Experiments 7–10 confirmed that these visual cues were used by all of the sign languages studied here. Together, these results suggest that signers and nonsigners share universally accessible notions of telicity as well as universally accessible “mapping biases” between telicity and visual form.

scholarly journals Phonological restrictions on nominal pluralization in Sign Language of the Netherlands: evidence from corpus and elicited data

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cindy van Boven
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Lateral Side ◽  
Midsagittal Plane ◽  
Comprehensive Description ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Plural Marking ◽  
Complex Movement

Abstract This study focuses on nominal pluralization in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). The aim is to offer a comprehensive description of nominal pluralization processes in the language, based on both corpus data and elicited data, taking into account potential phonological restrictions. The results reveal that NGT nouns can undergo several pluralization processes, the main ones being simple reduplication (i.e., repeating the noun sign at one location) and sideward reduplication (i.e., repeating the noun sign while moving the hand sideward). The choice of pluralization process depends on phonological properties of the base noun: (i) nouns that are body-anchored or involve a complex movement undergo simple reduplication; (ii) nouns articulated at the lateral side of the signing space undergo sideward reduplication; (iii) nouns articulated on the midsagittal plane can undergo both simple and sideward reduplication. Strikingly, the data show considerable variation, and all types of nouns can be zero-marked, that is, plural marking on the noun is not obligatory. The results further suggest that all nouns can undergo at least one type of reduplication. Thus, while phonological properties of the base noun influence the type of reduplication, they do not block reduplication altogether. Plural reduplication in NGT is therefore less constrained than has been reported for other sign languages, where certain noun types cannot undergo reduplication. This shows that reduplication – despite being iconically motivated – is subject to language-specific grammatical constraints.

The devoicing of fricatives in Standard Dutch: A real-time study based on radio recordings

1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans van de Velde ◽  
Marinel Gerritsen ◽  
Roeland van Hout
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Initial Position ◽  
Strong Tendency ◽  
Time Study ◽  
Trend Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
Insight Into

ABSTRACTThis article gives a detailed analysis of devoicing of the voiced fricatives /v/, /z/, /y/ in two varieties of Standard Dutch: Southern Standard Dutch (as spoken in Belgium) and Northern Standard Dutch (as spoken in The Netherlands). The study is based on archived recordings of radio broadcasts from 1935 to 1993. First, our study shows a divergence between Southern and Northern Standard Dutch in the pronunciation of voiced fricatives in this period. In The Netherlands there is a strong tendency towards devoicing, but in Belgium this tendency is very weak. Second, this study offers insight into the linguistic path of this change: partially voiced compromise variants play an important role, and devoicing is favored in word-initial position. Finally, our study shows the benefits of a retrospective trend study on the basis of radio recordings. In comparison with traditional real-time studies, it offers more insight into the social and linguistic embedding of changes in progress. Its results are also more reliable than those of apparent-time research.

scholarly journals Northern and Western Europe in “Illustrated Tributaries of the Qing Empire”

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 81-93
Author(s):  
Dmitry I. Maiatskii
Keyword(s):  
Great Britain ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Qing Dynasty ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
State University ◽  
Qing Empire ◽  
History Of

This paper explores features of the visual images and descriptions of the inhabitants of four European states (Sweden, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland), found in “Huang Qing Zhi Gong Tu” (“Tributaries of the ruling Qing dynasty”) – a Chinese historical and ethnographic book compiled by Fu Heng in the middle of the 18th century. The book is stored in the collection of rare Oriental books at St. Petersburg State University. Eight xylographic illustrations of the inhabitants of the European states are selected and analyzed. The attached explanatory texts are also translated. They contain information about the geographical location of the countries mentioned, as well as the history of their contacts with China and some notes about the inhabitants of these countries, including an anthropological portrait, a description of costumes, customs, occupations and so on. The interpretation is carried out in accordance with the principles of scientific translation used by academician Vasiliy M. Alekseev (1881–1951). In case of need the translations are supplemented with textological, historiographic and culturological commentaries. An analysis of the drawings and texts aids in recreating the picture of the perception by the Chinese of the mid-18th century of the four European states. The archaic names of countries and peoples used by compilers are analyzed. Misconceptions and stereotypes of Chinese compilers are revealed. Attempts are being made to explain their possible origins. The author of the paper found out that the compilers sometimes relied upon a method of explanation of the phenomena unknown to the Chinese by rethinking similar facts from the history and culture of China.

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