scholarly journals Language emergence can take multiple paths: Using motion capture to track axis use in Nicaraguan Sign Language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asha Sato ◽  
Simon Kirby ◽  
Molly Flaherty
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Motion Tracking ◽  
The Body ◽  
Continuous Measure ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Emergence Patterns ◽  
Spatial Grammar ◽  
Multiple Paths ◽  
Language Emergence ◽  
Tracking Technology

Research on emergent sign languages suggests that younger sign languages may make greater use of the z-axis, moving outwards from the body, than more established sign languages when describing the relationships between participants and events (Padden, Meir, Aronoff, and Sandler, 2010). This has been suggested to reflect a transition from iconicity rooted in the body (Meir, Padden, Aronoff, and Sandler, 2007) towards a more abstract schematic iconicity. We present the results of an experimental investigation into the use of axis by signers of Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL). We analysed 1074 verb tokens elicited from NSL signers who entered the signing community at different points in time between 1974 and 2003. We used depth and motion tracking technology to quantify the position of signers’ wrists over time, allowing us to build an automated and continuous measure of axis use. We also consider axis use from two perspectives: a camera-centric perspective and a signer-centric perspective. In contrast to earlier work, we do not observe a trend towards increasing use of the x-axis. Instead we find that signers appear to have an overall preference for the z-axis. However, this preference is only observed from the camera-centric perspective. When measured relative to the body, signers appear to be making approximately equal use of both axes, suggesting the preference for the z-axis is largely driven by signers moving their bodies (and not just their hands) along the z-axis. We argue from this finding that language emergence patterns are not necessarily universal and that use of the x-axis may not be a prerequisite for the establishment of a spatial grammar.

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

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommi Jantunen
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Corpus Data ◽  
Manual Activity

AbstractThis 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.

Iconicity and interpretability in language emergence

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-157
Author(s):  
Carla L. Hudson Kam ◽  
Oksana Tkachman
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spatial Relationships ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
Grammatical Relations ◽  
The Face ◽  
Language Emergence ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Spatial Modulations

Abstract The iconic potential of sign languages suggests that the establishment of a conventionalized set of form-meaning pairings should be relatively easy. However, even an iconic form has to be interpreted correctly for it to conventionalize. In sign languages, spatial modulations are used to indicate real spatial relationships (locative) and grammatical relations. The former is a more-or-less direct representation of how things are situated with respect to each other. Grammatical space, in contrast, is more abstract. As such, the former would seem to be more interpretable than the latter, and so on the face of it, should be more likely to conventionalize in a new sign language. But in at least one emerging sign language the grammatical use of space is conventionalizing first. We argue that this is due to the grammatical use of space being easier to understand correctly, using data from four experiments investigating hearing non-signers interpretation of spatially modulated gestures.

scholarly journals Of the body and the hands: patterned iconicity for semantic categories

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-602 ◽  
Author(s):  
SO-ONE HWANG ◽  
NOZOMI TOMITA ◽  
HOPE MORGAN ◽  
RABIA ERGIN ◽  
DENIZ İLKBAŞARAN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Classification System ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Human Agent ◽  
Meaningful Communication

abstractThis paper examines how gesturers and signers use their bodies to express concepts such as instrumentality and humanness. Comparing across eight sign languages (American, Japanese, German, Israeli, and Kenyan Sign Languages, Ha Noi Sign Language of Vietnam, Central Taurus Sign Language of Turkey, and Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language of Israel) and the gestures of American non-signers, we find recurring patterns for naming entities in three semantic categories (tools, animals, and fruits & vegetables). These recurring patterns are captured in a classification system that identifies iconic strategies based on how the body is used together with the hands. Across all groups, tools are named with manipulation forms, where the head and torso represent those of a human agent. Animals tend to be identified with personification forms, where the body serves as a map for a comparable non-human body. Fruits & vegetables tend to be identified with object forms, where the hands act independently from the rest of the body to represent static features of the referent. We argue that these iconic patterns are rooted in using the body for communication, and provide a basis for understanding how meaningful communication emerges quickly in gesture and persists in emergent and established sign languages.

scholarly journals Recognition of Russian and Indian Sign Languages Based on Machine Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 53-74
Author(s):  
Mikhail G. Grif ◽  
◽  
R. Elakkiya ◽  
Alexey L. Prikhodko ◽  
Maxim А. Bakaev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Head Tilt ◽  
Recognition System ◽  
Recurrent Network ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Trained Neural Network ◽  
Indian Sign Language

In the paper, we consider recognition of sign languages (SL) with a particular focus on Russian and Indian SLs. The proposed recognition system includes five components: configuration, orientation, localization, movement and non-manual markers. The analysis uses methods of recognition of individual gestures and continuous sign speech for Indian and Russian sign languages (RSL). To recognize individual gestures, the RSL Dataset was developed, which includes more than 35,000 files for over 1000 signs. Each sign was performed with 5 repetitions and at least by 5 deaf native speakers of the Russian Sign Language from Siberia. To isolate epenthesis for continuous RSL, 312 sentences with 5 repetitions were selected and recorded on video. Five types of movements were distinguished, namely, "No gesture", "There is a gesture", "Initial movement", "Transitional movement", "Final movement". The markup of sentences for highlighting epenthesis was carried out on the Supervisely.ly platform. A recurrent network architecture (LSTM) was built, implemented using the TensorFlow Keras machine learning library. The accuracy of correct recognition of epenthesis was 95 %. The work on a similar dataset for the recognition of both individual gestures and continuous Indian sign language (ISL) is continuing. To recognize hand gestures, the mediapipe holistic library module was used. It contains a group of trained neural network algorithms that allow obtaining the coordinates of the key points of the body, palms and face of a person in the image. The accuracy of 85 % was achieved for the verification data. In the future, it is necessary to significantly increase the amount of labeled data. To recognize non-manual components, a number of rules have been developed for certain movements in the face. These rules include positions for the eyes, eyelids, mouth, tongue, and head tilt.

Dedicated gestures and the emergence of sign language

Gesture ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Sandler
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
The Body ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Gradual Process ◽  
Linguistic Functions ◽  
The Relationship

Sign languages make use of the two hands, facial features, the head, and the body to produce multifaceted gestures that are dedicated for linguistic functions. In a newly emerging sign language — Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language — the appearance of dedicated gestures in signers of four age groups or strata reveals that recruitment of gesture for language is a gradual process. Starting with only the hands in Stratum I, each additional articulator is recruited to perform grammatical functions as the language matures, resulting in ever increasing grammatical complexity. The emergence of dedicated gesture in a new language provides a novel context for addressing questions about the relationship between the physical transmission system and grammar and about the emergence of linguistic complexity in human language generally.

Argument structure and the role of the body and space in Kenyan Sign Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 38-72
Author(s):  
Hope E. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Verb Agreement

Abstract This paper investigates how systematically a young macro-community sign language, Kenyan Sign Language, uses two different means to communicate about events: (i) word order, and (ii) verb agreement using spatial co-reference. The study finds that KSL signers rely primarily on word order and using the body as a referent, rather than verb agreement, when representing transitive events. Yet, by looking separately at how KSL signers use the sub-components of verb agreement, a pattern emerges that indicates a possible path toward ‘canonical verb agreement’. These sub-components are evaluated using Meir’s stages/types of grammaticalization of verb agreement (Meir 2011, 2016), and compared with other young and emerging sign languages.

Sign Language Prosody

2020 ◽  
pp. 103-122
Author(s):  
Wendy Sandler ◽  
Diane Lillo-Martin ◽  
Svetlana Dachkovsky ◽  
Ronice Müller de Quadros
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Facial Expressions ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Face

Sign languages are unlike spoken languages because they are produced by a wide range of visibly perceivable articulators: the hands, the face, the head, and the body. There is as yet no consensus on the division of labour between these articulators and the linguistic elements or subsystems that they subserve. For example, certain systematic facial expressions in sign languages have been argued to be the realization of syntactic structure by some researchers and of information structure, and thus prosodic in nature, by others. This chapter brings evidence from three unrelated sign languages for the latter claim. It shows that certain non-manual markers are best understood as representing pragmatic notions related to information structure, such as accessibility, contingency, and focus, and are thus part of the prosodic system in sign languages generally. The data and argumentation serve to sharpen the distinction between prosody and syntax in language generally.

Language is shaped by the body

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 509-511
Author(s):  
Mark Aronoff ◽  
Irit Meir ◽  
Carol Padden ◽  
Wendy Sandler
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sign Languages

AbstractSign languages provide direct evidence for the relation between human languages and the body that engenders them. We discuss the use of the hands to create symbols and the role of the body in sign language verb systems, especially in two quite recently developed sign languages, Israeli Sign Language and Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language.

scholarly journals Formal variation in the Kata Kolok lexicon

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Lutzenberger ◽  
Connie de Vos ◽  
Onno Crasborn ◽  
Paula Fikkert
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Comprehensive Approach ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Village Community ◽  
Token Frequency ◽  
Phonological Structure ◽  
Language Emergence ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Combining Methods ◽  
Frequency Weightings

Sign language lexicons incorporate phonological specifications. Evidence from emerging sign languages suggests that phonological structure emerges gradually in a new language. In this study, we investigate variation in the form of signs across 20 deaf adult signers of Kata Kolok, a sign language that emerged spontaneously in a Balinese village community. Combining methods previously used for sign comparisons, we introduce a new numeric measure of variation. Our nuanced yet comprehensive approach to form variation integrates three levels (iconic motivation, surface realisation, feature differences) and allows for refinement through weighting the variation score by token and signer frequency. We demonstrate that variation in the form of signs appears in different degrees at different levels. Token frequency in a given dataset greatly affects how much variation can surface, suggesting caution in interpreting previous findings. Different sign variants have different scopes of use among the signing population, with some more widely used than others. Both frequency weightings (token and signer) identify dominant sign variants, i.e., sign forms that are produced frequently or by many signers. We argue that variation does not equal the absence of conventionalisation. Indeed, especially in micro-community sign languages, variation may be key to understanding patterns of language emergence.

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