scholarly journals Word classes in sign languages

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waldemar Schwager ◽  
Ulrike Zeshan
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Village Community ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
Word Classes ◽  
German Sign Language ◽  
Language Literature

The topic of word classes remains curiously under-represented in the sign language literature due to many theoretical and methodological problems in sign linguistics. This article focuses on language-specific classifications of signs into word classes in two different sign languages: German Sign Language and Kata Kolok, the sign language of a village community in Bali. The article discusses semantic and structural criteria for identifying word classes in the target sign languages. On the basis of a data set of signs, these criteria are systematically tested out as a first step towards an inductive classification of signs. Approaches and analyses relating to the problem of word classes in linguistic typology are used for shedding new light on the issue of word class distinctions in sign languages.

scholarly journals Ikonizität und Indexikalität im gebärdensprachlichen Lexikon – Zur Typologie sprachlicher Zeichen

2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Kutscher
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Reference Object ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Contemporary Research ◽  
Contact Language ◽  
Written Form ◽  
Iconic Signs ◽  
German Sign Language

AbstractThe paper deals with the iconic and indexical relations of lexical signs in German Sign Language (DGS). It is argued that the theory of signs as established by Charles S. Peirce is particular fruitful with respect to the description and classification of signs in the visual-gestural modality, but also needs some additional discussion on the nature of the relation between sign and reference object. As will be demonstrated, motivated signs in German Sign Language are more complex with respect to indexicality and iconicity as is recognized in contemporary research. Accordingly, the paper discusses the necessity to modify the typology of linguistic signs with respect to sign languages. It will be demonstrated that there has to be established a class of schematic signs within the group of hypoicons. Secondly, it is argued that DGS has a class of motivated but non-iconic signs, which show a designative-indexical relation which relates to the spoken or written form of a word of the oral contact language German. In sum, a modified typology of lexical signs is established which not only includes the sign types symbol, index and (image)icon but also the new types schematic icon and indicator (‘Hinweis’).

A Dynamic Construal Approach to Lexical Transcategorial Shifts in Mandarin

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 576
Author(s):  
Ting Yang
Keyword(s):  
Word Class ◽  
Chinese Word ◽  
European Languages ◽  
On Line ◽  
Word Classes

A dynamic construal approach is adopted to address the word class transcategorial shifts in Mandarin. It is pointed out that the dispute on the classification of Chinese word classes and the consequent controversial proposals of nominalization, verbalization, etc. is in essence a matter of categorization. Instead of the static views, it holds that the categorization of word classes is dynamic and a cluster of factors affects the on-line categorizing process. From the dynamic construal view, Indo-European languages and Mandarin share analogous transcategorial shift processes.

scholarly journals person climbing up a tree

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Pfau ◽  
Markus Steinbach
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Functional Structure ◽  
Functional Domain ◽  
Functional Elements ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Spatial Properties ◽  
Cognitive Theories ◽  
German Sign Language ◽  
Diachronic Changes ◽  
Functional Position

Studies on sign language grammaticalization have demonstrated that most of the attested diachronic changes from lexical to functional elements parallel those previously described for spoken languages. To date, most of these studies are either descriptive in nature or embedded within functional-cognitive theories. In contrast, we take a generative perspective on sign language grammaticalization, adopting ideas by Roberts & Roussou (2003), who suggest that grammaticalization can be characterized as “reanalysis ‘upwards’ along the functional structure”. Following an overview of some of the attested modality-independent pathways, we zoom in on the grammaticalization of two types of agreement auxiliaries, the lexical sources of which are the verb give and the noun person. We argue that the grammaticalization of give-aux (in Greek Sign Language and Catalan Sign Language) follows directly from Roberts & Roussou’s model because a lexical verb is reanalyzed as an element which is merged in a structurally higher functional position (little v). The same is true for person, but this change has an additional modality-specific flavor. In spoken languages, agreement affixes typically enter the functional domain of V via cliticization. In contrast, in German Sign Language and Catalan Sign Language, person, after having been reanalyzed as a determiner-like element, ‘jumps’ directly from D into AgrO — most probably because it has the relevant spatial properties necessary to express agreement. Thus, grammaticalization in sign languages, while being structurally similar, allows for types of reanalysis that are not attested in spoken languages.

scholarly journals Indian Sign Language Recognition Using Canny Edge Detection

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1576-1583
Keyword(s):  
Edge Detection ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Canny Edge Detection ◽  
Canny Edge ◽  
Indian Sign Language

n our society, it is very difficult for hearing impaired and speech impaired people to communicate with ordinary people. They use sign languages to communicate, which use visually transmitted sign patterns, generally includes hand gestures. Sign languages being difficult to learn and non-universal, there is a barrier of communication between the hearing impaired and ordinary people. To break this barrier a system is required that can convert sign language to voice and vice versa in real-time. Here, we propose a real-time two-way system, for communication between hearing-impaired and normal people, which converts the Indian Sign Language (ISL) letters into equivalent alphabet letters and vice versa. In the proposed system, using a camera, images of ISL hand gestures are captured. Then Image pre-processing is done so that these images are ready for feature extraction. Here, a novel approach of using the Canny Edge Detection Algorithm. Once the necessary details are extracted from the image, it is matched with the data set, which is classified using Convolutional Neural Network, and the corresponding text is generated. This text is converted into a voice. Similarly, using a microphone, the voice input of an ordinary person is captured and converted into text. This text is then matched with the data set and a corresponding sign is generated. This system reduces the gap in communication between hearing-impaired and ordinary people. Our method provides 98 % accuracy for the 35 alphanumeric gestures of ISL

scholarly journals Processing pronominal pointing signs in German Sign Language: Neurophysiological evidence for the first mention effect

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Wienholz ◽  
Derya Nuhbalaoglu ◽  
Nivedita Mani ◽  
Annika Herrmann ◽  
Edgar Onea ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Pronoun Resolution ◽  
Potential Study ◽  
N400 Component ◽  
German Sign Language ◽  
Present Event

While the first mention bias has been well investigated in spoken languages, little is known about the presence of a similar bias in sign languages. In sign languages, pronominal pointing signs are directed towards referential locations in the ipsilateral and contralateral area of the signing space usually associated with referents in previous contexts. The present event-related potential study investigates the presence of a first mention effect during pronoun resolution in German Sign Language. We present participants with sentence sets containing two referents in the first sentence and a pronominal sign at the beginning of the second sentence directed to the ipsilateral or contralateral area of the signing space. Results show an N400 component for contralateral compared to ipsilateral pronominal signs suggesting increased processing costs associated with the second referent assigned to the contralateral area. Thus, the current study provides evidence for a first mention effect highlighting its modality independent nature.

The interaction of eye blinks and other prosodic cues in German Sign Language

2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Herrmann
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
Video Data ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Eye Blinks ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Prosodic Cues ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
German Sign Language ◽  
Insight Into

As an interface phenomenon, prosody interacts with all components of grammar, even though it is often subsumed under the broad area of phonology. In sign languages, an equivalent system of prosody reveals interesting results with regard to modality-independent notions of language structure. This paper presents data from a study on German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache, DGS) and investigates prosodic cues on the basis of annotated video data. The focus of the study was on eye blinks and their use in prosodic structuring of signed utterances. Systematic methodology, annotation, and statistical evidence provided the basis for a thorough analysis of blinking behavior in DGS. The results suggest a consistent use of certain eye blinks as markers to indicate prosodic phrase boundaries. A constant 70%/30% ratio of prosodic and non-prosodic blinks further indicates the efficient use of this device. Even though some aspects of blinking are subject to inter-signer variation, the prosodic use of blinks is intriguingly similar across signers. However, blinks are not obligatory boundary markers in DGS. I propose an analysis that takes into account various factors such as syntactic constituency, prosodic structuring, and particularly the interplay of various nonmanuals such as eye gaze, head nods, and facial expressions. The fine-grained distinction of blinks resulting from a modified categorization for eye blinks and additional statistical computations give insight into how visual languages realize phrase boundaries and prosodic marking and to what extent they use the system consistently.

scholarly journals Klasifikasi American Sign Language Menggunakan Ekstraksi Fitur Histogram of Oriented Gradients dan Jaringan Syaraf Tiruan

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ezar Al Rivan ◽  
Mochammad Trinanda Noviardy
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Histogram Of Oriented Gradient ◽  
Artificial Neural ◽  
Hidden Layer

Sign languages have various types, one of which is American Sign Language (ASL). In this study, ASL images from the handshape alphabet were extracted using Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG) then these features were used for the classification of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) with various training functions using 3 variations of multi-layer network architecture where ANN architecture consists of one hidden layer. Based on ANN training, trainbr test results have a higher success rate than other training functions. In architecture with 15 neurons in the hidden layer get an accuracy value of 99.29%, a precision of 91.84%, and a recall of 91.47%. The test results show that using the HOG feature and ANN classification method for ASL recognition gives a good level of accuracy, with an overall accuracy of 5 neurons 95.38%, 10 neurons 96.64%, and 15 neurons with 97.32%.   Keywords— Artificial Neural Network; American Sign Language; Histogram of Oriented Gradient; Training Function

Negation and polar question–answer clauses in South African Sign Language

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Huddlestone
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
South African ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Language Literature

Abstract This paper contributes to the typological debate of whether sign languages should be divided into manual versus non-manual dominant languages, w.r.t. negation, a distinction that has recently been challenged (Johnston 2018) or argued to be too radical (Oomen & Pfau 2017), by providing a characterization of negation in South African Sign Language (SASL). It has also been observed in several sign languages that a construction which consists of a yes-no question followed by a negative fragment answer, both produced by the same speaker, can be used to negate a proposition. While this question-answer pair construction has received attention in the recent sign language literature, it is only mentioned in passing in the literature on negation. In this paper, I provide an analysis of these polar question-answer clauses as a grammaticalized negation strategy in SASL, following Caponigro and Davidson’s (2011) analysis of this construction in ASL.

scholarly journals Towards a Classification of Weak Hand Holds

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vadim Kimmelman ◽  
Anna Sáfár ◽  
Onno Crasborn
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Linguistic Study ◽  
Corpus Data

AbstractThe two symmetrical manual articulators (the hands) in signed languages are a striking modalityspecific phonetic property. The weak hand can maintain the end position of an articulation while the other articulator continues to produce additional signs. This weak hand spreading (hold) has been analysed from various perspectives, highlighting its prosodic, syntactic, or discourse properties. The present study investigates corpus data from Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) and Russian Sign Language (RSL), two unrelated sign languages, in order to question the necessity of a sign-language specific notion of ‘buoy’ introduced in the discourse analysis of American Sign Language by Liddell (2003). Buoys are defined as weak hand holds that serve as a visible landmark throughout a stretch of discourse, and several types are distinguished based on their function and form. In the analysis of nearly two and a half hours of narratives and conversations from NGT and RSL, we found over 600 weak hand holds. We show that these holds can be analysed in terms of regular phonetic, syntactic, semantic, or discourse notions (or a combination thereof) familiar from the linguistic study of spoken languages, without the need for a sign language-specific notion of ‘buoy’.

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