scholarly journals Structural cues for symmetry, asymmetry, and non-symmetry in Central Taurus Sign Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 171-207
Author(s):  
Rabia Ergin ◽  
Ann Senghas ◽  
Ray Jackendoff ◽  
Lila Gleitman
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Linear Structure ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Age Cohorts ◽  
Body Segmentation ◽  
Over Time

Abstract We investigate how predicates expressing symmetry, asymmetry and non-symmetry are encoded in a newly emerging sign language, Central Taurus Sign Language (CTSL). We find that predicates involving symmetry (i.e., reciprocal and symmetrical actions) differ from those involving asymmetry (i.e., transitive) in their use of the morphological devices investigated here: body segmentation, mirror-image articulators and double perspective. Symmetrical predicates also differ from non-symmetrical ones (i.e., intransitive) in their use of mirror-image configuration. Furthermore, reciprocal actions are temporally sequenced within a linear structure, whereas symmetrical actions are not. Thus, our data reveal that CTSL expresses each type of action with a particular combination of linguistic devices to encode symmetry, asymmetry, and non-symmetry. Furthermore, differences in the use of these devices across age cohorts of CTSL suggest that some have become more conventionalized over time. The same semantic distinctions have been observed – though with different realization – in another emerging sign language, Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL). This converging suggests that natural human language learning capacities include an expectation to distinguish symmetry, asymmetry and non-symmetry.

scholarly journals The emergence of the formal category “symmetry” in a new sign language

2019 ◽  
pp. 201819872
Author(s):  
Lila Gleitman ◽  
Ann Senghas ◽  
Molly Flaherty ◽  
Marie Coppola ◽  
Susan Goldin-Meadow
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Special Problem ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
The World ◽  
Everyday Interaction ◽  
Linguistic Labels ◽  
Formal Category

Logical properties such as negation, implication, and symmetry, despite the fact that they are foundational and threaded through the vocabulary and syntax of known natural languages, pose a special problem for language learning. Their meanings are much harder to identify and isolate in the child’s everyday interaction with referents in the world than concrete things (like spoons and horses) and happenings and acts (like running and jumping) that are much more easily identified, and thus more easily linked to their linguistic labels (spoon, horse, run, jump). Here we concentrate attention on the category of symmetry [a relation R is symmetrical if and only if (iff) for all x, y: if R(x,y), then R(y,x)], expressed in English by such terms as similar, marry, cousin, and near. After a brief introduction to how symmetry is expressed in English and other well-studied languages, we discuss the appearance and maturation of this category in Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL). NSL is an emerging language used as the primary, daily means of communication among a population of deaf individuals who could not acquire the surrounding spoken language because they could not hear it, and who were not exposed to a preexisting sign language because there was none available in their community. Remarkably, these individuals treat symmetry, in both semantic and syntactic regards, much as do learners exposed to a previously established language. These findings point to deep human biases in the structures underpinning and constituting human language.

scholarly journals The Marginalisation of Finely Tuned Semiotic Practices and Misunderstandings in Relation to (Signed) Languages and Deafness

2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Tapio
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Signed Languages ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
Communication Practices ◽  
Disability Research ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Oriented Research

AbstractWhen people draw on the available modal resources (e.g. gestures) in specific contexts over time, those resources come to display regularities. The more a community uses and regulates those resources, the more fully and finely articulated their regularities and patterns become. Modes, organised by regular means of representation, are constantly transformed by users, depending on what the community needs. This paper discusses the way semiotic resources and practices, i.e. social actions with a history, used by sign language signers in visually oriented communities, as well as the research in such domains, have been marginalised. The paper reflects some of the main reasons for such marginalisation and argues how marginalisation is a result of some crucial misunderstandings in relation to (signed) languages, language learning, deafness, and disability. Research into human interaction, in general, has taken a multimodal turn. This paper suggests, through practical examples, how multimodally oriented research could enrich its view by recognising communication-practices inside visually oriented domains, as well as research in the area, instead of considering D/deaf and sign language related research as a specialised area of research.

The Emergence of the Formal Category “Symmetry” in a New Sign Language

2020 ◽  
pp. 790-808
Author(s):  
Lila R. Gleitman ◽  
Ann Senghas ◽  
Molly Flaherty ◽  
Marie Coppola ◽  
Susan Goldin-Meadow
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Special Problem ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Natural Languages ◽  
The World ◽  
Everyday Interaction ◽  
Linguistic Labels ◽  
Formal Category

Logical properties such as negation, implication, and symmetry, despite the fact that they are foundational and threaded through the vocabulary and syntax of known natural languages, pose a special problem for language learning. Their meanings are much harder to identify and isolate in the child’s everyday interaction with referents in the world than concrete things (like spoons and horses) and happenings and acts (like running and jumping) that are much more easily identified, and thus more easily linked to their linguistic labels (spoon, horse, run, jump). Here we concentrate attention on the category of symmetry [a relation R is symmetrical if and only if (iff) for all x, y: if R(x,y), then R(y,x)], expressed in English by such terms as similar, marry, cousin, and near. After a brief introduction to how symmetry is expressed in English and other well-studied languages, we discuss the appearance and maturation of this category in Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL). NSL is an emerging language used as the primary, daily means of communication among a population of deaf individuals who could not acquire the surrounding spoken language because they could not hear it, and who were not exposed to a preexisting sign language because there was none available in their community. Remarkably, these individuals treat symmetry, in both semantic and syntactic regards, much as do learners exposed to a previously established language. These findings point to deep human biases in the structures underpinning and constituting human language.

scholarly journals 3D Avatar Approach for Continuous Sign Movement Using Speech/Text

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3439
Author(s):  
Debashis Das Chakladar ◽  
Pradeep Kumar ◽  
Shubham Mandal ◽  
Partha Pratim Roy ◽  
Masakazu Iwamura ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Hearing Impaired ◽  
Learning System ◽  
English Sentence ◽  
Impaired People ◽  
Indian Sign Language ◽  
Impaired Person ◽  
3D Avatar

Sign language is a visual language for communication used by hearing-impaired people with the help of hand and finger movements. Indian Sign Language (ISL) is a well-developed and standard way of communication for hearing-impaired people living in India. However, other people who use spoken language always face difficulty while communicating with a hearing-impaired person due to lack of sign language knowledge. In this study, we have developed a 3D avatar-based sign language learning system that converts the input speech/text into corresponding sign movements for ISL. The system consists of three modules. Initially, the input speech is converted into an English sentence. Then, that English sentence is converted into the corresponding ISL sentence using the Natural Language Processing (NLP) technique. Finally, the motion of the 3D avatar is defined based on the ISL sentence. The translation module achieves a 10.50 SER (Sign Error Rate) score.

scholarly journals Finding the key to successful L2 learning in groups and individuals

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wander Lowie ◽  
Marijn Van Dijk ◽  
Huiping Chan ◽  
Marjolijn Verspoor
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Learner Characteristics ◽  
Complex Dynamic ◽  
Over Time

A large body studies into individual differences in second language learning has shown that success in second language learning is strongly affected by a set of relevant learner characteristics ranging from the age of onset to motivation, aptitude, and personality. Most studies have concentrated on a limited number of learner characteristics and have argued for the relative importance of some of these factors. Clearly, some learners are more successful than others, and it is tempting to try to find the factor or combination of factors that can crack the code to success. However, isolating one or several global individual characteristics can only give a partial explanation of success in second language learning. The limitation of this approach is that it only reflects on rather general personality characteristics of learners at one point in time, while both language development and the factors affecting it are instances of complex dynamic processes that develop over time. Factors that have been labelled as “individual differences” as well as the development of proficiency are characterized by nonlinear relationships in the time domain, due to which the rate of success cannot be simply deduced from a combination of factors. Moreover, in complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) literature it has been argued that a generalization about the interaction of variables across individuals is not warranted when we acknowledge that language development is essentially an individual process (Molenaar, 2015). In this paper, the viability of these generalizations is investigated by exploring the L2 development over time for two identical twins in Taiwan who can be expected to be highly similar in all respects, from their environment to their level of English proficiency, to their exposure to English, and to their individual differences. In spite of the striking similarities between these learners, the development of their L2 English over time was very different. Developmental patterns for spoken and written language even showed opposite tendencies. These observations underline the individual nature of the process of second language development.

scholarly journals Sentence Generation for Indian Sign Language Using NLP

Webology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (Special Issue 01) ◽  
pp. 196-210
Author(s):  
Dr.P. Golda Jeyasheeli ◽  
N. Indumathi
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Natural Language Processing ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Normal Person ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Android Application ◽  
Sentence Generation ◽  
Normal People ◽  
Indian Sign Language

Nowadays the interaction among deaf and mute people and normal people is difficult, because normal people scuffle to understand the sense of the gestures. The deaf and dumb people find problem in sentence formation and grammatical correction. To alleviate the issues faced by these people, an automatic sign language sentence generation approach is propounded. In this project, Natural Language Processing (NLP) based methods are used. NLP is a powerful tool for translation in the human language and also responsible for the formation of meaningful sentences from sign language symbols which is also understood by the normal person. In this system, both conventional NLP methods and Deep learning NLP methods are used for sentence generation. The efficiency of both the methods are compared. The generated sentence is displayed in the android application as an output. This system aims to connect the gap in the interaction among the deaf and dumb people and the normal people.

scholarly journals Sign language learning and assessment in German Switzerland: Exploring the potential of vocabulary size tests for Swiss German Sign Language

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-40
Author(s):  
Tobias Haug ◽  
Sarah Ebling ◽  
Penny Boyes Braem ◽  
Katja Tissi ◽  
Sandra Sidler-Miserez
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Swiss German ◽  
German Sign Language

scholarly journals The development of sign language learning media using multimedia systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 1098 (3) ◽  
pp. 032059
Author(s):  
D Tresnawati ◽  
R Setiawan ◽  
N Alawiah ◽  
D Heryanto ◽  
S Rahayu
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Multimedia Systems
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