Abstract
abstractA growing body of research shows that both signed and spoken languages display regular patterns of iconicity in their vocabularies. We compared iconicity in the lexicons of American Sign Language (ASL) and English by combining previously collected ratings of ASL signs (Caselli, Sevcikova Sehyr, Cohen-Goldberg, & Emmorey, 2017) and English words (Winter, Perlman, Perry, & Lupyan, 2017) with the use of data-driven semantic vectors derived from English. Our analyses show that models of spoken language lexical semantics drawn from large text corpora can be useful for predicting the iconicity of signs as well as words. Compared to English, ASL has a greater number of regions of semantic space with concentrations of highly iconic vocabulary. There was an overall negative relationship between semantic density and the iconicity of both English words and ASL signs. This negative relationship disappeared for highly iconic signs, suggesting that iconic forms may be more easily discriminable in ASL than in English. Our findings contribute to an increasingly detailed picture of how iconicity is distributed across different languages.
Highlights
With the increasing recognition that iconicity – broadly defined as the perceived resemblance between form and meaning – is a fundamental property of human language, researchers are beginning to uncover the detailed, systematic patterns that characterize iconicity across specific languages, including signed and spoken languages (Dingemanse, Blasi, Lupyan, Christiansen, & Monaghan, 2015; Imai & Kita, 2014; Meir, 2010; Padden, Hwang, Lepic, & Seegers, 2015; Perlman, Little, Thompson, & Thompson, 2018; Perniss, Thompson, & Vigliocco, 2010)
Recent experiments have used participant ratings to capture iconicity across the lexicons of both signed languages (Caselli et al, 2017; Vinson, Cormier, Denmark, Schembri, & Vigliocco, 2008) and spoken languages (Perry, Perlman, & Lupyan, 2015; Winter et al, 2017). We combine these ratings with high-dimensional distributional vectors to examine the differences, as well as similarities, in the way iconicity is distributed across the lexicons of American Sign Language (ASL) and English
2.1. iconicity ratings We compiled previously collected experimental ratings of iconicity in English and American Sign Language: 3000 ratings were available in English, and 961 ratings were available in ASL, with 552 meanings with ratings in both languages
Summary
With the increasing recognition that iconicity – broadly defined as the perceived resemblance between form and meaning – is a fundamental property of human language, researchers are beginning to uncover the detailed, systematic patterns that characterize iconicity across specific languages, including signed and spoken languages (Dingemanse, Blasi, Lupyan, Christiansen, & Monaghan, 2015; Imai & Kita, 2014; Meir, 2010; Padden, Hwang, Lepic, & Seegers, 2015; Perlman, Little, Thompson, & Thompson, 2018; Perniss, Thompson, & Vigliocco, 2010). Recent experiments have used participant ratings to capture iconicity across the lexicons of both signed languages (Caselli et al, 2017; Vinson, Cormier, Denmark, Schembri, & Vigliocco, 2008) and spoken languages (Perry, Perlman, & Lupyan, 2015; Winter et al, 2017). We combine these ratings with high-dimensional distributional vectors to examine the differences, as well as similarities, in the way iconicity is distributed across the lexicons of American Sign Language (ASL) and English
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
