Conceptual overlap and multiple symbolization in signed languages

This paper explores the relationship between memory, language, and embodied cognition by analyzing how sign languages encode the concept of memory through bodily referents. While memory is often associated with the brain from a neurological perspective (Baddeley [1974]; Cann & Ross [1989]; Ackerman [1992]), different languages metaphorically locate memory in various parts of the body, such as the heart, muscles, or even the environment. Sentences like “This is etched on my heart” (English) refer to something that has made a big impression on me, making it easy for me to remember. Other languages refer to memory as residing in various places in the body, such as the ventral area of the body or the environment itself (in Japanese culture, for instance). Sign languages provide an opportunity to examine this phenomenon visually and spatially, offering insights into how bodily experience influences linguistic representation. Drawing on theories of embodiment, including work from neuroscience, psycholinguistics, and sign linguistics, this study investigates the bodily locations used to express memory across five sign languages: Italian Sign Language (LIS), Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS), American Sign Language (ASL), British Sign Language (BSL), and Japanese Sign Language (JSL). Using data from Spreadthesign and other linguistic resources, the study identifies commonalities in how these languages position memory-related signs primarily around the head, supporting the idea that cognitive and linguistic structures align with physical and cultural perceptions of memory storage. The research is grounded in conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson [1981]), which posits that abstract concepts are understood through embodied experiences and incorporates reflections on the semantic approach to sign language studies (Cuxac [2004]). Findings suggest that while spoken languages may metaphorically associate memory with different body parts, sign languages provide a more direct visual and spatial representation of these associations. By analyzing the lexicon of “memory” across different sign languages, the study offers evidence of a shared cognitive and bodily foundation in language structure, supporting the hypothesis that linguistic meaning is deeply embedded in human perception and bodily experience. Furthermore, this work contributes to ongoing discussions about the relationship between sign and spoken languages. While sign languages have often been studied in relation to their spoken counterparts, they offer unique insights into how language interacts with cognition and physicality. This study also aligns with previous research on iconicity in sign language (Cuxac [2000a, 2000b]; Wilcox [2000]; Taub [2001]), emphasizing the role of the body in structuring linguistic meaning. The findings challenge traditional distinctions between phonology and morphology in linguistic theory, reinforcing the need for models that account for the multimodal and spatial dimensions of sign language. By bridging linguistic, cognitive, and neurological perspectives, this paper underscores the importance of embodied cognition in understanding language development and meaning construction. The analysis of memory-related lexicon in sign languages not only highlights the influence of bodily experience in linguistic representation but also opens new avenues for exploring how language reflects fundamental cognitive processes across different modalities.

Feature extraction in Brazilian Sign Language Recognition based on phonological structure and using RGB-D sensors

As I explained in Chapter 2, there are only three objects of study in Cognitive Grammar: phonological structures, semantic structures, and symbolic structures, which relate a phonological structure and a semantic structure. Although our main focus must go to describing a language’s symbolic resources, we need to bear in mind that phonology and semantics possess a certain degree of autonomy vis-à-vis symbolic associations (section 3.4.2). The phonological structure of a complex expression does not consist simply in the alignment of the phonological structures contributed by each of the component symbolic units. Phonology has its own principles of organization, which may operate independently of the semantic structures that an expression symbolizes.

Possibility modals in Brazilian Sign Language and Argentine Sign Language: A contrastive study

Sign language automatic recognition is an important research area with open challenges that aims to mitigate the obstacles in the daily lives of people who are deaf or hard of hearing and increase their integration in the predominantly hearing society in which we live. This paper implements, evaluates and discusses strategies for automatic recognition of Brazilian Sign Language (BSL) signs, which ultimately aims to simplify the communication between deaf signing in BSL and listeners who do not know this sign language, accomplished through the processing of digital videos of people communicating in BSL without the use of colored gloves or data gloves and sensors or the requirement of high quality recordings in laboratories with controlled backgrounds or lighting. An approach divided in several stages was developed and all stages of the proposed system can be considered contributions for future works in sign language recognition or those involving image processing, human skin segmentation, object tracking etc. For the skin color based segmentation stage, in particular, several techniques were implemented and compared and the strategy used for sign recognition, exploring the Leveshtein distance and a voting scheme with a binary classifier, is unusual in this area and showed good results. From the original 600 samples of 30 words, chosen for frequency of use and superposition of sign elements to make recognition more complex, the system was able to correctly segment 422 (70%) signs, for which it reached 100% accuracy in recognition using our strategy. This sign database with 600 samples in video of the chosen 30 word vocabulary is another of this work’s contributions and is available upon request to the authors.

Facial Expression Recognition is an already well-developed research area, mainly due to its applicability in the construction of different system types. Facial expressions are especially important in the area which relates to the construction of discourses through sign language. Sign languages are visual-spatial languages that are not assisted by voice intonation. Therefore, they use facial expressions to support the manifestation of prosody aspects and some grammatical constructions. Such expressions are called Grammatical Facial Expressions (GFEs) and they are present at sign language morphological and syntactic levels. GFEs stand out in automated recognition processes for sign languages, as they help removing ambiguity among signals, and they also contribute to compose the semantic meaning of discourse. This paper aims to present a study which applies inductive reasoning to recognize patterns, as a way to study the problem involving the automated recognition of GFEs at the discourse syntactic level in the Libras Sign Language (Brazilian Sign Language). In this study, sensor Microsoft Kinect was used to capture three-dimensional points in the faces of subjects who were fluent in sign language, generating a corpus of Libras phrases, which comprised different syntactic constructions. This corpus was analyzed through classifiers that were implemented through neural network Multilayer Perceptron, and then a series of experiments was conducted. The experiments allowed investigating: the recognition complexity that is inherent to each of the GFEs that are present in the corpus; the use suitability of different vector representations, considering descriptive characteristics that are based on coordinates of points in three dimensions, distances and angles therefrom; the need for using time data regarding the execution of expressions during speech; and particularities that are connected to data labeling and the evaluation of classifying models in the context of a sign language.

This study presents an analysis of variation and stability in International Sign Language (IntSL). IntSL exhibits linguistic properties at all levels including the lexicon. The lexicon presents variation for several reasons, such as previous sign language knowledge (L1 effects on L2 sign language), cultural influences, and iconicity motivation. At the same time, it presents lexical stability. Phonetic-phonological realization of the signs in IntSL is susceptible to variation as has been found in other signed languages (see e.g. Xavier and P. Barbosa (2014. Diferentes pronúncias em uma língua não sonora? Um estudo da variação na produção de sinais da Libras. D.E.L.T.A 30(2). 371–413); Xavier and F. Barbosa (2017. Variabilidade e estabilidade na produção de sinais da Libras. Domínios de Linguagem Uberlândia 11(3). 903–1006); Lucas et al. (2001. Sociolinguistic variation. In C. Lucas (ed.), The sociolinguistic of sign languages , 61–111. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press); Johnston and Schembri (2010. Variation, lexicalization and grammaticalization in signed languages. Langage et Societe 131(1)); Battison (1974. Phonological deletion in American sign language. Sign Language Studies 5. 1–19); Jordan and Battison (1976. A referential communication experiment with foreign sign languages. Sign Language Studies 10(Spring). 69–80); Battison and Jordan (1976. Cross-cultural communication with foreign signers: Fact and fancy. Sign Language Studies 10(Spring). 53–68). This paper investigates lexical properties – with focus on variation – and lexical stability in IntSL. The data analysis follows the methodology of Xavier and F. Barbosa (2017. Variabilidade e estabilidade na produção de sinais da Libras. Domínios de Linguagem Uberlândia 11(3). 903–1006) in their work on lexical variation and stability in Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) as well as the work of Nieto-Castanon et al. (2005. A modeling investigation of articulatory variability and acoustic stability during American English/r/production. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 117(5)) on the functional relationship between articulatory variability and stability of acoustic cues during American English/r/production. The findings reveal that despite within-signer and across-signer lexical variation, phonetic-phonological parameters in lexical signs have been stabilized and preserved. As a result, these signs have been entered in the lexicon of IntSL.

This paper examines how signers make lists. One way is to use the fingers on the signer’s nondominant hand to enumerate items on a list. The signer points to these list-fingers with the dominant hand. Previous analyses considered lists to be nondominant, one-handed signs, and thus were called list buoys because the nondominant hand often remains in place during the production of the list. The pointing hand was largely ignored as a nonlinguistic gesture. We take a constructional approach based on Cognitive Grammar. In our approach, we analyze lists as a type of pointing construction consisting of two meaningful components: a pointing device (the pointing hand) used to direct attention; and a Place, also consisting of form and a meaning. Using data from Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) and Finland–Swedish Sign Language (FinSSL), we examine the semantic role of each component, showing how the nondominant list-fingers identify and track discourse referents, and how the pointing hand is used to create higher-order entities by grouping list-fingers. We also examine the integration of list constructions and their components with other conventional constructions.

Sign Language Contributes to a Better Understanding of Language Acquisition, A Review of Directions in Sign Language Acquisition Directions in Sign Language Acquisition, edited by Gary Morgan and Bencie Woll (Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2002. 339 pp. Hardcover $60.00. ISBN 9-027234-72-8 [Europe], 1-58811-235-7 [United States]) Directions in Sign Language Acquisition is a collection of current research studies that emphasizes the ways in which knowledge about sign language acquisition can contribute to a better understanding of language and the way in which children acquire it. Inspired by presentations and workshops at the 1999 Congress of the International Association for the Study of Child Language, the book is published as part of this organization's Trends in Language Acquisition Research series. The introduction, by editors Morgan and WoIl, provides an excellent framework for the studies included in the book. The background information and terminology they discuss are also very helpful for readers who are not familiar with sign languages. Morgan and WoIl emphasize that these studies support diversity in theoretical and methodological approaches, in languages studied, and in the geographical and academic backgrounds of the contributors. This diversity generally contributes to broadening the scope of the text, but it also restricts connections between some of the chapters. Although the editors claim that the emphasis of the reported studies is both theoretical and practical, the primary focus is on theory, and readers must extract the applications. The first chapter, by Marschark, is a review of research on early language development. It is very thorough and provides an excellent conceptual framework for the book but does not introduce any new research. Marschark clearly introduces the role of gesture as a theme that later chapters also address. Another key point he makes is that researchers need to view language as more than a linguistic system and consider it as a social-communicative system. Analysis must go beyond the grammatical structures and features of a language and include the context and interactions in which they occur. In the second chapter Kamopp provides a description of phonological development in Brazilian Sign Language. Unfortunately, the theoretical background is not written in enough detail for nonphonologists or non-sign-language researchers to follow. he concludes that location and movement features are acquired earlier and more accurately in children's production of signs, whereas the process of acquiring handshapes is slower and involves more errors. These findings are similar to what Marentette (199$) discovered in studying phonological acquisition in American Sign Language. In the third chapter Hoiting and Slobin introduce the use of the Berkeley Transcription System (BTS) as a tool for sign language research. They imply that using the same standards as the rest of the language acquisition ReId adds credibility to research in sign language acquisition. This also acknowledges transcription as a necessary tool. Hoiting and Slobin state that a transcription system should be designed to answer the questions we have. For example, it is not necessary to focus on detailed phonology when this is not the major interest of the research. Since the point of this chapter is to describe the new tool, they only briefly mention studies in which the BTS was used. In chapter four Pizzuto discusses research regarding the development of Italian Sign Language in preschool children. She presents a broad spectrum of findings and information, but because of disorganization in her writing some ofhcr points are difficult to follow. Her primary emphasis is on the variability that occurs in children's use of grammatical structures. She accounts for this unevenness in several ways. First, inflectional morphology in signed languages is highly variable because it is often optional, which makes acquisition slow and irregular. …

This chapter discusses the building of sign language acquisition corpora. We have developed methodology to collect, transcribe and store data from different contexts of acquisition. The corpora include: deaf children from deaf parents, deaf children from hearing parents, hearing children from deaf parents (Kodas) and deaf children with cochlear implants – all in the contexts of two sign languages – Brazilian Sign Language and American Sign Language, and two spoken languages in the bilingual bimodal cases: Brazilian Portuguese and American English. In this paper we also present the notion of Sign ID, software to indicate identities for each sign that is part of the database. It helps us make the annotations more consistent across transcribers. This kind of work is making it possible to compare data from the acquisition of these four languages.

This chapter examines evidentiality in signed languages. Data comes primarily from three signed languages—American Sign Language (ASL), Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), and Catalan Sign Language (LSC). The relationship between evidentiality, epistemic modality, and mirativity is examined across the expression of perceptual information as an evidential source, inference, and reported speech. It is suggested that evidentiality relies on simulation and subjectification. Finally, a proposal is offered that evidentiality, epistemic modality, and mirativity are primarily expressed through grammaticalized facial markers in signed languages, rather than by means of manual signs. These markers allow for simultaneous expression of grammatical markers. In signed languages, therefore, not only are the semantic components of evidentiality, epistemic modality, and mirativity integrated, so too are the phonological means of expression.

Sign language recognition technology can help people with hearing impairments to communicate with non-hearing-impaired people. At present, with the rapid development of society, deep learning also provides certain technical support for sign language recognition work. In sign language recognition tasks, traditional convolutional neural networks used to extract spatio-temporal features from sign language videos suffer from insufficient feature extraction, resulting in low recognition rates. Nevertheless, a large number of video-based sign language datasets require a significant amount of computing resources for training while ensuring the generalization of the network, which poses a challenge for recognition. In this paper, we present a video-based sign language recognition method based on Residual Network (ResNet) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM). As the number of network layers increases, the ResNet network can effectively solve the granularity explosion problem and obtain better time series features. We use the ResNet convolutional network as the backbone model. LSTM utilizes the concept of gates to control unit states and update the output feature values of sequences. ResNet extracts the sign language features. Then, the learned feature space is used as the input of the LSTM network to obtain long sequence features. It can effectively extract the spatio-temporal features in sign language videos and improve the recognition rate of sign language actions. An extensive experimental evaluation demonstrates the effectiveness and superior performance of the proposed method, with an accuracy of 86.25%, F1-score of 84.98%, and precision of 87.77% on Argentine Sign Language (LSA64).

Grounding refers to expressions that establish a connection between the ground and the content evoked by a nominal or finite clause. In this paper we report on two grammatical implementations of nominal grounding in Argentine Sign Language: pointing and placing. For pointing constructions, we also examine distal-proximal pointing and directive force. We introduce the concept of placing, in which a sign is produced at a specific meaningful location in space. Two types of placing are discussed: Placing-for-Creating, in which a new meaningful location is created, and Placing-by-Recruiting, which recruits an existing meaningful location. We suggest that our analysis of pointing and placing provides an account of nominal grounding unified by general cognitive principles as described within the theory of Cognitive Grammar. Pointing is known to occur in all signed languages studied to date. Although previously undocumented, we suggest that placing is also common to many, perhaps all, signed languages.

Prosodic structure in sign languages is encoded by articulations of the hands, face, and body. Despite the different physical system, there are many similarities to prosody of spoken language, such as the existence of a prosodic hierarchy, alignment of intonational elements (conveyed by the face) with temporally marked prosodic constituents (conveyed by the hands), and a close relation between prosody and syntax. The latter relation is indirect, however, and does not imply isomorphism. As such, the distribution of intonational elements cannot reliably be used as a diagnostic for syntactic structure, nor can their occurrence be predicted by syntax alone. While the existence of prosody in sign languages underscores the ‘naturalness’ of prosody in human language, the prosodic system emerges gradually, both in children acquiring established sign languages and in new sign languages, underscoring both its complexity and its grammatical character.

Este artigo objetiva expor considerações teóricas a respeito do ensino da Língua Brasileira de Sinais (Libras) na educação infantil como recurso na mediação entre crianças ouvintes e surdas, considerando a importância do mesmo para a inclusão, e discutir seu impacto sobre o desenvolvimento humano, sob a perspectiva da Psicologia Histórico-Cultural (PHC). O conteúdo resulta de investigação bibliográfico-conceitual desenvolvida no período de 2011-2012. Entendemos que o ensino de Libras pode favorecer a aprendizagem e o desenvolvimento de crianças surdas e ouvintes, permitindo, sobretudo, àquelas multiplicar o número de interlocutores. A Libras oportuniza trocas linguísticas efetivas entre os pares surdos e ouvintes, e às crianças ouvintes oferta o acesso a um universo cultural desconhecido. Estudos de fontes primárias (publicações soviéticas) e secundárias (publicações mais recentes sobre a defectologia vygotskiana, o ensino da Libras e a linguagem) apontam a possibilidade de desenvolvimento de crianças ouvintes e surdas no que concerne à linguagem, sendo importante o ensino da Libras como segunda língua, enquanto recurso para crianças ouvintes. Podemos concluir quanto é necessário incrementar o ensino da Libras, e para isso a legislação regulamentada deve ser de fato cumprida. A Libras, ao estar presente nos espaços da educação escolar, não é privilégio, mas constitui-se em conteúdo fundante ao surdo e elemento agregador para o ouvinte em seu processo de formação genérica, de homem cultural.