“What are you researching?”
Colexification in sign language.
Project
Colexification
Colexification in Sign Language
Colexification and Iconicity
Colexification
“What does that word mean?”
Colexification describes when a lexical form* has multiple meanings.
*A lexical form can be a sign or a word. “Sign form” or “word form” is used for specification.
“So, what does colexification look like?”
Let’s look at these familiar examples below.
glass
material
object
bat
animal
This animal is called a bat. Also, his name is Fidget the Bat.
object
A bat is required for playing baseball.
“Oh, I get it! Isn’t it basically polysemy?”
Yes, polysemy is a type of colexification. Polysemy takes into account the historical relationship between words, while colexification does not. My work focuses on colexified sign forms and not their historical relationships.
Colexification in Sign Language
“Isn’t there already research on colexification?”
No, not as far as we know. This may be the first study.
There are published studies on colexification patterns in spoken language. On the other hand, colexification patterns in sign language have not been documented so far. This is why my team and I have this project to learn about colexification patterns in two unrelated sign languages, British Sign Language (BSL) and German Sign Language (DGS).
“So, what might colexification patterns look like in sign language?”
Colexification occurs in the daily use of BSL and DGS. For example, the concepts of GROW, PLANT, SPRING all share one sign form in BSL and DGS. The sign form uses an iconic strategy that represents emergence or growth.
(Photo/video coming soon)
Iconicity seems to have influenced the pairing these meanings with this sign form. This raises the possibility that iconicity shapes colexification patterns in sign language. Because of that, colexification patterns in sign language must be different from colexification patterns in spoken language.
Colexification and Iconicity
“What’s the relationship between colexification and iconicity?”
While spoken languages use the audio-vocal modality, sign language uses the visual-spatial modality, which gives a high potential for iconicity. Sign languages exploit the visual modality to express meanings or concepts through iconic strategies that can range anywhere from arbitrary (not iconic) to purely iconic. The scale of iconicity-arbitration depends on what element(s) of the concept is chosen to represent in the sign form.
For instance, the concept of FLOWER in DGS uses the same sign as GROW, PLANT, SPRING. The iconic elements of these concepts are exploited in the iconic sign form. However, FLOWER in BSL does not follow this colexification pattern and instead uses a different iconic strategy, representing the holding up of a flower to the nose for smelling it.
This shows us that iconicity potentially shapes colexification networks.
Visit my research team’s project page
Thesis
Title: Why rain and water don’t go together, but friends and elasticity do: An exploratory study of colexification in two sign languages
Dissertation expected for submission mid-2023
Abstract
Lazarus, N. (2022, 31 May-June 2). Why rain and water don’t go together, but friends and elasticity do: An exploratory study of colexification in two sign languages [Abstract accepted for presentation]. 13th International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature, Paris, France.
Invited Talks
Presentations and Talks
Lazarus, N., Ortega, G., Perniss, P. (September 2022). Why rain and water don’t go together, but friends and elasticity do: An exploratory study of colexification in two sign languages. Paper presentation at the 14th International Conference on Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research, Osaka, Japan.
Lazarus, N., Ortega, G., Perniss, P. (July 2022). Why rain and water don’t go together, but friends and elasticity do: An exploratory study of colexification in two sign languages. Invited talk at the Bedny Lab for Neuroplasticity and Development at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
Lazarus, N., Ortega, G., Perniss, P. (June 2022). Why rain and water don’t go together, but friends and elasticity do: An exploratory study of colexification in two sign languages. Abstract accepted for presentation at the 3rd National Congress on Linguistics and Sign Languages, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Lazarus, N., Ortega, G., Perniss, P. (May 2022). Why rain and water don’t go together, but friends and elasticity do: An exploratory study of colexification in two sign languages. Paper presented at the 13th International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature, Paris, France.
Poster Presentations
Lazarus, N., Ortega, G., Perniss, P. (July 2022). Why rain and water don’t go together, but friends and elasticity do: An exploratory study of colexification in two sign languages. Poster presented at the 9th Conference of the International Society for Gesture Studies, Chicago, Illinois, United States.
