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’.

The representation of handshape change in Taiwan Sign Language

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hsin-Hsien Lee
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Data Support

Handshape change is the change of handshape from one configuration to another. It is a unique and pervasive pattern attested in sign languages. The issue here is how to represent this change of handshape phonologically. Previous studies on handshape change were mostly done on American Sign Language (ASL) and two different ways of representing handshape change have been proposed. Some models (e.g. Liddell 1990; Uyechi 1996) propose that all surface handshapes are represented underlyingly, whereas others (e.g. Brentari 1998; Corina 1993; Sandler 1989) suggest representing only one handshape because the other handshape is predictable. Handshape change attested in monomorphemic signs in Taiwan Sign Language (TSL) will be described and analyzed in this paper. I argue that the TSL data support the latter view. In addition, a restrictive model is preferred if it can describe the data adequately and at the same time does not over-generate.

STORYTELLING AND CONVERSATION: DISCOURSE IN DEAF COMMUNITIES.Elizabeth Winston (Ed.). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press, 1999. Pp. x + 240. $55.00 cloth.

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 566-567
Author(s):  
Christine Monikowski
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Discourse Patterns ◽  
Gallaudet University

In this latest volume of the Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities Series, Winston has included not only discourse analysis of American Sign Language (ASL) but also of sign languages native to Bali, Italy, and England. She offers a fascinating look at the “intricate discourse patterns that have evolved in different languages” (p. ix). Her work should be required reading for all teachers of sign language as well as teachers of interpreters. This book will also appeal to sociolinguists; language use in the community is clearly the overriding theme.

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

People Are Less Susceptible to Illusion When They Use Their Hands to Communicate Rather Than Estimate

2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762199155
Author(s):  
Amanda R. Brown ◽  
Wim Pouw ◽  
Diane Brentari ◽  
Susan Goldin-Meadow
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Estimation Task ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Lyer Illusion ◽  
Description Task ◽  
The Way

When we use our hands to estimate the length of a stick in the Müller-Lyer illusion, we are highly susceptible to the illusion. But when we prepare to act on sticks under the same conditions, we are significantly less susceptible. Here, we asked whether people are susceptible to illusion when they use their hands not to act on objects but to describe them in spontaneous co-speech gestures or conventional sign languages of the deaf. Thirty-two English speakers and 13 American Sign Language signers used their hands to act on, estimate the length of, and describe sticks eliciting the Müller-Lyer illusion. For both gesture and sign, the magnitude of illusion in the description task was smaller than the magnitude of illusion in the estimation task and not different from the magnitude of illusion in the action task. The mechanisms responsible for producing gesture in speech and sign thus appear to operate not on percepts involved in estimation but on percepts derived from the way we act on objects.

scholarly journals Occupational Health and Safety For Sign Language Interpreters

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Woodcock ◽  
Steven L. Fischer
Keyword(s):  
Health Education ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Sign Language Interpreters ◽  
Sign Language Interpreting

<div>"This Guide is intended for working interpreters, interpreting students and educators, and those who employ or purchase the services of interpreters. Occupational health education is essential for professionals in training, to avoid early attrition from practice. "Sign language interpreting" is considered to include interpretation between American Sign Language (ASL) and English, other spoken languages and corresponding sign languages, and between sign languages (e.g., Deaf Interpreters). Some of the occupational health issues may also apply equally to Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) reporters, oral interpreters, and intervenors. The reader is encouraged to make as much use as possible of the information provided here". -- Introduction.</div><div><br></div>

scholarly journals How much can classifiers be analogous to their referents?

Gesture ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Sutton-Spence ◽  
Donna Jo Napoli
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Visual Images ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Poetry ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Classifier System ◽  
Signed Languages ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
British Sign

Sign Language poetry is especially valued for its presentation of strong visual images. Here, we explore the highly visual signs that British Sign Language and American Sign Language poets create as part of the ‘classifier system’ of their languages. Signed languages, as they create visually-motivated messages, utilise categoricity (more traditionally considered ‘language’) and analogy (more traditionally considered extra-linguistic and the domain of ‘gesture’). Classifiers in sign languages arguably show both these characteristics (Oviedo, 2004). In our discussion of sign language poetry, we see that poets take elements that are widely understood to be highly visual, closely representing their referents, and make them even more highly visual — so going beyond categorisation and into new areas of analogue.

A Method for Examining Gestural Language Structure

1987 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 391-397
Author(s):  
Edward J. Hass ◽  
Karen M. Sams
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Light Flash ◽  
Dependent Measure ◽  
The Other ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Structure ◽  
Random Placement ◽  
Sign Sequence ◽  
Speech Segments

This experiment tested the hypothesis that syntactic constituents in American Sign Language (ASL) serve as perceptual units. We adapted the strategy first employed by Fodor and Bever in 1965 in a study of the psychological reality of linguistic speech segments. Four deaf subjects were shown ASL sign sequences constructed to contain a single constituent break. The dependent measure was the subjective location of a light flash occurring during the sign sequence. The prediction that the flashes would be attracted to the constituent boundary was supported for two of the subjects, while the other two showed random placement of the flash location on either side of the constituent boundary. The two subjects not performing in the predicted direction were more proficient in English (written) than the two giving the effect. It was suggested that this relatively greater proficiency may have interfered in some way with the ASL syntax to produce the results obtained.

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