A Cross-Linguistic Preference For Torso Stability In The Lexicon: Evidence From 24 Sign Languages

When the arms move in certain ways, they can cause the torso to twist or rock. Such extraneous torso movement is undesirable, especially during sign language communication, when torso position may carry linguistic significance, so we expend effort to resist it when it is not intended. This so-called “reactive effort” has only recently been identified by Sanders and Napoli (2016), but their preliminary work on three genetically unrelated languages suggests that the effects of reactive effort can be observed cross-linguistically by examination of sign language lexicons. In particular, the frequency of different kinds of manual movements in the lexicon correlates with the amount of reactive effort needed to resist movement of the torso. Following this line of research, we present evidence from 24 sign languages confirming that there is a cross-linguistic preference for minimizing the reactive effort needed to keep the torso stable

A Grammatical Sketch of Sivia Sign Language.

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017

Hybrid paradigm for Spanish Sign Language synthesis

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10209-011-0245-9This work presents a hybrid approach to sign language synthesis. This approach allows the hand-tuning of the phonetic description of the signs, which focuses on the time aspect of the sign. Therefore, the approach retains the capacity for the performing of morpho-phonological operations, like notation-based approaches, and improves the synthetic signing performance, such as the hand-tuned animations approach. The proposed approach simplifies the input message description using a new high-level notation and storage of sign phonetic descriptions in a relational database. Such relational database allows for more flexible sign phonetic descriptions; it also allows for a description of sign timing and the synchronization between sign phonemes. The new notation, named HLSML, is a gloss-based notation focusing on message description in it. HLSML introduces several tags that allow for the modification of the signs in the message that defines dialect and mood variations, both of which are defined in the relational database, and message timing, including transition durations and pauses. A new avatar design is also proposed that simplifies the development of the synthesizer and avoids any interference with the independence of the sign language phonemes during animation. The obtained results showed an increase of the sign recognition rate compared to other approaches. This improvement was based on the active role that the sign language experts had in the description of signs, which was the result of the flexibility of the sign storage approach. The approach will simplify the description of synthesizable signed messages, thus facilitating the creation of multimedia-signed contents

Phonetic implementation of phonological categories in Sign Language of the Netherlands

This thesis describes several patterns of phonetic variation in Sign Language of the Netherlands. While lexical variation between different regions has been found in the Netherlands, little is known about phonetic or phonological variation. Phonetic variation in the realization of some of the traditional handshape and orientation features is analyzed in detail. Furthermore, data were elicited from different registers: short-distance signing (__whispering__) was compared to long-distance signing (__shouting__). Results show that differences between registers lead not only to variation in movement size, but also to changes in the traditional phonological categories. In enlarged realizations, as in shouting, handshape and orientation changes may be enhanced by a location change; in reduced forms, as in whispering, location changes may be realized as changes in orientation or handshape. While the distinction between the three parameters handshape, orientation and location remains valid, it is argued that their definition needs to be stated in global perceptual targets rather than in detailed articulatory terms in a comprehensive analysis of the various differences between registers. The data thus provide evidence for a strict separation of perceptual and articulatory characterizations of signs. The lexical specification contains only perceptual targets. The variation is thus not generated by a phonological process, but is a matter of phonetic implementation.UBL - phd migration 201

Structuring information through gesture and intonation

Face-to-face communication is multimodal. In unscripted spoken discourse we can observe the interaction of several “semiotic layers”, modalities of information such as syntax, discourse structure, gesture, and intonation. We explore the role of gesture and intonation in structuring and aligning information in spoken discourse through a study of the co-occurrence of pitch accents and gestural apices. Metaphorical spatialization through gesture also plays a role in conveying the contextual relationships between the speaker, the government and other external forces in a naturally-occurring political speech setting