THE EXPRESSIONS OF SPATIAL RELATIONS DURING INTERACTION IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE, CROATIAN SIGN LANGUAGE, AND TURKISH SIGN LANGUAGE


Arik E.

POZNAN STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY LINGUISTICS, cilt.48, sa.2, ss.179-201, 2012 (AHCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 48 Sayı: 2
  • Basım Tarihi: 2012
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1515/psicl-2012-0009
  • Dergi Adı: POZNAN STUDIES IN CONTEMPORARY LINGUISTICS
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.179-201
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Iconicity, sign language, spatial language and cognition, CO-SPEECH GESTURES, PERSPECTIVE, SPEAKERS, ADDRESSEES, ROTATION, MOTION
  • Abdullah Gül Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Signers use their body and the space in front of them iconically. Does iconicity lead to the same mapping strategies in construing space during interaction across sign languages? The present study addressed this question by conducting an experimental study on basic static and motion event descriptions during interaction (describer input and addressee re-signing/retelling) in American Sign Language, Croatian Sign Language, and Turkish Sign Language. I found that the three sign languages are similar in using classifier predicates of location, orientation, and movement, predominantly employing an egocentric (viewer) perspective but also a non-egocentric perspective, and using similar mapping strategies regardless of interlocutor positions. However, these three sign languages differ from each other in the effects of location and orientation of the objects in pictures and movies, the descriptions of picture (states) vs. movie (motion events), and describer input vs. addressee retellings in their mapping strategies. This study contributes to our knowledge of how the expressions of spatial relations are conveyed in natural human language.