Collaborative Research: Quantifying systematicity, iconicity, and arbitrariness in the American Sign Language Lexicon

合作研究：量化美国手语词典的系统性、象似性和任意性

• 批准号: 1918556
• 负责人: Karen Emmorey
• 金额: $ 55.22万
• 依托单位: San Diego State University Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1918556&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Quantifying; systematicity; iconicity

This collaborative project will study how signs convey meaning in American Sign Language (ASL) by analyzing the semantic organization of the ASL lexicon. Understanding the structure and organization of the human lexicon is critical to both linguistic and psycholinguistic theories of language. However, current theories are predominantly built upon evidence from spoken languages, and may underrepresent characteristics that are particularly common to sign languages. For example, a core assumption regarding the organization of the lexicon is that there is a sharp separation between semantic structure and phonological (form) structure--the way words are pronounced is generally thought to be unrelated to what they mean. However, mounting evidence suggests that iconicity, words or signs that resemble their meaning, is pervasive in both signed and spoken languages. Examples of iconicity in English are words like "ping" and "sizzle" that sound like what they mean; examples of iconicity in ASL are signs like DRINK and HAMMER which look like what they mean. While semantic and phonological structure might not be fully independent from each other in ASL, we know relatively little about how they relate to one another and whether or how iconicity may shape the lexicon. This project represents the first comprehensive quantitative analysis of the semantic organization of the ASL lexicon. The project will collect valuable information about the semantic similarity of ASL signs and the size of semantic neighborhoods, which will be key to uncovering how knowledge about sign meaning is stored and organized, as well as how this structure is acquired. Specifically, this project aims to 1) conduct a lexicon-wide evaluation of the semantic associations between signs, 2) characterize iconic and non-iconic systematic relationships between form and meaning using visualization techniques inspired by network science, and 3) implement a novel approach to quantify iconicity in a subset of the lexicon in an effort to understand which semantic features participate in iconic mappings and how iconicity might shape semantic processing. The data collected under this project will be integrated into a large interactive lexical database of the semantic, phonological, and iconic structure that is publicly available (ASL-LEX: http://asl-lex.org/). These materials constitute essential tools that will allow scientists and educators to create well-controlled stimuli for use in research and the classroom. Finally, it is important to recognize that deaf people often have difficulty pursuing research careers because of communication roadblocks that hamper interaction with hearing scientists. The researchers on this project have "deaf-friendly labs" (e.g., project staff are fluent in ASL) and provide training that facilitates the entrance of deaf students into scientific and academic fields. Thus, a parallel aim of the project is to increase the representation of deaf people in science by including deaf researchers on the project and by providing an accessible environment for deaf students to gain training and research experience.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该合作项目将通过分析美国手语 (ASL) 词典的语义组织来研究符号如何在美国手语 (ASL) 中传达含义。了解人类词汇的结构和组织对于语言学和心理语言学理论都至关重要。然而，当前的理论主要建立在来自口语的证据之上，并且可能低估了手语特别常见的特征。例如，关于词典组织的一个核心假设是语义结构和语音（形式）结构之间存在明显的分离——单词的发音方式通常被认为与其含义无关。然而，越来越多的证据表明，象似性、与其含义相似的单词或符号在手语和口语中都很普遍。英语中象似性的例子有“ping”和“sizzle”等听起来像它们的意思的单词；美国手语中象征性的例子有“DRINK”和“HAMMER”等符号，它们看起来就像它们的意思。虽然美国手语中的语义和语音结构可能并不完全独立，但我们对它们之间的相互关系以及象似性是否或如何塑造词汇知之甚少。 该项目代表了对 ASL 词典语义组织的首次全面定量分析。该项目将收集有关 ASL 符号的语义相似性和语义邻域大小的有价值的信息，这对于揭示有关符号含义的知识如何存储和组织以及如何获取这种结构至关重要。具体来说，该项目的目标是：1）对符号之间的语义关联进行词典范围的评估，2）使用受网络科学启发的可视化技术来表征形式和意义之间的标志性和非标志性系统关系，以及3）实施一种新颖的方法来量化词典子集中的象似性，以努力了解哪些语义特征参与标志性映射以及象似性如何影响语义处理。该项目收集的数据将被整合到一个公开的大型交互式词汇数据库中，该数据库包含语义、语音和图标结构（ASL-LEX：http://asl-lex.org/）。这些材料构成了重要的工具，使科学家和教育工作者能够创造出用于研究和课堂的良好控制的刺激。最后，重要的是要认识到，由于沟通障碍阻碍了与听力科学家的互动，聋哑人往往难以从事研究事业。该项目的研究人员拥有“聋人友好实验室”（例如，项目工作人员精通美国手语），并提供培训，帮助聋人学生进入科学和学术领域。因此，该项目的另一个并行目标是通过让聋人研究人员参与该项目，并为聋人学生提供一个获得培训和研究经验的无障碍环境，来增加聋人在科学领域的代表性。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

The Sem-Lex Benchmark: Modeling ASL Signs and their Phonemes

Sem-Lex 基准：ASL 符号及其音素建模

• DOI: 10.1145/3597638.3608408
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: ASSETS: ACM SIGACCESS Conference On Computers And Accessibility
• 作者: Kezar, Lee;Thomason, Jesse;Caselli, Naomi;Sehyr, Zed;Pontecorvo, Elana
• 通讯作者: Pontecorvo, Elana

Contribution of Lexical Quality and Sign Language Variables to Reading Comprehension

词汇质量和手语变量对阅读理解的贡献

• DOI: 10.1093/deafed/enac018
• 发表时间: 2022
• 期刊: The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education
• 作者: Sehyr, Zed Sevcikova;Emmorey, Karen
• 通讯作者: Emmorey, Karen

The effects of multiple linguistic variables on picture naming in American Sign Language

• DOI: 10.3758/s13428-021-01751-x
• 发表时间: 2021-12-16
• 期刊: BEHAVIOR RESEARCH METHODS
• 影响因子: 5.4
• 作者: Sehyr, Zed Sevcikova;Emmorey, Karen
• 通讯作者: Emmorey, Karen

Asymetric Event-Related Potential Priming Effects Between English Letters and American Sign Language Fingerspelling Fonts.

• DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00104
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE
• 影响因子: 3.2
• 作者: Sehyr, Zed Sevcikova;Midgley, Katherine J. J.;Emmorey, Karen;Holcomb, Phillip J. J.
• 通讯作者: Holcomb, Phillip J. J.

Exploring Strategies for Modeling Sign Language Phonology

探索手语音系建模策略

• DOI: 10.14428/esann/2023.es2023-83
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Computational Intelligence and Machine Learning
• 作者: Kezar, Lee;Srinivasan, Tejas;Carlin, Riley;Thomason, Jesse;Sevcikova Sehyr, Zed;Caselli, Naomi
• 通讯作者: Caselli, Naomi