Iconic metaphors and the gesture-sign interface in German Sign Language – corpus data meet experiments

本研究从语言学的角度探讨德国手语中的象征性隐喻，以厘清手势与象征性语言之间的关系。以往对不同符号语言中隐喻的研究假设是一种双重映射，即，既是一种隐喻性的也是一种象征性的映射。隐喻映射是指用一个概念（目标域）的成分来理解另一个不相关的概念（源域），而没有相关的字面意义。概念之间的这种联系是基于相似性或类比和单向关系。标志性映射是通过标志的形式或标志性的表达位置（PoA）实现的。基于这些假设，本研究以DGS-Korpus项目中的DGS语料库为研究对象，通过识别标志性PoA、分析语境使用和频率关系，并将这些结果与实验研究相结合，对隐喻符号进行了研究。由于双重映射的存在，手语隐喻的识别不同于口语隐喻的识别。隐喻手势的研究也表明，象似性特征似乎是视觉手势情态所独有的。隐喻符号的象似性也提出了关于手势-符号界面的有趣问题，因为目前还不清楚它们在手势-符号-连续体中的位置。因此，本项目从多方法论的角度，创新性地解决了DGS中的隐喻，特别是在认知和感知领域，并将调查i）如何在手语语料库中检测到标志性隐喻符号，以及它们是如何结构组成的，即，语料库叙述和交互任务中的自然数据在多大程度上揭示了手势-符号的区别，ii）在处理具有字面或隐喻意义的符号或手势时是否存在差异（EEG实验），德语书面语中不同类型的隐喻是如何被DGS本族语者加工的，以及L1（DGS）中的象似性隐喻是否影响L2中隐喻的加工（德语）（眼动追踪实验）除了在手势-符号界面方面对比喻语言的新见解外，该项目还将对有关语言多样性和识字率以及语言教学和教育领域的辩论产生影响。

This project investigates iconic metaphors in German Sign Language (DGS) from a linguistic perspective to disentangle the gesture-sign interface with regard to figurative language. Previous assumptions of research on metaphors in different signed languages suggest a double mapping, i.e., both a metaphorical and an iconic mapping. The metaphorical mapping refers to the understanding of one concept (target domain) by using elements of another non-related concept (source domain) without the associated literal meaning. This link between concepts is based on similarity or analogy and a unidirectional relation. Iconic mapping is realized by either the form of the sign or the iconic place of articulation (PoA). Following these assumptions, this research investigates metaphorical signs in an established corpus of DGS from the DGS-Korpus project by identifying the iconic PoA, analyzing contextual uses and frequency relations, and combining these results with experimental processing studies. Due to double mapping, recognizing metaphors in signed languages differs from the identification of metaphors in spoken languages. The iconic feature seems to be unique to the visual-gestural modality as indicated by studies on metaphorical gestures as well. The iconic properties of metaphorical signs also raise interesting questions regarding the gesture-sign interface as it is not yet clear where on the gesture-sign-continuum they can be positioned. Thus, this project innovatively addresses metaphors in DGS, specifically in the domains of cognition and perception, from a multi-methodological point of view and will investigate i) how iconic metaphorical signs can be detected in a sign language corpus and how they are structurally composed, i.e., to what extent natural data from corpus narration and interaction tasks shed light on the gesture-sign distinction, ii) whether there is a difference in processing signs with a literal or metaphorical meaning or gestures (EEG experiment), and iii) how different types of metaphors in written German are processed by DGS native signers and whether iconic metaphors in the L1 (DGS) influence processing of metaphors in the L2 (written German) (eye tracking experiment). Beyond new insights at the gesture-sign interface with regard to figurative language, this project will also have an impact on debates about linguistic diversity and literacy, and the field of language teaching and education.