Ferrara Casey, Lu Jenny C, Goldin-Meadow Susan
Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago.
Departments of Psychology and Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago.
Cogn Sci. 2025 Apr;49(4):e70051. doi: 10.1111/cogs.70051.
Language is traditionally characterized as an arbitrary, symbolic system, made up of discrete, categorical forms. But iconicity and gradience are pervasive in communication. For example, in spoken languages, word forms can be "played with" in iconic gradient ways by varying vowel length, pitch, or speed (e.g., "It's been a loooooooong day"). However, little is known about this process in sign languages. Here, we (1) explore gradient modification in three dimensions of motion in American Sign Language (ASL), and (2) ask whether the three dimensions are equally likely to be modified. We asked deaf signers of ASL (n = 11, mean age = 49.3) to describe an event manipulated along speed, direction, or path, and observed their use of gradient modification in lexical and depicting signs. We found that signers alter the forms of both types of signs to enhance meaning. However, the three motion dimensions were not modified equally in lexical signs, suggesting constraints on gradient modification. These constraints may be linguistic in nature, found only in signers. Alternatively, the constraints could reflect difficulties in using the hands to convey particular modifications and, if so, should be found in speakers as well as signers.
传统上，语言被描述为一个由离散的、分类形式组成的任意的、符号化系统。但象似性和渐变在交流中普遍存在。例如，在口语中，通过改变元音长度、音高或语速，可以以象似渐变的方式“玩弄”单词形式（例如，“这是漫长的一天”）。然而，对于手语中的这一过程却知之甚少。在此，我们（1）探索美国手语（ASL）中运动三个维度的渐变修饰，以及（2）询问这三个维度是否同样有可能被修饰。我们让11名ASL聋人使用者（平均年龄 = 49.3岁）描述一个沿着速度、方向或路径被操控的事件，并观察他们在词汇手语和描绘性手语中对渐变修饰的使用。我们发现，手语使用者会改变这两种类型手语的形式以增强意义。然而，在词汇手语中，这三个运动维度的修饰并不相同，这表明存在对渐变修饰的限制。这些限制可能本质上是语言性的，仅在手语使用者中存在。或者，这些限制可能反映了用手传达特定修饰的困难，如果是这样，那么在口语使用者以及手语使用者中都应该会发现。
