Thesis Title:Beyond the lexicon: Expressing coordination and contrast in British Sign Language
Abstract:There are many ways that we can combine expressions using connectives. The expressions ‘Anna is a linguist’ and ‘Susie is a doctor’ can be put together with simple connectives such as ‘and’ (if both statements are true), or ‘or’ (if only one statement is true). Interestingly, there is no simple connective, in English or any other language, that can be used if both statements are false. ‘Neither Anna is a linguist, nor is Susie doctor’ works, but goes beyond a simple connective word. Why can some combinations be expressed with only a simple word, yet others require more complex expression? Recent work in linguistics answers this questions by appealing to optimal trade off models. Here, the vocabulary of a language is the result of a careful balance between the communicative benefit of having one word per one concept, and the cognitive overload that an entire language like this would entail. Yet, sign languages pose a particular problem to the optimal trade off models. In sign languages, there are multiple points of articulation when combining expressions: manual articulators (hands) and non-manual articulators (movement of facial elements, head, torso). Connectives may be expressed through one or more of these articulators, and often simultaneously. How does this fit in with our understanding of a connective vocabulary? How do multiple points of articulation and simultaneity factor into computations of cognitive complexity? In this project, I will investigate these questions and explore how meaning from multiple sources, in particular the manual and non-manual articulators in British Sign Language, may be incorporated into the computations of cognitive complexity.
Primary Supervisor:Dr. Luisa Martí