1,013 research outputs found
Detecting clauses and their dependencies in signed utterances: A syntactico-semantic approach
No full textInvestigating the syntactic structure of utterances with multiple predicates in sign languages requires a clear understanding of how many finite and infinitival clauses they contain and which syntactic dependencies exist between them. Since the sign language literature currently lacks a standardized methodology for identifying clause boundaries, this paper discusses syntactico-semantic diagnostics of clausehood and clause size and analyzes their applicability to American Sign Language (ASL) and German Sign Language (DGS). First, I discuss tests that distinguish coordinated clauses from dependent clause structures; specifically negation, A’-movement, and subject pronoun copy. Limitations of 'wh'- and topic fronting as clausehood diagnostics are identified and a modified subject pronoun copy test is proposed. Determining whether a given utterance contains coordinated or dependent clauses is only half the battle, however; we also want to know the approximate “size” of the constituent an embedded predicate projects. The present study takes a first pass at filling this gap by introducing rightward 'wh'-movement and confirming center-embedding as diagnostics that can discriminate between finite and infinitival clauses in signed languages. Based on acceptability judgments from 13 native signers of DGS and ASL, I show that 'wh'-subjects can move across infinitival control complements and the secondary predicates of resultative constructions, but they cannot cross a finite complement clause. The diagnostic thus provides empirical evidence for the existence of various types of embedded clauses in signed languages that differ in their functional structure
The linguistic sources of offense of taboo terms in German Sign Language
No full textTaboo terms offer a playground for linguistic creativity in language after language, and sign languages form no exception. The present paper offers the first investigation of taboo terms in sign languages from a cognitive linguistic perspective. We analyze the linguistic mechanisms that introduce offense, focusing on the combined effects of cognitive metonymy and iconicity. Using the Think Aloud Protocol, we elicited offensive or crass signs and dysphemisms from nine signers. We find that German Sign Language uses a variety of linguistic means to introduce and enhance offense, many of which rely on iconic properties of the taboo sign. In conjunction with cross-linguistically common metonymic word-formation strategies, the degree of visual explicitness of a sign increases its potential to offend. Semantically similar taboo signs based on the same metonymic anchor but differing in their degree of iconicity also differ in offensiveness. This allows for creating dysphemisms and euphemisms via phonological changes to a sign. We further show that embodiment creates modality-enhanced ‘vicarious embarrassment’ in the viewer that results in the respective signs being judged obscene or offensive. Further, lexical blending and non-manual enhancement play a role in the creation of dysphemisms in DGS. Lastly, we propose that iconicity as a cognitive structuring principle of linguistic expressions constrains the possible semantic extensions of iconic taboo terms
Polar response strategies across modalities: Evidence from German Sign Language (DGS)
No full textAbstract: Research on spoken languages has shown that response particles may indicate the truth of a previous utterance or the polarity of the response. In responses to negative antecedents, the two functions come apart and particles become ambiguous. We present the first quantitative study on response strategies in sign languages by discussing data from a production experiment in German Sign Language ( Deutsche Gebärdensprache ; DGS). The results indicate that DGS does not exploit the potential of simultaneous manual and nonmanual strategies to disambiguate responses. Still, the type of articulator influences the choice of response element. We propose an optimality-theoretic model to account for the role of articulator type, the disambiguation potential, and the morphosyntax of response elements in DGS
Rosa Cornelia Veal Papers - Accession 1766
Full text linkThe Rosa Cornelia Veal Papers document the professional career, pedagogical philosophy, and personal life of Winthrop College Class of 1926 graduate Rosa Cornelia Veal (1904–1967), an educator whose work spanned elementary classroom instruction, teacher education, and curriculum development during the mid-twentieth century. The collection dates from 1904 to 1978, with the bulk of the materials concentrated between the 1930s and 1940s, corresponding to Veal’s tenure as an elementary school teacher and associate professor of elementary education at Ball State Teachers College.
The collection contains a substantial body of teaching materials that provide insight into classroom practices, instructional methods, and educational priorities of the period. These include lesson manuals, workbooks, visual teaching aids, curriculum guides, and daily classroom records documenting student progress, instructional planning, and classroom activities. Particularly significant are Veal’s classroom record books from 1936–1937 and her extensive use of Compton’s Pictured Teaching Materials, which illustrate the emphasis on visual learning and subject-based instruction in elementary education.Veal’s contributions as an author and curriculum developer are reflected in her published and unpublished writings, including instructional materials created for classroom use and children’s books she helped to author, most notably I Learn to Write. Also included are developmental manuals and religious instructional works prepared under her guidance, demonstrating her interest in holistic child development and literacy education.
Personal materials in the collection include journals and planners spanning two decades, which contain poetry, reflections on daily life, financial notes, reading excerpts, and personal observations. These writings provide a rare and intimate perspective on the professional and personal experiences of a woman educator during the early to mid-twentieth century. Biographical documents—such as probate records, census materials, school report cards, and family histories—further contextualize Veal’s life and career.
The collection also documents Veal’s professional affiliations and community involvement, including her leadership in the Muncie, Indiana branch of the Association for Childhood Education and her membership in the teaching sorority Delta Kappa Gamma. Related materials include correspondence, event ephemera, name cards, and organizational records. Photographs dating from the early twentieth century through the 1940s depict Veal, family members, unidentified individuals, and travel scenes, offering visual context to her personal and professional life.
Additionally, the collection includes a wide array of educational books used by Veal as both a student and educator, as well as miscellaneous ephemera reflecting intellectual, cultural, and everyday interests. Together, the Rosa Cornelia Veal Papers provide a rich resource for research on elementary education, teacher training, women educators, curriculum development, and the lived experience of professional women in education during the twentieth century.https://digitalcommons.winthrop.edu/manuscriptcollection_findingaids/2779/thumbnail.jp
Polar response strategies across modalities: Evidence from German Sign Language (DGS)
No full textThis project contains the supplemental files for Loos, Steinbach & Repp (accepted
Polar response strategies across modalities: Evidence from German Sign Language (DGS)
No full textThis project contains the supplemental files for Loos, Steinbach & Repp (accepted
Letter to Cornelia Bradford, Whittier House, from Lida Dodds, secretary to Emerson Miller.
No full textWhittier House scrapbooks document Whittier House programs, events, and anniversary celebrations through newspaper clippings, lecture fliers, newsletters, event programs, and ticket stubs. Newspaper clippings are primarily from the Jersey Journal. There is also Whittier House fundraising materials, including pamphlets, appeal letters, brochures, and postcards. The Whittier House Social Settlement, the first settlement house in New Jersey, was established in Jersey City, N.J. (Hudson County) in 1894. Founded by Cornelia Foster Bradford, who would remain with the organization as headworker until 1926, Whittier House was based on the settlement house, Toynbee Hall, in England. Whittier House provided various recreational and educational programs, along with much needed social services, for the immigrant populations of Jersey City. Many of these successful services were used as models for large-scale social reform movements through the state. In 1935, the Whittier House was taken over by the Boys' Club of Jersey City
Letter to Cornelia Bradford, Whitter House, from G. Fred Ege, Secretary of the Board of Education, Jersey City, expressing the Board's appreciation.
No full textWhittier House scrapbooks document Whittier House programs, events, and anniversary celebrations through newspaper clippings, lecture fliers, newsletters, event programs, and ticket stubs. Newspaper clippings are primarily from the Jersey Journal. There is also Whittier House fundraising materials, including pamphlets, appeal letters, brochures, and postcards. The Whittier House Social Settlement, the first settlement house in New Jersey, was established in Jersey City, N.J. (Hudson County) in 1894. Founded by Cornelia Foster Bradford, who would remain with the organization as headworker until 1926, Whittier House was based on the settlement house, Toynbee Hall, in England. Whittier House provided various recreational and educational programs, along with much needed social services, for the immigrant populations of Jersey City. Many of these successful services were used as models for large-scale social reform movements through the state. In 1935, the Whittier House was taken over by the Boys' Club of Jersey City
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