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Presented By: Department of Linguistics

"Spatial metaphors across sign languages with automatic and manual methods"

Calle Borstell, Radboud University

Postdoctoral researcher Carl "Calle" Borstell will give a talk titled "Spatial metaphors across sign languages with automatic and manual methods." ASL interpretation will be provided.

ABSTRACT
Concepts may be construed along different spatial axes. In this talk, I will show an analysis of sign locations in 776 signs from 16 antonym pairs across 27 sign languages in the Spread the Sign online dictionary to examine metaphorical mappings of emotional valence (positive vs. negative). The study makes use of both an automatic (Openpose) and a manual analysis of sign location and movement direction to investigate cross-linguistic patterns of spatial valence contrasts. In accordance with the hypothesis, positive valence concepts are more often associated with upward movements than their negative counterparts, pointing to a systematic pattern for vertical valence contrasts – a known metaphor across languages – iconically mapped onto physical sign articulation. However, the same pattern does not hold for relative sign heights, such that positive valence concepts are generally articulated higher than negative valence concepts. Thus, it seems the dynamic contrast in movement is the key property, rather than plain height. Interestingly, there is also a difference in the distribution of movements along the sagittal axis, such that outward movement is more often associated with positive than negative valence, a finding that warrants further cross-linguistic research on spatial metaphors.

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