Collaborative Research: The structure of the ASL lexicon: Experimental and statistical evidence from a large lexical database (ASL-LEX)

合作研究：ASL 词典的结构：来自大型词汇数据库 (ASL-LEX) 的实验和统计证据

基本信息

批准号：
1625793
负责人：
Naomi Caselli
金额：
$ 19.16万
依托单位：
Trustees of Boston University
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2016
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2016-09-01 至 2020-02-29
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1625793&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Collaborative Research structure ASL lexicon

项目摘要

This collaborative project will record and study the properties of lexical forms in American Sign Language. Almost everything we know about human language comes from the study of spoken languages. However, only by studying sign languages is it possible to discover which linguistic rules and constraints are universal to all human languages and which depend on the particular properties of an individual language. By studying sign languages researchers can uncover language patterns that are tied to the nature of the articulators (i.e., the hands vs. the vocal tract) or that are linked to the specific way a language is perceived (i.e., visually vs. auditorally). Researchers can also uncover language patterns that result from properties that systematically vary between spoken and signed languages, such as the high prevalence of iconic forms (words that resemble what they mean) in sign languages. Psychological and linguistic research on spoken languages has relied on lexical databases--repositories of information about the words of a language--to identify factors that influence how words are comprehended and produced, to understand how words are organized and structured in the mind and brain (in our "mental lexicon"), and to discover the linguistic patterns that are present in languages. Unfortunately however, there is currently no comparably large lexical database for American Sign Language (ASL), the sign language used by deaf and hearing people in the United States.A primary aim of this project is to create a large, searchable, and publically available database of approximately 2,500 ASL signs. The database (called ASL-LEX) will contain the following information for each sign: subjective frequency-of-use ratings, iconicity ratings from both deaf signers and hearing non-signers, sign duration measures, lexical category information (e.g., noun, verb, etc.), and codes for sign-based phonological features (e.g., location, handshape, movement) that can be used to calculate whether the form of a sign is relatively common (has many form 'neighbors') or relatively unique (has few 'neighbors'). A second aim is to use ASL-LEX to conduct the first quantitative analysis of the ASL lexicon in order to uncover regularities in the way that phonological features appear (or do not appear) in ASL signs and how these patterns are influenced by sign properties such as frequency and iconicity. A third aim is to conduct experiments to determine the psychological reality of these phonological patterns (e.g., do signers unconsciously know which patterns are common and which are rare?) and to discover how phonological and lexical properties impact how quickly a sign is recognized (using a novel sign recognition technique) and produced (using a picture-naming task). Data from these experiments and related materials (e.g. picture stimuli) will be made available to the public through ASL-LEX. These materials constitute essential tools that will allow scientists and educators to create well-controlled ASL stimuli for use in research and the classroom. ASL-LEX can also be used by educators and early intervention specialists to develop benchmarks for assessing vocabulary development in signing children, (e.g., do children know the most frequent signs?) and to support literacy development (e.g., to find sign-based "rhymes"). A parallel aim of the project is to increase the representation of deaf people in science by including deaf researchers on the project and by providing an accessible environment for deaf students to gain training and research experience.

该合作项目将记录和研究美国手语词汇形式的属性。我们所知道的关于人类语言的几乎一切都来自对口语的研究。然而，只有通过研究手语，才有可能发现哪些语言规则和约束对于所有人类语言都是通用的，以及哪些取决于单个语言的特定属性。通过研究手语，研究人员可以发现与发音器官的性质（即手与声道）相关的语言模式，或与感知语言的特定方式（即视觉与听觉）相关的语言模式。研究人员还可以发现口语和手语之间系统性差异所产生的语言模式，例如手语中图标形式（与其含义相似的单词）的高度流行。关于口语的心理学和语言学研究依赖于词汇数据库（有关语言单词的信息存储库）来识别影响单词理解和产生方式的因素，了解单词在思想和大脑中如何组织和结构。（在我们的“心理词典”中），并发现语言中存在的语言模式。然而遗憾的是，目前美国手语 (ASL)（美国聋人和听力正常人士使用的手语）还没有相对大型的词汇数据库。该项目的主要目标是创建一个大型、可搜索且公开的数据库。包含大约 2,500 个 ASL 标志的数据库。该数据库（称为 ASL-LEX）将包含每个手势的以下信息：主观使用频率评级、聋哑手语者和听力正常的非手语者的象似性评级、手语持续时间测量、词汇类别信息（例如名词、动词）等），以及基于符号的语音特征（例如位置、手形、动作）的代码，可用于计算符号的形式是否相对常见（有多种形式） “邻居”）或相对独特（“邻居”很少）。第二个目标是使用 ASL-LEX 对 ASL 词典进行首次定量分析，以揭示 ASL 符号中语音特征出现（或不出现）的规律性，以及这些模式如何受到符号属性的影响，例如如频率和象似性。第三个目标是进行实验来确定这些语音模式的心理现实（例如，手语者是否无意识地知道哪些模式是常见的，哪些是罕见的？）并发现语音和词汇特性如何影响符号被识别的速度（使用一种新颖的符号识别技术）并制作（使用图片命名任务）。这些实验的数据和相关材料（例如图片刺激）将通过 ASL-LEX 向公众提供。这些材料构成了重要的工具，使科学家和教育工作者能够创建良好控制的 ASL 刺激，用于研究和课堂。教育工作者和早期干预专家还可以使用 ASL-LEX 来制定评估手语儿童词汇发展的基准（例如，孩子们知道最常见的手语吗？）并支持读写能力发展（例如，找到基于手语的“手语”）。押韵”）。该项目的另一个目标是通过让聋人研究人员参与该项目，并为聋人学生提供一个获得培训和研究经验的无障碍环境，来增加聋人在科学中的代表性。