Iconicity in the Semantic Domain of Animals in The
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Iconicity in the Semantic Domain of Animals in the Emerging Family Sign Language of Berbey (Mali) MA Thesis Faculty of Humanities Nargess Asghari Leiden University Centre for Linguistics MA Linguistics Experimental and Theoretical Linguistics Supervisor: Dr. Victoria Nyst February 2019 Second Reader: Prof. Maarten Kossmann Cover image: BERBEY in Berbey Sign Language (taken from Berbey Sign Language corpus). ICONICITY IN ANIMAL SIGNS IN BERBEY SL (MALI) i Abstract Cross-linguistic studies have shown that despite variations across languages, universal patterns are found within semantic domains. In sign language linguistics, cross-linguistic studies of the iconic patterns per semantic domain have received major attention in recent years. This study investigates iconicity in the semantic domain of animals in Berbey Sign Language – an emerging family sign language in Mali – and compares it to 10 other sign languages. The results of the analysis of the iconic strategy and iconic image in 10 animal signs reveal notable patterns. An overview of the universal tendencies found in the semantic domain of animals is included in the study as well. ICONICITY IN ANIMAL SIGNS IN BERBEY SL (MALI) ii Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Emerging Sign Languages ............................................................................... 2 Berbey Sign Language ..................................................................................... 4 Sign Language Linguistics ............................................................................... 6 Phonology. ........................................................................................................... 6 Iconicity. .............................................................................................................. 8 2 Literature Review .................................................................................................. 11 Colour Terms.................................................................................................. 12 Colour terms in spoken languages. .................................................................... 12 Colour terms in sign languages. ......................................................................... 13 Folk Biology ................................................................................................... 15 Folk biology in spoken languages...................................................................... 15 Folk biology in sign languages. ......................................................................... 25 3 Methodology .......................................................................................................... 30 Material .......................................................................................................... 30 Berbey SL corpus. .............................................................................................. 30 Corpus annotations and ID glossing. ................................................................. 32 Sign language dictionaries. ................................................................................ 37 Analysis.............................................................................................................. 38 4 Results ................................................................................................................... 40 Animal Signs .................................................................................................. 40 Antelope. ............................................................................................................ 40 Bird. ................................................................................................................... 43 Boar. ................................................................................................................... 48 Camel. ................................................................................................................ 51 Chicken. ............................................................................................................. 54 Duck. .................................................................................................................. 56 ICONICITY IN ANIMAL SIGNS IN BERBEY SL (MALI) iii Fish. .................................................................................................................... 60 Horse. ................................................................................................................. 64 Snake. ................................................................................................................. 66 Zebra. ................................................................................................................. 71 Other Observations ......................................................................................... 74 Mouthing. ........................................................................................................... 74 Pointing. ............................................................................................................. 74 Classification of Animals ............................................................................... 76 Unique beginner (Level 0). ................................................................................ 76 Life form (Level 1): ‘bird’, ‘fish’, and ‘snake’. ................................................. 77 Generic (Level 2). .............................................................................................. 77 Patterned Iconicity.......................................................................................... 77 5 Discussion .............................................................................................................. 79 Classification of Animals in Berbey SL ......................................................... 79 Iconicity in Animal Signs ............................................................................... 80 Iconic image and similarities of animals. .......................................................... 80 Iconic image: is it entirely unpredictable? ......................................................... 84 Patterned iconicity. ............................................................................................ 86 Other Remarks................................................................................................ 89 Signing variation. ............................................................................................... 89 Pointing. ............................................................................................................. 90 6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 92 References .................................................................................................................... 94 ICONICITY IN ANIMAL SIGNS IN BERBEY SL (MALI) 1 1 Introduction This study aims at investigating the patterns found in the semantic field of animals signs in Berbey Sign Language, an emerging family sign language of Mali. It was not until recently that emerging and rural sign languages became included in the sign language research (see de Vos & Nyst, 2018 for an overview of the attested languages), and they have been the subject of many current studies in the field (cf. de Vos, 2011; de Vos & Pfau, 2015; Sandler, Aronoff, Padden & Meir, 2014; Hou, 2016, 2018). Moreover, studies on universal patterns and tendencies found across languages predominantly focus on spoken languages (see Evans & Levinson, 2009 for criticism) and there is a need for more cross-modal studies that include sign languages as well (Evans & Levinson, 2009; de Vos & Pfau, 2015). In particular, there have been no studies of classification and nomenclature of the natural world (plants and animals) in sign languages. This dissertation is in 6 chapters. The first (current) chapter is the introductory chapter. Chapter 2 (Literature Review) provides an overview of the studies of linguistic universals in two semantic domains: colour terms and fauna and flora terms. The domain of colour terms is one of the most extensively studied semantic domains; since the universals in this domain have been studied in a number of sign languages as well, an overview of universals in this domain can illustrate challenges faced when applying models for spoken languages to sign languages. The second domain is the domain of animals and plant terms (with a focus on animal terms), which provides the theoretical background for the current study. Chapter 3 (Methodology) presents the methodology of this study. In chapter 4 (Results) the findings of the study are presented. Chapter 5 (Discussion) discusses the findings of the study. Finally, chapter 6 (Conclusion) concludes the study. This chapter first presents an overview of emerging sign languages (section 1.1), then goes on to introduce Berbey Sign Language (1.1), and finally briefly explains two key concepts ICONICITY IN ANIMAL SIGNS IN BERBEY SL (MALI) 2 in sign language linguistics that are referred to throughout this dissertation, namely, sign language phonology (1.3.1) and iconicity (1.3.2). Emerging Sign Languages Perhaps one of the most fundamental questions in linguistics is how language started (Meir et al., 2010). Studying how a new language is born could shed