Exerting control
The grammatical meaning of facial displays in signed languages
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12197170 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sara Siyavoshi (0000-0001-9592-0827, University of New Mexico, corresponding author), Wilcox (0000-0003-2192-6075, University of New Mexico), Sherman Wilcox (University of New Mexico) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 609-639 |
| Publication date | 2021-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cognitive Linguistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0936-5907 • E-ISSN: 1613-3641 |
| Publisher | De Gruyter Mouton (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/cog-2021-0051 |
| OpenAlex | W3211930454 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 51 |
Signed languages employ finely articulated facial and head displays to express grammatical meanings such as mood and modality, complex propositions (conditionals, causal relations, complementation), information structure (topic, focus), assertions, content and yes/no questions, imperatives, and miratives. In this paper we examine two facial displays: an upper face display in which the eyebrows are pulled together called brow furrow, and a lower face display in which the corners of the mouth are turned down into a distinctive configuration that resembles a frown or upside-down U-shape. Our analysis employs Cognitive Grammar, specifically the control cycle and its manifestation in effective control and epistemic control. Our claim is that effective and epistemic control are associated with embodied actions. Prototypical physical effective control requires effortful activity and the forceful exertion of energy and is commonly correlated with upper face activity, often called the “face of effort.” The lower face display has been shown to be associated with epistemic indetermination, uncertainty, doubt, obviousness, and skepticism. We demonstrate that the control cycle unifies the diverse grammatical functions expressed by each facial display within a language, and that they express similar functions across a wide range of signed languages
Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Control (management · Dual (grammatical number · Embodied cognition · Face (sociological concept · Linguistics · Meaning (existential · Computer Science · Hearing Impairment and Communication · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Philosophy · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence
Evidentiality and Information Source in Signed Languages
Cognitive Grammar
Gesturecraft
Australian Sign Language (Auslan)
Investigations in Cognitive Grammar
The expression of the emotions in man and animals.
Sign Language and Linguistic Universals
Toward a Rational and Mechanistic Account of Mental Effort
Perceptual symbol systems
“Object complements” and conversation towards a realistic account
Do Infants Show Distinct Negative Facial Expressions for Fear and Anger? Emotional Expression in 11‐Month‐Old European American, Chinese, and Japanese Infants
The shrug
Hands and faces
Pointing and placing
Discourse‐oriented facial displays in conversation
Embodied cognition, perceptual symbols, and situation models
Visual Intonation in the Prosody of a Sign Language
Adult judgments and fine-grained analysis of infant facial expressions
Levels of Reality
Implementing incipient actions
Subjectivity as an evidential dimension in epistemic modal expressions
Interrogative Constructions in Signed Languages
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |