Kearsy Cormier
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 785982 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Kearsy Cormier |
| PRENOMES | Kearsy |
| SOBRENOME | Cormier |
| ASSINATURA | CORMIER K |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-6071-7706 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 21 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 124 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 21 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2001 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 6 |
BSL signers combine different semiotic strategies to negate clauses
Signers of Deaf community signed languages negate clauses via manual negating signs and/or non-manual movements such as headshakes. Several claims about the dominance of manual versus non-manual negation across signed languages have been made, mostly based on survey responses and elicited data. Here, we describe how clause negation was signalled in 420 clauses identified in dyadic conversations between 40 deaf signers of British Sign Language (BS…
Manual wh -signs and English wh- mouthings differentiate BSL content and polar questions
How do deaf BSL signers signal polar and content questions? This study quantitatively investigates the manual and non-manual forms used to signal polar and content questions during dyadic conversations documented in the BSL Corpus. We found that non-manual movements such as eye, eyebrow and/or head movements do not differentiate content and polar questions in BSL. Instead, it is the presence or absence of conventionalised wh -forms that most stro…
Shorter but richer versus longer with less information
The distinction between natural sign languages and sign-supported speech is a controversial topic and difficult to assess purely on structural terms because of language contact. Here, we consider British Sign Language (BSL) and Sign Supported English (SSE) with reference to Irvine and Gal’s (2000. Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. In P. V. Kroskrity (ed.), Regimes of language , 35–84. Oxford: Currey) framework on linguistic differ…
Accent or not? Language attitudes towards regional variation in British Sign Language
British Sign Language (BSL) has been shown to have a high degree of regional variation especially at the lexical level. This study explores awareness and attitudes of the British deaf community towards this regional variation. We studied interview data from the BSL Corpus ( http://bslcorpusproject.org/data ) from 121 deaf, BSL signers from six regions across the UK including Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, London and Manchester, focusing o…
Sociolinguistic Variation in Mouthings in British Sign Language
Mouth activity forms a key component of all sign languages. This can be divided into mouthings, which originate from words in the ambient spoken language, and mouth gestures, which do not. This study examines the relationship between the distribution of mouthings co-occurring with verb signs in British Sign Language (BSL) and various linguistic and social factors, using the BSL Corpus. We find considerable variation between participants and a lac…
Attitudes towards age variation and language change in the British deaf community
Modification of indicating verbs in British Sign Language
Indicating verbs can be directed toward locations in space associated with their arguments. The primary debate about these verbs is whether this directionality is akin to grammatical agreement or whether it represents a fusion of both morphemic and gestural elements. To move the debate forward, more empirical evidence is needed. We consider linguistic and social factors in 1,436 indicating-verb tokens from the BSL Corpus. Results reveal that modi…
Sociolinguistic Variation in the Nativisation of BSL Fingerspelling
British Sign Language (BSL) is a visual-gestural language distinct from spoken languages used in the United Kingdom but in contact with them. One product of this contact is the use of fingerspelling to represent English words via their orthography. Fingerspelled loans can become “nativised”, adapting manual production to conform more closely to the native lexicon’s inventory of phonemic constraints. Much of the previous literature on fingerspelli…
Regional Sign Language Varieties in Contact
Short-term linguistic accommodation has been observed in a number of spoken language studies. The first of its kind in sign language research, this study aims to investigate the effects of regional varieties in contact and lexical accommodation in British Sign Language (BSL). Twenty-five participants were recruited from Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, and Newcastle and paired with the same conversational partner. Participants completed a "spot-the-…
Rethinking constructed action
We aim to demonstrate the importance of defining linguistic phenomena by using constructed action or CA (i.e. a stretch of discourse that represents one role or combination of roles depicting actions, utterances, thought, attitudes and/or feelings of one or more referents) as an example. The problem is that different assumptions about CA have led to some apparent contradictions about the nature and characteristics of this phenomenon. Based on obs…
Indicating verbs in British Sign Language favour motivated use of space
Sign languages have traditionally been described as having a distinction between (1) arbitrary (referential or syntactic) space, considered to be a purely grammatical use of space in which locations arbitrarily represent concrete or abstract subject and/or object arguments using pronouns or indicating verbs, for example, and (2) motivated (topographic or surrogate) space, involving mapping of locations of concrete referents onto the signing space…
Building BSL SignBank
One key criterion when creating a representation of the lexicon of any language within a dictionary or lexical database is that it must be decided which groups of idiosyncratic and systematically modified variants together form a lexeme. Few researchers have, however, attempted to outline such principles as they might apply to sign languages. As a consequence, some sign language dictionaries and lexical databases appear to be mixed collections of…
Using conversational data to determine lexical frequency in British Sign Language
Predicate Structures, Gesture, and Simultaneity in the Representation of Action in British Sign Language
British Sign Language (BSL) signers use a variety of structures, such as constructed action (CA), depicting constructions (DCs), or lexical verbs, to represent action and other verbal meanings. This study examines the use of these verbal predicate structures and their gestural counterparts, both separately and simultaneously, in narratives by deaf children with various levels of exposure to BSL (ages 5;1 to 7;5) and deaf adult native BSL signers.…
Variation in handshape and orientation in British Sign Language
Pronouns and pointing in sign languages
Pointing signs are used for pronominal reference (among many other functions) in sign languages. Many pointing signs do not look very different from non-signers' pointing gestures (Kendon, 2004, Kita, 2003c). However, most sign language researchers, regardless of their theoretical perspective, assume that there is evidence for considering these pointing signs to be pronouns (i.e., distinct from pointing gestures used by non-signers). In this pape…
Framing constructed action in British Sign Language narratives
Constructed action is a discourse strategy, used widely within sign languages, in which the signer uses his/her face, head, body, hands, and/or other non-manual cues to represent a referent's actions, utterances, thoughts, feelings and/or attitudes. It is generally assumed that framing constructed action (i.e. identification of the referent) typically consists of a preceding noun phrase, but that this is optional (or even infelicitous), if the re…
Lexicalisation and de-lexicalisation processes in sign languages
In this paper, we compare so-called "classifier" constructions in signed languages (which we refer to as "depicting constructions") with comparable iconic gestures produced by non-signers. We show clear correspondences between entity constructions and observer viewpoint gestures on the one hand, and handling constructions and character viewpoint gestures on the other. Such correspondences help account for both lexicalisation and de-lexicalisation…
Diversity across sign languages and spoken languages
Wendy Sandler & Diane Lillo-Martin , Sign language and linguistic universals . Cambridge
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Prelinguistic Gesture Predicts Mastery and Error in the Production of Early Signs
We explore the predictors of early mastery versus error in children's acquisition of American Sign Language. We hypothesize that the most frequent values for a particular parameter in prelinguistic gesture will be the most frequent in early signs and the most likely sources of substitution when signing children make errors. Analyses of data from a longitudinal study of the prelinguistic gestures of five Deaf and five hearing children and a longit…
Lexicalisation and de-lexicalisation processes in sign languages
In this paper, we compare so-called "classifier" constructions in signed languages (which we refer to as "depicting constructions") with comparable iconic gestures produced by non-signers. We show clear correspondences between entity constructions and observer viewpoint gestures on the one hand, and handling constructions and character viewpoint gestures on the other. Such correspondences help account for both lexicalisation and de-lexicalisation…
Framing constructed action in British Sign Language narratives
Constructed action is a discourse strategy, used widely within sign languages, in which the signer uses his/her face, head, body, hands, and/or other non-manual cues to represent a referent's actions, utterances, thoughts, feelings and/or attitudes. It is generally assumed that framing constructed action (i.e. identification of the referent) typically consists of a preceding noun phrase, but that this is optional (or even infelicitous), if the re…
Pronouns and pointing in sign languages
Pointing signs are used for pronominal reference (among many other functions) in sign languages. Many pointing signs do not look very different from non-signers' pointing gestures (Kendon, 2004, Kita, 2003c). However, most sign language researchers, regardless of their theoretical perspective, assume that there is evidence for considering these pointing signs to be pronouns (i.e., distinct from pointing gestures used by non-signers). In this pape…
Using conversational data to determine lexical frequency in British Sign Language
Modification of indicating verbs in British Sign Language
Indicating verbs can be directed toward locations in space associated with their arguments. The primary debate about these verbs is whether this directionality is akin to grammatical agreement or whether it represents a fusion of both morphemic and gestural elements. To move the debate forward, more empirical evidence is needed. We consider linguistic and social factors in 1,436 indicating-verb tokens from the BSL Corpus. Results reveal that modi…
Variation in handshape and orientation in British Sign Language
Building BSL SignBank
One key criterion when creating a representation of the lexicon of any language within a dictionary or lexical database is that it must be decided which groups of idiosyncratic and systematically modified variants together form a lexeme. Few researchers have, however, attempted to outline such principles as they might apply to sign languages. As a consequence, some sign language dictionaries and lexical databases appear to be mixed collections of…
Diversity across sign languages and spoken languages
Prelinguistic Gesture Predicts Mastery and Error in the Production of Early Signs
We explore the predictors of early mastery versus error in children's acquisition of American Sign Language. We hypothesize that the most frequent values for a particular parameter in prelinguistic gesture will be the most frequent in early signs and the most likely sources of substitution when signing children make errors. Analyses of data from a longitudinal study of the prelinguistic gestures of five Deaf and five hearing children and a longit…
Sociolinguistic Variation in Mouthings in British Sign Language
Mouth activity forms a key component of all sign languages. This can be divided into mouthings, which originate from words in the ambient spoken language, and mouth gestures, which do not. This study examines the relationship between the distribution of mouthings co-occurring with verb signs in British Sign Language (BSL) and various linguistic and social factors, using the BSL Corpus. We find considerable variation between participants and a lac…
Prelinguistic Gesture Predicts Mastery and Error in the Production of Early Signs
We explore the predictors of early mastery versus error in children's acquisition of American Sign Language. We hypothesize that the most frequent values for a particular parameter in prelinguistic gesture will be the most frequent in early signs and the most likely sources of substitution when signing children make errors. Analyses of data from a longitudinal study of the prelinguistic gestures of five Deaf and five hearing children and a longit…
Wendy Sandler & Diane Lillo-Martin , Sign language and linguistic universals . Cambridge
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Diversity across sign languages and spoken languages
Lexicalisation and de-lexicalisation processes in sign languages
In this paper, we compare so-called "classifier" constructions in signed languages (which we refer to as "depicting constructions") with comparable iconic gestures produced by non-signers. We show clear correspondences between entity constructions and observer viewpoint gestures on the one hand, and handling constructions and character viewpoint gestures on the other. Such correspondences help account for both lexicalisation and de-lexicalisation…
Predicate Structures, Gesture, and Simultaneity in the Representation of Action in British Sign Language
British Sign Language (BSL) signers use a variety of structures, such as constructed action (CA), depicting constructions (DCs), or lexical verbs, to represent action and other verbal meanings. This study examines the use of these verbal predicate structures and their gestural counterparts, both separately and simultaneously, in narratives by deaf children with various levels of exposure to BSL (ages 5;1 to 7;5) and deaf adult native BSL signers.…
Variation in handshape and orientation in British Sign Language
Pronouns and pointing in sign languages
Pointing signs are used for pronominal reference (among many other functions) in sign languages. Many pointing signs do not look very different from non-signers' pointing gestures (Kendon, 2004, Kita, 2003c). However, most sign language researchers, regardless of their theoretical perspective, assume that there is evidence for considering these pointing signs to be pronouns (i.e., distinct from pointing gestures used by non-signers). In this pape…
Framing constructed action in British Sign Language narratives
Constructed action is a discourse strategy, used widely within sign languages, in which the signer uses his/her face, head, body, hands, and/or other non-manual cues to represent a referent's actions, utterances, thoughts, feelings and/or attitudes. It is generally assumed that framing constructed action (i.e. identification of the referent) typically consists of a preceding noun phrase, but that this is optional (or even infelicitous), if the re…
Using conversational data to determine lexical frequency in British Sign Language
Rethinking constructed action
We aim to demonstrate the importance of defining linguistic phenomena by using constructed action or CA (i.e. a stretch of discourse that represents one role or combination of roles depicting actions, utterances, thought, attitudes and/or feelings of one or more referents) as an example. The problem is that different assumptions about CA have led to some apparent contradictions about the nature and characteristics of this phenomenon. Based on obs…
Indicating verbs in British Sign Language favour motivated use of space
Sign languages have traditionally been described as having a distinction between (1) arbitrary (referential or syntactic) space, considered to be a purely grammatical use of space in which locations arbitrarily represent concrete or abstract subject and/or object arguments using pronouns or indicating verbs, for example, and (2) motivated (topographic or surrogate) space, involving mapping of locations of concrete referents onto the signing space…
Building BSL SignBank
One key criterion when creating a representation of the lexicon of any language within a dictionary or lexical database is that it must be decided which groups of idiosyncratic and systematically modified variants together form a lexeme. Few researchers have, however, attempted to outline such principles as they might apply to sign languages. As a consequence, some sign language dictionaries and lexical databases appear to be mixed collections of…
Regional Sign Language Varieties in Contact
Short-term linguistic accommodation has been observed in a number of spoken language studies. The first of its kind in sign language research, this study aims to investigate the effects of regional varieties in contact and lexical accommodation in British Sign Language (BSL). Twenty-five participants were recruited from Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, and Newcastle and paired with the same conversational partner. Participants completed a "spot-the-…
Sociolinguistic Variation in the Nativisation of BSL Fingerspelling
British Sign Language (BSL) is a visual-gestural language distinct from spoken languages used in the United Kingdom but in contact with them. One product of this contact is the use of fingerspelling to represent English words via their orthography. Fingerspelled loans can become “nativised”, adapting manual production to conform more closely to the native lexicon’s inventory of phonemic constraints. Much of the previous literature on fingerspelli…
Modification of indicating verbs in British Sign Language
Indicating verbs can be directed toward locations in space associated with their arguments. The primary debate about these verbs is whether this directionality is akin to grammatical agreement or whether it represents a fusion of both morphemic and gestural elements. To move the debate forward, more empirical evidence is needed. We consider linguistic and social factors in 1,436 indicating-verb tokens from the BSL Corpus. Results reveal that modi…
Accent or not? Language attitudes towards regional variation in British Sign Language
British Sign Language (BSL) has been shown to have a high degree of regional variation especially at the lexical level. This study explores awareness and attitudes of the British deaf community towards this regional variation. We studied interview data from the BSL Corpus ( http://bslcorpusproject.org/data ) from 121 deaf, BSL signers from six regions across the UK including Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, London and Manchester, focusing o…
Sociolinguistic Variation in Mouthings in British Sign Language
Mouth activity forms a key component of all sign languages. This can be divided into mouthings, which originate from words in the ambient spoken language, and mouth gestures, which do not. This study examines the relationship between the distribution of mouthings co-occurring with verb signs in British Sign Language (BSL) and various linguistic and social factors, using the BSL Corpus. We find considerable variation between participants and a lac…
Attitudes towards age variation and language change in the British deaf community
Shorter but richer versus longer with less information
The distinction between natural sign languages and sign-supported speech is a controversial topic and difficult to assess purely on structural terms because of language contact. Here, we consider British Sign Language (BSL) and Sign Supported English (SSE) with reference to Irvine and Gal’s (2000. Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. In P. V. Kroskrity (ed.), Regimes of language , 35–84. Oxford: Currey) framework on linguistic differ…
BSL signers combine different semiotic strategies to negate clauses
Signers of Deaf community signed languages negate clauses via manual negating signs and/or non-manual movements such as headshakes. Several claims about the dominance of manual versus non-manual negation across signed languages have been made, mostly based on survey responses and elicited data. Here, we describe how clause negation was signalled in 420 clauses identified in dyadic conversations between 40 deaf signers of British Sign Language (BS…
Manual wh -signs and English wh- mouthings differentiate BSL content and polar questions
How do deaf BSL signers signal polar and content questions? This study quantitatively investigates the manual and non-manual forms used to signal polar and content questions during dyadic conversations documented in the BSL Corpus. We found that non-manual movements such as eye, eyebrow and/or head movements do not differentiate content and polar questions in BSL. Instead, it is the presence or absence of conventionalised wh -forms that most stro…
Linguistics (21 obras) · Hearing Impairment and Communication (20 obras) · Sign language (17 obras) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (16 obras) · Psychology (16 obras) · Mathematics (15 obras) · Philosophy (14 obras) · Computer Science (12 obras) · Philosophy (11 obras) · Sign (mathematics (10 obras)