Exerting control

The grammatical meaning of facial displays in signed languages

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12197170
AutoresSara Siyavoshi (0000-0001-9592-0827, University of New Mexico, autor correspondente), Wilcox (0000-0003-2192-6075, University of New Mexico), Sherman Wilcox (University of New Mexico)
Ano2021
Volume32
Fascículo4
Páginas609-639
Data de publicação2021-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCognitive Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0936-5907 • E-ISSN: 1613-3641
EditoraDe Gruyter Mouton (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/cog-2021-0051
OpenAlexW3211930454
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas51

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