From letters to families
Ryan Lepic · Constructional approaches to language · 2020
Abstract This study analyzes a database of initialized signs, which are formed with handshapes corresponding to English letters, collected from an ASL dictionary. ASL handshapes are classified as either primarily used for initialization, such as the R handshape, or rarely used for initialization, such as the X handshape. Additionally, initialized signs are shown to forge kind-of and whole-part relationships with existing ASL signs. An example is b iology , which derives from ASL science , reflecting that ‘biology is a kind of science’. These facts about initialized signs are analyzed in terms of constructional schemas, capturing properties that are shared among ASL signs and explaining productive instances of initialization (and de-initialization) in ASL.