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Volume Five: Issue Three

Special Issue: Metaphor in Signed Languages

INTRODUCTION
Phyllis Perrin Wilcox, Contributing Editor
ARTICLES
What Do You Think? Metaphor in Thought and Communication Domains in American Sign Language
Phyllis Perrin Wilcox

Abstract

Double Mapping in Metaphorical Expressions of Thought and Communication in Catalan Sign Language (LSC)
Maria-Josep Jarque

Abstract

Body Partitioning in ASL Metaphorical Blends
Alyssa Wulf and Paul Dudis

Abstract

A Crosslinguistic, Cross-cultural Analysis of Metaphors in Two Italian Sign Language (LIS) Registers
Tommaso Russo

Abstract

Conjoining Word and Image in British Sign Language (BSL): An Exploration of Metaphorical Signs in BSL
Mary Brennan

Abstract

ABSTRACTS
What Do You Think? Metaphor in Thought and Communication Domains in American Sign Language

Signed languages researchers who apply the principals of cognitive linguistics to their work on metaphor are finding what appear to be universal metaphors, such as mind is a container and ideas are objects. Their research is also exemplifying differences that reflect the cultural realities of their respective countries. This article explores similarities and differences found in metaphorical domains of thought and communication in several signed languages. It demonstrates that culture plays a powerful role in the nonequivalencies of metaphorical language creation regardless of the modality�signed or spoken.

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Double Mapping in Metaphorical Expressions of Thought and Communication in Catalan Sign Language (LSC

The presence of iconicity in sign languages�that is, conceptual mappings between form (phonology, syntax, etc.) and meaning (semantics)�constitutes a strong argument for cognitive theories. This article analyzes data from Catalan Sign Language to demonstrate an association between grammar and cognitive abilities such as object recognition, spatial structure, body awareness, and the modeling of bodily movement and position in space.

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Body Partitioning in ASL Metaphorical Blends

This article addresses body partitioning in American Sign Language (ASL). Specifically, it demonstrates how partitioning allows for greater contributions of conceptual metaphor to the structuring of complex grounded blends.

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A Crosslinguistic, Cross-cultural Analysis of Metaphors in Two Italian Sign Language (LIS) Registers

This article deals with two main topics: the interplay of iconicity and metaphors in signed language discourse and the relevance of sociocultural knowledge for a full understanding of LIS metaphors. Metaphors produced in two different signed registers, Conferences and Poetry, are analyzed. I maintain that in signed metaphors, the iconic features of signs play a role in the creative process of determining a mental fit between two different domains, when metaphors are produced. Iconicity mirrors the properties of the structure of a blended space, in which features of both the target and the source domain of the metaphor are projected. The iconic features of signs are dynamically activated during the online cognitive processes aimed at maximizing the similarity between two usually unrelated domains. I also suggest that shared cultural knowledge plays a central role in driving the cross-domain mappings of LIS metaphors. Both topics are related to the general problem of understanding in detail the creative process of mapping target domains onto some particular sources in signed language metaphors.

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Conjoining Word and Image in British Sign Language (BSL): An Exploration of Metaphorical Signs in BSL

The lexicon of British Sign Language (BSL) is highly motivated. This article places the motivated productive forms of BSL at the center of its analysis.

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