Emozioni in segni: il caso della LIS

  • Chiara Bonsignori
  • Morgana Proietti
Parole chiave: Sign language, LIS, Metaphors, Emotions, Embodiment

Abstract

Theories related to embodied cognition show the important role of body experiences in human cognitive processes (Caruana, Borghi 2016, Clark 1997, Gallagher 2005, Smith 2005, Varela et al. 1991). Sign languages are a special window in exploring the route from perception to concept construction, as they allow to visualize linguistic embodiment of perceptual experiences (Volterra et al. 2018, Wilcox, Xavier, 2013). Iconicity shows a resemblance of semantic and phonological structures, revealing a common conceptual space grounded in cognitive abilities of language users and connected to their world perception and interaction. Different studies highlight the presence of visual metaphors in signs supporting the importance of embodiment and perception of the surrounding world in the construction of meanings (Boyes Braem 1981, Pietrandrea 2002, Russo 2004).
The aim of this study is to investigate linguistic representations of emotions in Italian sign language (LIS) focusing on visual metaphors subsumed at the sublexical level. For the present study, we analyzed the handshapes, movement and location of 70 signs related to emotion. Due to this analysis we identified metaphors grounded in parameters’ features (ex: the chest is the container of emotions; the down movement is mostly present in negative signs).
Identified visual metaphors reveal the importance of the body in world perception and in the process of building meaning.
Improvements in cognitive approaches to language may need to pass through an investigation of the tight metaphorical relation between form and meaning in signed emotion-related lexicon.

Riferimenti bibliografici

Battison, Robin (1978), Lexical borrowing in American sign language, Linstok Press, Washington, DC.

Betella, Alberto, Verschure, Paul F.M.J. (2016), «The Affective Slider: A Digital Self-Assessment Scale for the Measurement of Human Emotions», in PLoS ONE, vol. 11 n. 2, 0148037.

Boyes Braem, Penny (1981), Features of the handshape in American Sign Language, Tesi di dottorato, University of California, San Diego.

Boyes Braem, Penny (1994), Acquisition of handshape in American Sign Language: A preliminary analysis, in Volterra Virginia, Erting Carol J., a cura di, From gesture to language in hearing and deaf children, Gallaudet University Press, Washington, DC, pp. 107-127.

Borghi, Anna M., Capirci, Olga, Gianfreda, Gabriele, and Volterra, Virginia (2014), «The body and the fading away of abstract concepts and words: a sign language analysis», in Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 5, p. 811.

Caruana, Fausto, Borghi, Anna M. (2016), Il cervello in azione: introduzione alle nuove scienze della mente, Il Mulino, Bologna.

Clark, Andy (1997), Being there (p. 222), MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Cienki, Alan (2012), «Usage events of spoken language and the symbolic units we (may) abstract from them», Cogn. Process. Lang., vol. 25, pp. 149-158.

Cuxac, Christian (2001), «Les langues des signes: analyseurs de la faculté de langage», in Acquisition et interaction en langue étrangère, vol. 15, pp. 11-36.

Di Renzo, Alessio, Lamano, Luca, Lucioli, Tommaso, Pennacchi, Barbara, Gianfreda, Gabriele, Petitta, Giulia Bianchini, Claudia, Rossini Paolo, Pizzuto, Elena A. (2011), Scrivere la LIS con il SignWriting: manuale introduttivo, ISTC-CNR press, Roma.

Ekman, Paul, Levenson, Robert W., and Friesen, Wallace V. (1983), «Autonomic nervous system activity distinguishes among emotions», in Science, vol. 221, pp. 1208-1210.

Fontana, Sabina; Cuccio, Valentina (2013), «Metafora e Metonimia Tra Linguistica Cognitiva e Teoria Della Pertinenza: Uno Studio Sulle Lingue Dei Segni Primarie», in Rivista Di Psicolinguistica Applicata, Vol. 13(1), pp. 83-110.

Gallagher, Shaun (2005), How the body shapes the mind, Oxford University Press, New York.

Gibson, James Jerome (1979), The ecological approach to visual perception, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Johnson, Mark (1987), The Body In the Mind, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Kendon, Adam (2004), Gesture: Visible Action as Utterance, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Kousta, Stavroula, Vigliocco, Gabriella, Vinson, David P., Andrews, Mark,, Del Campo, Elena (2011), «The Representation of Abstract Words: Why Emotion Matters», in Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, vol. 140(1), pp.14-34.

Kövecses, Zoltán (1990), Emotion Concept, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-New York.

Kövecses, Zoltán (2000), Metaphor and Emotion, Language, Culture and Body Human Feeling, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Kövecses, Zoltán (2005), Metaphor in culture: Universality and variation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Kövecses, Zoltán (2010), «Metaphor and culture», in Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica, vol. 2, n. 2, pp. 197-220.

Lakoff, George, Johnson, Mark (1980), Metaphors We Live By, University of Chicago Press, Chicago-London.

Lakoff, George, Kövecses, Zoltán (1987), The cognitive model of anger inherent in American English, in Holland D., Quinn N., a cura di, Cultural models in language and thought, Cambridge University Press, New York-Cambridge, pp. 195-221.

Mazzuca, Claudia, Barca, Laura,, Borghi, Anna M. (2017), «The Particularity of Emotional Words: A Grounded Approac», in Rivista Internazionale Di Filosofia e Psicologia, vol. 8, pp. 124-133.

Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (1945), Phenomenologie de la perception, Gallimard, Paris, (Fenomenologia della percezione, trad. di A. Bonomi, Milano, Bompiani, 2003).

Petitto, Laura Ann; Marentette, Paula F. (1991), «Babbling in the Manual Mode: Evidence for the Ontogeny of Language», in Science, Vol. 251(5000), pp. 1493-1496.

Pietrandrea, Paola (2002), «Iconicity and arbitrariness in Italian sign language», in Sign Language Studies, n. 2(3), pp. 296-321.

Pietrandrea, Paola (1995), Analisi Semiotica dei Dizionari della Lingua Italiana dei Segni, Tesi di Laurea, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Roma.

Proietti, Morgana, Di Renzo, Alessio, Bonsignori, Chiara (2019), Metaphors in (e)motion: the case of Italian Sign Language, poster presentato presso TISLR13, Amburgo, Germania.

Radutzky, Elena (1992), Dizionario Bilingue Elementare Della Lingua Dei Segni Italiana LIS, Edizioni K, Roma.

Rizzolati, Giacomo,, Sinigaglia, Corrado (2019), Specchi nel cervello. Come comprendiamo gli altri dall’interno, Raffaello Cortina Editore, Milano.

Rizzolatti, Giacomo, Camarda, Rosolino, Fogassi, Leonardo, Gentilucci, Maurizio, Luppino, Giuseppe,, Matelli, Massimo (1988), «Functional organization of inferior area 6 in the macaque monkey», in Experimental brain research, vol. 71(3), pp. 491-507.

Rosaldo, Michelle Z. (1980), Knowledge and Passion. Ilongot Notions of Self and Social Life, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Russo, Tommaso (2004), La mappa Poggiata Sull’isola. Iconicità e metafora nelle lingue dei segni e nelle lingue vocali, Centro Editoriale e Librario Università della Calabria, Rende.

Sloetjes, Han, Wittenburg, Peter (2008), «Annotation by category – ELAN and ISO DCR», in Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC 2008).

Smith, Linda B. (2005), «Cognition as a dynamic system: Principles from embodiment», in Developmental Review, n. 25(3-4), pp. 278-298.

Sparaci, Laura, Volterra, Virginia (2017), Hands Shaping Communication: From Gestures to Sign, in Bertolaso M., Di Stefano N., a cura di, The Hand. Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics, vol. 38, Springer, pp. 29-54.

Soriano, Cristina (2015), Emotion and conceptual metaphor, in Flam H., Kleres J., a cura di, Methods of Exploring Emotions, Routledge, New York-London, pp. 206-214.

Sutton, Valerie (1981), Sign writing for everyday use, Sutton Movement Writing Press, Boston.

Taub, Sarah F. (2001), Language from the Body: Iconicity and Metaphor in American Sign Language, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Varela, Francisco J., Thompson, Evan,, Rosch, Eleanor (1991),The em bodied mind: cognitive science and human experience, MIT Press, Cambridge (MA).

Vigliocco, Gabriella, Meteyard, Lotte, Andrews, Mark,, Kousta, Stavroula (2009), «Toward a theory of semantic representation», Language and Cognition, n. 1(2), pp. 219-247.

Volterra, Virginia, Capirci, Olga, Rinaldi, Pasquale, Sparaci, Laura (2018), «From Action to Spoken and Signed Language through Gesture: Some Basic Issues for a Discussion on the Evolution of the Human Language-Ready Brain», in Interaction Studies, n. 19 (1-2), pp 216-238.

Volterra, Virginia, Di Renzo, Alessio, Roccaforte, Maria e Fontana, Sabina (2019), Descrivere la lingua dei segni italiana, una prospettiva cognitiva e sociosemiotica, Il Mulino, Bologna.

Wilbur, Ronnie B. (1987), American Sign Language: Linguistic and Applied Dimensions, Little Brown, Boston.

Wilcox, Sherman, Xavier, André Nogueira (2013), «A Framework for Unifying Spoken Language, Signed Language, and Gesture», in Todas as Letras - Revista de Lingua e Literatura, n. 15.1, pp. 88-110.

Wilcox Perrin, Phyllis (2000), Metaphor in American Sign Language, Gallaudet University Press, Washington, DC.

Pubblicato
2020-08-18
Come citare
Bonsignori, C. e Proietti, M. (2020) «Emozioni in segni: il caso della LIS», Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio. doi: 10.4396/SFL2019ES03.
Sezione
Emozioni e significato