Evolving artificial sign languages in the lab: From improvised gesture to systematic sign

Yasamin Motamedi, Marieke Schouwstra, Kenny Smith, Jennifer Culbertson, Simon Kirby

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Recent work on emerging sign languages provides evidence for how key properties of linguistic systems are created. Here we use laboratory experiments to investigate the contribution of two specific mechanisms—interaction and transmission—to the emergence of a manual communication system in silent gesturers. We show that the combined effects of these mechanisms, rather than either alone, maintain communicative efficiency, and lead to a gradual increase of regularity and systematic structure. The gestures initially produced by participants are unsystematic and resemble pantomime, but come to develop key language-like properties similar to those documented in newly emerging sign systems.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)103964
JournalCognition
Volume192
Early online date11 Jul 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2019

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • silent gesture
  • iterated learning
  • interaction
  • transmisison
  • sign language
  • language evolution

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