1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Sign Language & Linguistics
  4. Online First Articles
  5. Online First Article
image of Conventionalization of size-and-shape specifiers in Zinacantec Family Homesign
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

This study examines size-and-shape specifiers (SASSes) in Zinacantec Family Homesign (‘Z sign’), an emerging sign language developed by three deaf siblings and their hearing family members in an indigenous community of Mexico. SASSes depict the visual attributes of objects via a hand configuration that portrays some aspect of the form of an entity and are considered by some scholars to incorporate both “linguistic” and “gestural” properties. The iconic nature of SASSes, and their putative gestural components, raise questions about their functions in newly-developed sign languages like Z sign. This study explores whether there are language-specific conventions that constrain the use of SASSes in Z sign. The findings indicate that SASSes constitute a highly conventionalized component of the lexicon, characterized by a hierarchical, paradigmatic organization not observed in the gestures produced by older hearing relatives of the deaf individuals who are not fluent signers. This study contributes to the scant body of literature on SASSes, their putative relationship to “gesture”, and sheds light on the process by which signers can marshal raw iconic materials in the creation of a lexicon.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/sll.25009.ger
2026-05-18
2026-06-07

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/sll.25009.ger
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Battison, Robin
    1974 Phonological deletion in American Sign Language. Sign Language Studies. –. 10.1353/sls.1974.0005
     https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.1974.0005 [Google Scholar]
  2. Brentari, Diane
    1999 A prosodic model of sign language phonology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Brentari, Diane & Carol Padden
    2001 Native and foreign vocabulary in American Sign Language: A lexicon with multiple origins. InDiane Brentari (ed.), Foreign vocabulary in sign languages. A cross-linguistic investigation of word formation, –. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 10.4324/9781410601513‑10
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410601513-10 [Google Scholar]
  4. Cormier, Kearsy, David Quinto-Pozos, Zed Sevcikova & Adam Schembri
    2012 Lexicalisation and de-lexicalisation processes in sign languages: Comparing depicting constructions and viewpoint gestures. Language & Communication(). –. 10.1016/j.langcom.2012.09.004
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2012.09.004 [Google Scholar]
  5. Campbell, Erin E., Zed Sevcikova, Elana Pontecorvo, Ariel Cohen-Goldberg, Karen Emmorey & Naomi Caselli
    2025 Iconicity as an organizing principle of the lexicon, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences(). 10.1073/pnas.2401041122
     https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2401041122 [Google Scholar]
  6. Carrigan, Emily M. & Marie Coppola
    2017 Successful communication does not drive language development: Evidence from adult homesign. Cognition. –. 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.09.012
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2016.09.012 [Google Scholar]
  7. De Leon, Lourdes
    1988 Noun and numeral classifiers in Mixtec and Tzotzil: A referential view. University of Sussex PhD dissertation.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Eccarius, Petra & Diane Brentari
    2008 Handshape coding made easier: A theoretically based notation for phonological transcription. Sign Language & Linguistics(). –. 10.1075/sl&l.11.1.11ecc
     https://doi.org/10.1075/sl&l.11.1.11ecc [Google Scholar]
  9. Emmorey, Karen
    (ed.) 2003 Perspectives on classifier constructions in sign language. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Emmorey, Karen & Melissa Herzig
    2003 Categorical versus gradient properties of classifier constructions in ASL. InKaren Emmorey (ed.), Perspectives on classifier constructions in sign languages, –. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 10.4324/9781410607447
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410607447 [Google Scholar]
  11. Ferrara, Lindsay
    2012 The grammar of depiction: exploring gesture and language in Australian Sign Language (Auslan). Macquarie University PhD dissertation. NTNU Open. hdl.handle.net/11250/218845
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Flaherty, Molly, Dea Hunsicker & Susan Goldin-Meadow
    2021 Structural biases that children bring to language-learning: A cross-cultural look at gestural input to homesign. Cognition: . 10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104608
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2021.104608 [Google Scholar]
  13. Fornasiero, Elena
    2023 Evaluative constructions in Italian Sign Language (LIS): A multi-theoretical analysis. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110783445
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110783445 [Google Scholar]
  14. German, Austin
    2023 Abrupt grammatical reorganization of an emergent sign language: The expression of motion in Zinacantec Family Homesign. Diachronica(). –. 10.1075/dia.22039.ger
     https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.22039.ger [Google Scholar]
  15. 2024a The emergence of linguistic structure in Zinacantec Family Homesign. Austin, TX: The University of Texas at Austin PhD dissertation. UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 10.26153/tsw/56536
     https://doi.org/10.26153/tsw/56536 [Google Scholar]
  16. 2024b Metalinguistic discourse in an emerging sign language. Languages(). . 10.3390/languages9070240
     https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9070240 [Google Scholar]
  17. 2025 The impact of interaction on variation in Zinacantec Family Homesign. Glossa: a Journal of General Linguistics(). –. 10.16995/glossa.23494
     https://doi.org/10.16995/glossa.23494 [Google Scholar]
  18. Goldin-Meadow, Susan & Diane Brentari
    2017 Gesture, sign, and language: The coming of age of sign language and gesture studies. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. e46. 10.1017/S0140525X15001247
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X15001247 [Google Scholar]
  19. Goldin-Meadow, Susan & Carolyn Mylander
    1983 Gestural communication in deaf children: The non-effects of parental input on language development. Science. –. 10.1126/science.6867713
     https://doi.org/10.1126/science.6867713 [Google Scholar]
  20. Haviland, John B.
    1981 Sk’op sotz’leb: el tzotzil de San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Mexico: Universidad Autónoma de México.
     [Google Scholar]
  21. 2011 Nouns, verbs, and constituents in an emerging ‘Tzotzil’ sign language. InRodrigo Gutiérrez-Bravo, Line Mikkelsen & Eric Potsdam (eds.), Representing language: Essays in honor of Judith Aissen, –. California Digital Library eScholarship Repository.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. 2013a (Mis)understanding and obtuseness: “Ethnolinguistic borders” in a miniscule speech community. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology(). –. 10.1111/jola.12025
     https://doi.org/10.1111/jola.12025 [Google Scholar]
  23. 2013b Xi to vi: “Over that way, look!” (Meta) spatial representation in an emerging (Mayan?) sign language. InPeter Auer, Martin Hilpert, Anja Stukenbrock & Benedikt Szmerecsanyi (eds.), Space in language and linguistics, –. Berlin: De Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110312027.334
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110312027.334 [Google Scholar]
  24. 2016 “But you said, ‘four sheep’…!”: (sign) language, ideology, and self (esteem) across generations in a Mayan family. Language & Communication. –. 10.1016/j.langcom.2015.10.006
     https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2015.10.006 [Google Scholar]
  25. 2020a Signs, interaction, coordination, and gaze: Interactive foundations of “Z” — an emerging (sign) language from Chiapas, Mexico. InOlivier Le Guen, Josefina Safar & Marie Coppola (eds.), Emerging sign languages of the Americas, –. Berlin/Nijmegen: De Gruyter Mouton/Ishara Press. 10.1515/9781501504884‑002
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501504884-002 [Google Scholar]
  26. 2020b Zinacantec family homesign (or “Z”). InOlivier Le Guen, Josefina Safar & Marie Coppola (eds.), Emerging sign languages of the Americas, –. Berlin/Nijmegen: De Gruyter Mouton/Ishara Press. 10.1515/9781501504884‑009
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501504884-009 [Google Scholar]
  27. 2022 How and when to sign “Hey!” socialization into grammar in Z, a 1st generation family sign language from Mexico. Languages(). . 10.3390/languages7020080
     https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7020080 [Google Scholar]
  28. Hockett, Charles F.
    1960 The origin of speech. Scientific American(). –. 10.1038/scientificamerican0960‑88
     https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0960-88 [Google Scholar]
  29. Horton, Laura A.
    2018 Conventionalization of shared homesign systems in Guatemala: Social, lexical, and morphophonological dimensions. Chicago: University of Chicago PhD dissertation. 10.6082/UCHICAGO.1321
     https://doi.org/10.6082/UCHICAGO.1321 [Google Scholar]
  30. Hou, Lynn Y.S.
    2015 “Making hands”: Family sign languages in the San Juan Quiahije community. Austin, TX: The University of Texas at Austin PhD dissertation.
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Hwang, So-One, Nozomi Tomita, Hope Morgan, Rabia Ergin, Deniz İlkbaşaran, Sharon Seegers, Ryan Lepic & Carol Padden
    2017 Of the body and the hands: patterned iconicity for semantic categories. Language and Cognition(). –. 10.1017/langcog.2016.28
     https://doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2016.28 [Google Scholar]
  32. Israel, Assaf & Wendy Sandler
    2009 Phonological category resolution: A study of handshapes in younger and older sign languages. Cadernos de Saude. –.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Kusters, Annelies, Mara Green, Erin Moriarty & Kristin Snoddon
    2020 Sign language ideologies: Practices and politics. InAnnelies Kusters, Mara Green, Erin Moriarty & Kristin Snoddon (eds.), Sign language ideologies in practice, –. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9781501510090‑001
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501510090-001 [Google Scholar]
  34. Kyuseva, Maria
    2020 Size and shape specifiers in Russian Sign Language: a morphological analysis. Birmingham: University of Birmingham PhD dissertation. University of Birmingham Theses eRepository.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Laughlin, Robert M.
    1975 The great Tzotzil dictionary of San Lorenzo Zinacantán. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Lepic, Ryan
    2019 A usage-based alternative to “lexicalization” in sign language linguistics. Glossa: a Journal of General Linguistics(): . 10.5334/gjgl.840
     https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.840 [Google Scholar]
  37. Li, Chunan & Austin German
    2026 Noun and adjective order in emerging sign languages and silent gesture. Paper presented at the39th Annual Conference on Human Sentence Processing (HSP). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Liddell, Scott K.
    2003 Sources of meaning in ASL classifier predicates. InKaren Emmorey (ed.), Perspectives on classifier constructions in sign languages, –. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Lucy, John A.
    1992 Linguistic relativity. Annual Review of Anthropology. –.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Meir, Irit, Mark Aronoff, Wendy Sandler & Carol Padden
    2010 Sign languages and compounding. InSergio Scalise & Irene Vogel (eds) Cross-disciplinary issues in compounding, –. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/cilt.311.23mei
     https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.311.23mei [Google Scholar]
  41. Newport, Elisa L. & Ursula Bellugi
    1978 Linguistic expression of category levels in a visual-gestural language: A flower is a flower is a flower. InEleanor Rosch & Barbara B. Lloyd (eds.), Cognition and categorization. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Safar, Josefina
    2020 A comparative study of Yucatec Maya Sign Languages. Stockholm: Stockholm University PhD dissertation.
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Sandler, Wendy, Mark Aronoff, Irit Meir & Carol Padden
    2011 The gradual emergence of phonological form in a new language. Natural Language & Linguistic Theory(). –. 10.1007/s11049‑011‑9128‑2
     https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-011-9128-2 [Google Scholar]
  44. Schembri, Adam
    2003 Rethinking ‘classifiers’ in signed languages. InKaren Emmorey (ed.), Perspectives on classifier constructions in sign languages, –. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Schembri, Adam, Caroline Jones & Denis Burnham
    2005. Comparing action gestures and classifier verbs of motion: Evidence from Australian Sign Language, Taiwan Sign Language, and nonsigners’ gestures without speech. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education(). –. 10.1093/deafed/eni029
     https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/eni029 [Google Scholar]
  46. Singleton, Jenny L., Jill P. Morford & Susan Goldin-Meadow
    1993 Once is not enough: Standards of well-formedness in manual communication created over three different timespans. Language(). –. 10.2307/416883
     https://doi.org/10.2307/416883 [Google Scholar]
  47. Supalla, Ted
    1982 Structure and acquisition of verbs of motion and location in American Sign Language. San Diego, CA: University of California PhD dissertation. ProQuest & Dissertations & Theses.
     [Google Scholar]
  48. 1986 The classifier system in American Sign Language. InColette Craig (ed.), Noun classes and categorization, –. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/tsl.7.13sup
     https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.7.13sup [Google Scholar]
  49. Tano, Angoua & Victoria Nyst
    2018 Comparing body-part size and shape constructions in village sign languages with co-speech gesture. Sign Language Studies(). –. 10.1353/sls.2018.0015
     https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.2018.0015 [Google Scholar]
  50. Tano, Angoua & Olivier Le Guen
    2022 La formation des SASS dans les langues émergentes: une comparaison entre la LSMY et deux langues des signes d’Afrique de l’Ouest. Revista Científica Sigma(). –.
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Tkachman, Oksana & Irit Meir
    2018 Novel compounding and the emergence of structure in two young sign languages, Glossa: a Journal of General Linguistics(): . 10.5334/gjgl.632
     https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.632 [Google Scholar]
  52. Zeshan, Ulrike
    2003 ‘Classificatory’ constructions in Indo-Pakistani Sign Language: Grammaticalization and lexicalization processes. InKaren Emmorey (ed.), Perspectives on classifier constructions in sign languages, –. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Zwitserlood, Inge
    2003 Classifying hand configurations in Nederlandse Gebarentaal (Sign Language of the Netherlands). LOT: Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics PhD dissertation.
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/sll.25009.ger
Loading
Conventionalization of size-and-shape specifiers in Zinacantec Family Homesign
John Benjamins ; https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.25009.ger
/content/journals/10.1075/sll.25009.ger
/content/journals/10.1075/sll.25009.ger
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: gesture ; emerging sign language ; homesign ; size-and-shape specifiers ; depicting constructions

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error