Datasheet5_How Pointing is Integrated into Language: Evidence From Speakers and Signers.pdf

When people speak or sign, they not only describe using words but also depict and indicate. How are these different methods of communication integrated? Here, we focus on pointing and, in particular, on commonalities and differences in how pointing is integrated into language by speakers and signers. One aspect of this integration is semantic—how pointing is integrated with the meaning conveyed by the surrounding language. Another aspect is structural—how pointing as a manual signal is integrated with other signals, vocal in speech, or manual in sign. We investigated both of these aspects of integration in a novel pointing elicitation task. Participants viewed brief live-action scenarios and then responded to questions about the locations and objects involved. The questions were designed to elicit utterances in which pointing would serve different semantic functions, sometimes bearing the full load of reference (‘load-bearing points’) and other times sharing this load with lexical resources (‘load-sharing points’). The elicited utterances also provided an opportunity to investigate issues of structural integration. We found that, in both speakers and signers, pointing was produced with greater arm extension when it was load bearing, reflecting a common principle of semantic integration. However, the duration of the points patterned differently in the two groups. Speakers’ points tended to span across words (or even bridge over adjacent utterances), whereas signers’ points tended to slot in between lexical signs. Speakers and signers thus integrate pointing into language according to common principles, but in a way that reflects the differing structural constraints of their language. These results shed light on how language users integrate gradient, less conventionalized elements with those elements that have been the traditional focus of linguistic inquiry.

当人们进行言语表达或手语交流时，不仅会依托词汇开展描述，同时还会借助肢体描绘与指示动作辅助表意。这些多元的沟通方式是如何实现整合的？本研究聚焦于指示动作（pointing），尤其关注言语使用者与手语使用者将指示动作整合进语言系统的共性与差异。这类整合包含两个核心维度：其一为语义维度——指示动作如何与周边语言所传递的语义内容实现整合；其二为结构维度——作为手部信号的指示动作，如何与其他信号（言语中的发声信号、手语中的手部信号）完成整合。我们通过一项全新的指示动作诱发实验，对这两方面的整合机制展开了探究。实验中，被试将观看简短的实拍情境片段，随后需回答与情境中涉及的位置及物体相关的问题。问题的设计旨在诱发产生具备不同语义功能的指示动作语句：部分场景下指示动作需独立承担指称任务（即承载型指示（load-bearing points）），其余场景下则需与词汇资源共同承担指称任务（即共享型指示（load-sharing points））。本次诱发产生的语句同时也为探究结构整合相关问题提供了契机。研究结果显示，无论言语使用者还是手语使用者，当指示动作承担完整指称任务时，其手臂伸展幅度都会更大，这反映出语义整合的一项通用原则。但两组被试的指示动作时长模式却呈现出显著差异：言语使用者的指示动作往往会跨越多个单词（甚至衔接相邻的话语片段），而手语使用者的指示动作则通常嵌入在词汇手语之间。由此可见，尽管言语使用者与手语使用者均遵循通用原则将指示动作整合进语言系统，但这种整合方式也会因各自语言的结构约束差异而呈现出不同特征。本研究结果有助于阐明语言使用者如何将非规约性较强的渐变式元素，与传统语言学研究长期聚焦的核心语言元素实现整合。