Applying phonology in lexicography : Variant-synonym classification in Czech Sign Language
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| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | In the lexicographic project proceeding at Masaryk university, the first Czech sign language online dictionary, a part of the platform Dictio, is developed. A part of the project consists of introducing a systematic way of distinguishing variants from synonyms in Czech sign language. The rule is quite simple: if only one of the main parameters of a sign differs, i.e., hand configuration (handshape), place of articulation or movement, the pair of lexemes is classified as variants. On the other hand, more differences signal synonyms. In this process, a refined phonological Hand-Tier model (Sandler 2006) is used to serve as a phonological basis where mere empirical comparison is not sufficient. The motivation behind this work is threefold: (i) the empirical reason is to help describe an understudied language and move a little closer to its full account; (ii) the practical reason is to develop a part of a Czech sign language dictionary on a linguistic basis by implementing this specific method; (iii) the theoretical reason is to put to the test the refined phonological model of Czech sign language with the future possibility of extending it to other sign languages as well. |
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