The ASL-LEX 2.0 Project: A Database of Lexical and Phonological Properties for 2,723 Signs in American Sign Language

Area of Science:

• Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Sign Language Studies

Background:

• The American Sign Language Lexicon (ASL-LEX) is a valuable resource for understanding ASL.
• Previous versions lacked comprehensive phonological and usage data for a large number of signs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To expand the ASL-LEX database to include 2,723 ASL signs.
• To provide detailed phonological descriptions, frequency, iconicity, and transparency ratings for each sign.
• To analyze the relationships between lexical and phonological properties of ASL signs.

Main Methods:

• Data collection involved deaf signers for frequency ratings and both deaf and hearing non-signers for iconicity and transparency.
• Phonological descriptions, sign/videoclip durations, and lexical class were systematically documented.
• Correlation analyses were performed to examine relationships among sign properties.

Main Results:

• ASL-LEX 2.0 contains 2,723 ASL signs with enhanced data points.
• Frequent signs were found to be less iconic and phonologically simpler than infrequent signs.
• Iconic signs were generally phonologically simpler than less iconic signs.

Conclusions:

• ASL-LEX 2.0 offers a significantly enriched dataset for ASL research.
• Phonological simplicity is associated with sign frequency and iconicity in ASL.
• The database facilitates further investigation into the structure and evolution of ASL.