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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 14, 2025

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm

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Published on: May 15, 2019

Simultaneous structures in sign languages: Acquisition and emergence.

Cornelia Loos¹, Austin German², Richard P Meier²

¹Institute of German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf, Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

Frontiers in Psychology

|January 9, 2023

Summary

Sign languages use simultaneous encoding with multiple articulators, unlike spoken languages. This study explores simultaneity in sign languages and potential cognitive constraints on its acquisition and use.

Keywords:

classifier constructions discourse language acquisition language emergence simultaneity

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Area of Science:

Linguistics
Cognitive Science
Psycholinguistics

Background:

The visual-gestural modality allows for simultaneous encoding of linguistic information.
Sign languages extensively utilize simultaneous structures involving manual and non-manual articulators.
Acquisition of sign languages may demand greater processing of simultaneity compared to spoken languages.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine simultaneous encoding in emerging and established sign languages.
To identify instances where sign languages exhibit sequential rather than simultaneous structures.
To investigate cognitive and motor constraints affecting the use and acquisition of simultaneity in sign languages.

Main Methods:

Review of existing literature on sign language linguistics.
Analysis of linguistic structures in various sign languages.
Exploration of theoretical frameworks in cognitive and motor control.

Main Results:

Sign languages demonstrate significant use of simultaneous encoding for diverse linguistic information.
Some sign language structures are unexpectedly sequential, challenging the modality's inherent potential for simultaneity.
Cognitive and motor coordination may impose constraints on the extent of simultaneity.

Conclusions:

Simultaneity is a key feature of sign languages, but not universally applied.
Understanding constraints on simultaneity is crucial for sign language acquisition and processing.
Further research is needed to fully elucidate the interplay between modality, cognition, and linguistic structure.