Academic literature on the topic 'Chinese sign language'

American Sign Language (ASL) signs are claimed to be composed of four parameters: handshape, location, movement (Sto]çoe 1960) and palm orientation (Battison 1974). This paper focuses solely on handshape, that is, the configuration of the thumb and the fingers in a given sign. Handshape is significant in ASL and Chinese Sign Language (CSL); that is, minimal pairs exist for handshape in each. Thus, the two ASL signs in (1) differ in one parameter: the handshapes are different, but the location, palm orientation and movement are the same. Similarly, the two CSL signs in (2) differ in one parameter: handshape. A logical next question asks if handshapes are further divisible into parts; more specifically, are handshapes composed of distinctive features? This question is not new; in fact, researchers have made many proposals for ASL handshape features (Lane, Boyes -Braem and Bellugi, 1979; Mandel, 1981; Liddell and Johnson, 1985; Sandler, 1989; Corina and Sagey, 1988 and others). This paper focuses on the proposal of Corina and Sagey (1988). In Section 2, I outline the proposed system for the distinctive handshapes of ASL, of which [lateral] is a part. Then using data from ASL and CSL, I give three arguments in support of the claim that there is not sufficient justification in ASL or CSL for the feature [lateral]. First, I show in Section 3 that the prediction which follows from the claim that [lateral] applies only to the thumb, namely that the thumb behaves differently from the other fingers, is not borne out by CSL data. Second, I argue in Section 4 that since other features (proposed by Corina and Sagey, 1988) can derive the same phonetic effects as [lateral], [lateral] is unnecessary to describe thumb features in either ASL or CSL. Third, in Section 5, I use ASL and CSL data to argue that the notion of fingers as "specified" or "unspecified ", although intuitively pleasing, should be discarded. If this notion cannot be used, the feature [lateral] does not uniquely identify a particular set of handshapes. I show that CSL data suggests that two other features, [contact to palm] and [contact to thumb] are independently needed. With these two features, and the exclusion of [lateral], the handshapes of both ASL and CSL can be explained. In Section 6, the arguments against [lateral] are summarized.

Работа посвящена исследованию роли и места китайского языка в ЛЛ города Екатеринбурга. Материалом для исследования послужили рекламные знаки, вывески торговых магазинов и ресторанов, объявления и указательные знаки в общественном пространстве. В первой части работы были рассмотрены различные взгляды на вопрос определения лингвистического ландшафта. Были определены основные функции и цель лингвистического ландшафта. Особое внимание было уделено проблемам, присутствующим в данной области исследования как на теоретическом, так и на методологическом уровнях. В процессе анализа научной базы выявлено, что лингвистический ландшафт как область исследований значительно расширилась за последнее десятилетие. Во втором параграфе были рассмотрены различные подходы к исследованию ЛЛ, а также была представлена общая модель изучения лингвистического ландшафта П. Бэкхауса. В третьем параграфе были рассмотрены уже проведенные исследования ЛЛ, связанные с китайским языком. Можно сделать вывод, что данное направление исследований еще недостаточно развито. А исследования ЛЛ России только начинают расти. Во второй части работы мы проанализировали 71 языковой знак. Собранные знаки были классифицированы по трем категориям: текстовые ресурсы, визуальные ресурсы и контекстуальные ресурсы. Также был выполнен сравнительный анализ исследований ЛЛ, связанных с китайским языком. По результатам анализа можно сделать вывод, что данные работы являются отправной точкой для будущих исследований, связанных с китайским языком. Кроме того, нам встретились вывески и объявления с грамматическими и синтаксическими ошибками. Анализ ошибок, встречающихся в вывесках, показал, что полное понимание лингвистического ландшафта требует знания языка. Данная работа вносит вклад в изучение китайского языка в лингвистическом ландшафте города. Исследования такого рода в России не проводились ранее, следовательно они являются весьма актуальными для пограничной с Китаем страны. В Приложении представлены языковые знаки на китайском языке в городе Екатеринбург.<br>The research is devoted to the study of the role and place of the Chinese language in the LL of Yekaterinburg. The materials for the study are advertising signs, signs of stores and restaurants, announcements, and directional signs in the public space. In the first part of the research different views on the issue of linguistic landscape definition are considered. The main functions and purpose of the linguistic landscape are identified. Particular attention is paid to the problems present in this field of study on both theoretical and methodological levels. In the process of analyzing the scientific background, it is revealed that the linguistic landscape as a field of research has expanded significantly in the last decade. In the second paragraph, different approaches to the study of LL are considered, and the general model of studying linguistic landscape by P. Backhaus is presented. In the third paragraph, the already conducted LL research related to the Chinese language was considered. It can be concluded that this direction of research is still underdeveloped. And LL studies of Russia are just beginning to grow. In the second part of the research we have analyzed 71 language signs. The collected signs are classified into three categories: textual resources, visual resources, and contextual resources. The comparative analysis of LL studies related to the Chinese language is also performed. According to the results of the analysis, we can conclude that these works are a starting point for future research related to the Chinese language. In addition, we encountered signs and advertisements with grammatical and syntactical errors. The analysis of the errors encountered in the signs showed that a full understanding of the linguistic landscape requires knowledge of the language. This work contributes to the study of Chinese in the linguistic landscape of the city. Studies of this kind have not been conducted in Russia before, hence they are highly relevant for a country bordering China. The appendix presents Chinese language signs in the city of Yekaterinburg.

Le Sūtra du diamant est réputé et populaire aussi bien en Orient qu’en Occident. Il s’est très tôt introduit en Chine et n’a pas cessé de faire l’objet de multiples traductions du Ve au VIIIe siècle ; il en existe six versions distinctes, toutes traduites par d’éminents moines, sous le contrôle officiel de la Cour Impériale. Toutefois, seule la première version de Kumārajīva (407) a été la cible de commentaires et d’annotations au cours du temps. Ceci nous permet d’approfondir la raison pour laquelle sa version mérite d’être étudiée dans ses différences par rapport aux autres versions. De là nous mettons en évidence la prédominance de l’emploi du terme xiang相 comme le concept le plus récurrent dans cette version. Il semble en effet que xiang ne dérive pas d’un seul et unique mot équivalent en sanskrit, d’où l’intérêt de notre recherche sur le décalage textuel entre l’original indien et sa traduction, ainsi que sur l’osmose culturelle entre le bouddhisme et la pensée traditionnelle chinoise. Dans cette optique nous axerons notre approche selon trois plans parallèles : philologique, philosophique et esthétique de la traduction. Nous évoquerons d’abord les facteurs extérieurs des textes-source et des textes-cible, puis nous entreprendrons l’analyse textuelle comparative entre les versions sanskrites et les traductions chinoises, en mettant en avant simultanément le sens terminologique et philosophique du texte. Comme xiang (phénomène) est aussi un concept clé dans l’ensemble des textes bouddhistes, nous élargirons notre vision dans une sphère plus globale, en nous référant à d’autres textes connexes. Nous finirons par l’étude de l’utilisation du terme, et son retentissement culturel dans le monde chinois dans la perspective traductologique, ce qui nous conduira également à réfléchir à la traduction bouddhique en français<br>The Diamond Sūtra is renowned and popular in both the East and West. It was introduced very early in China and has not ceased to be the subject of numerous translations from the 5th to the 8th century; There are six distinct versions, all rendered by eminent monks, under the official control of Imperial Court. However, only the first translation of Kumārajīva (407) was the target of so many comments and annotations over time. This allows us to demand why this version merits further study of its differences to other versions. From here we find the use of the term xiang 相 as the most recurrent theme in the text. It seems that xiang is not derived from one single equivalent in Sanskrit, hence the focus of our research on the textual shift between the Indian origin of the word and its translation, as well as on the cultural osmosis between Buddhism and Chinese culture. With this view, our approach is based on three parallel axes: philological, philosophical researches and aesthetic study of translation. We will first deal with the questions about external factors of the source texts and the target texts. Then we undertake the comparative textual analysis between the Sanskrit and all Chinese translations, highlighting the terminological and philosophical meaning of the text. Since xiang (phenomenon) is also a key concept in Buddhist jargon, we suppose to reframe and refine our perspective by referring to other related texts. We will conclude with the use of the term and its cultural repercussions in the Chinese world from a translatological view, which leads us to think, going forward, about Buddhist translations into French

He, Jia.<br>Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011.<br>Includes bibliographical references (p. [150-154] ).<br>Abstracts in English and Chinese.<br>Acknowledgements --- p.i<br>Abstract --- p.iii<br>摘要 --- p.iv<br>Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION --- p.5<br>Chapter 1.1 --- Introduction --- p.5<br>Chapter 1.2 --- Classifiers in natural languages --- p.7<br>Chapter 1.2.1 --- Classifier systems in spoken languages --- p.7<br>Chapter 1.2.2 --- Classifiers in signed languages --- p.10<br>Chapter 1.3 --- Instruments in spoken languages --- p.13<br>Chapter 1.4 --- Objectives of the study --- p.18<br>Chapter 1.5 --- Research questions --- p.19<br>Chapter 1.6 --- Organization of the thesis --- p.20<br>Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- CLASSIFIERS IN SIGNED LANGUAGES --- p.22<br>Chapter 2.1 --- Introduction --- p.22<br>Chapter 2.2 --- Classifier predicates in signed languages --- p.22<br>Chapter 2.2.1 --- Classification of classifier handshape unit in classifier predicates --- p.22<br>Chapter 2.2.2 --- Classification of movement unit in classifier predicates --- p.25<br>Chapter 2.3 --- Previous formal analyses on classifier predicates in signed languages --- p.28<br>Chapter 2.3.1 --- Meir's (2001) noun incorporation analysis in Israel Sign Language --- p.28<br>Chapter 2.3.2 --- Zwitserlood's (2003) analysis of verbs of motion and location in NGT --- p.29<br>Chapter 2.3.3 --- Benedicto and Brentari's (2004) syntactic analysis of classifier predicates in ASL --- p.31<br>Chapter 2.3.4 --- Some previous attempts to analyze classifier predicates in HKSL --- p.33<br>Chapter 2.4 --- Interim discussion and conclusion --- p.36<br>Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.37<br>Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.37<br>Chapter 3.2 --- Background of Tianjin Sign Language --- p.37<br>Chapter 3.3 --- Data collection --- p.38<br>Chapter 3.3.1 --- Consultants --- p.38<br>Chapter 3.3.2 --- Elicitation materials --- p.39<br>Chapter 3.3.2.1 --- "Movies: ""Tweety and Sylvester""" --- p.39<br>Chapter 3.3.2.2 --- Picture stories --- p.40<br>Chapter 3.3.2.3 --- Simple picture descriptions --- p.41<br>Chapter 3.3.3 --- Elicitation tasks and procedures --- p.46<br>Chapter 3.3.4 --- Transcription method --- p.47<br>Chapter 3.4 --- Interim discussion and conclusion --- p.47<br>Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- RESULTS AND DATA DESCRIPTION --- p.48<br>Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.48<br>Chapter 4.2 --- Inventory of handshapes for instrument classifier predicates --- p.48<br>Chapter 4.3 --- Classifier handshape and predicate types --- p.66<br>Chapter 4.4 --- Interim discussion and conclusion --- p.68<br>Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDS --- p.69<br>Chapter 5.1 --- Distributed Morphology --- p.69<br>Chapter 5.1.1 --- An overview of Distributed Morphology --- p.69<br>Chapter 5.1.2 --- The concept of morpheme in DM --- p.73<br>Chapter 5.1.3 --- Cyclic domain in DM --- p.73<br>Chapter 5.1.4 --- Why reject Lexicalism? --- p.74<br>Chapter 5.1.5 --- Interim discussion and conclusion --- p.77<br>Chapter 5.2 --- Capturing 3-place predicates in syntax --- p.79<br>Chapter 5.2.1 --- Larson's VP-shell analysis (1988) --- p.79<br>Chapter 5.2.2 --- "Pylkannen's analysis (2002, 2008)" --- p.83<br>Chapter 5.2.2.1 --- Introduction of non-core arguments --- p.83<br>Chapter 5.2.2.2 --- Applicatives in natural languages --- p.84<br>Chapter 5.2.3 --- Interim Discussion and conclusion --- p.87<br>Chapter CHAPTER SIX --- FORMAL ANALYSIS OF INSTRUMENT CLASSIFIER PREDICATES IN TJSL --- p.89<br>Chapter 6.1 --- Introduction --- p.89<br>Chapter 6.2 --- Morphosyntactic properties of instrument classifier predicates in TJSL --- p.89<br>Chapter 6.2.1 --- Two types of three-place classifier predicates in TJSL --- p.89<br>Chapter 6.2.2 --- Handling classifier handshape and agentivity --- p.93<br>Chapter 6.2.3 --- Signer's body encodes agentivity --- p.96<br>Chapter 6.2.3.1 --- Grammatical function of the signer's body --- p.97<br>Chapter 6.2.3.2 --- Test for argument status of signer's body --- p.100<br>Chapter 6.2.4 --- Classifier handshape and noun class system --- p.107<br>Chapter 6.2.4.1 --- Classifier handshape and gender system --- p.109<br>Chapter 6.2.4.2 --- Instrument classifier handshapes: unifying gender system and noun classes --- p.110<br>Chapter 6.2.4.2.1 --- Variation in the choice of classifier handshape in instrument classifier predicates in TJSL --- p.110<br>Chapter 6.2.4.2.2 --- Classifier handshape and ^-feature specification --- p.113<br>Chapter 6.2.4.2.3 --- Locationalization of classifier handshapes in space --- p.118<br>Chapter 6.3 --- Structural representation of instrument classifier predicates --- p.120<br>Chapter 6.3.1 --- Voice0 and volitional external argument in instrument classifier predicates --- p.120<br>Chapter 6.3.2 --- Instrument as high applicative --- p.121<br>Chapter 6.3.3 --- How instrument classifier predicates are derived in TJSL? --- p.125<br>Chapter 6.4 --- Interim discussion and conclusion --- p.138<br>Chapter CHAPTER SEVEN --- CONCLUSIONS --- p.139<br>Chapter 7.1 --- Summery --- p.139<br>Chapter 7.2 --- Theoretical implications --- p.140<br>List of tables<br>Appendix I<br>Appendix II<br>References

碩士<br>國立成功大學<br>資訊工程學系碩博士班<br>90<br>People with hearing/speech impairments usually have communication problems in daily activities, education and vocation leading to incapable of getting into the mainstream of society. These dysfunctions often affect and limit the language learning and expression seriously. Presently, there are few of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) technology and devices as well as the associated education-training system available in Taiwan. Besides, Taiwanese Sign Language (TSL) and written Chinese have several structural differences in linguistics. Deaf students usually make ill-formed sentences from the viewpoint of written Chinese. The purpose of this thesis is to develop an innovative TSL AAC system to provide communication aids in daily activities and language learning. More specifically, the study focuses on: 1) developing an effective TSL virtual keyboard for more intuitional selection input, 2) developing an error tolerant sign cue retrieval mechanism for word prediction and 3) integrating the predictive sentence template language model (PST) with path branching between equivalence classes for robust sentence generation. In order to evaluate the performance of our approach, 1881 frequently used signs and 2000 Chinese sentences, in which the mean length of utterance is 6.24 words, were selected as the training and testing database. The trained PST language model includes 461 sentence templates. The retrieval enhancement using word prediction, hand-shape deletion and movement deletion achieved 99.73%, 77.9% and 97.07%, respectively. For the assessment of practical communication aid, 8 profoundly deaf students were asked to conduct the experiments. After training, adaptation and evaluation phases, the accuracy of sentence generation achieved 80%. This proposed system aims to improve speech communication ability and activities of daily life for communication-impaired people.

碩士<br>國立成功大學<br>資訊工程學系碩博士班<br>91<br>The hearing-impaired people generally use sign language to express their intention. Sign language can be learned from teachers, books or videotapes. Presently, the use of either photographs or drawings overlaid with textual descriptions to represent sign language makes the reader harder to understand the process of signing. Videotapes better represent the signing process, but they have difficulty for flexible access and are limited in a small coverage of sign words. Besides, there exist many language differences between Chinese and Taiwanese sign language (TSL). The able-bodied people present sign language by way of the use of Chinese grammar. This situation frequently occurs and makes it hard to communicate with the hearing impaired. In this thesis, we propose a Chinese to TSL translation and sign image synthesis system for TSL learning. More specially, we focuses on 1) proposing a set of syntactic clusters and a two-stage processing strategy to parse the Chinese and TSL parallel sentence into the sentence translation pattern and the phrase alignment pattern, 2) developing a novel statistical translation model to estimate the optimal TSL sentence and deal with the out-of-pattern issue, 3) developing a sign image database based on the balanced characteristics of sign motion features, 4) proposing an image synthesis mechanism to concatenate video clips by simultaneously considering the distance of palm positions and movement directions, and 5) integrating the above approaches into an image-based sign language learning system. In order to evaluate our proposed approaches, 2159 sign words and 4554 parallel sentences, in which the mean length of sentence is 4.5 words, were collected. Of this database, 90% was used as the training corpus and the remainder for testing. 1518 sentence patterns and 867 phrase patterns were obtained. The trained balanced corpus consists of 409 sentences and 1776 sign words. The translation performance achieved 92.3% accuracy for top-5 candidates. In subjective and objective evaluation of image synthesis, our proposed approach achieved better performance. In case study, the reading comprehension performance of our proposed system also achieved 82% satisfactory degree. Consequently, our proposed system can provide the deaf and the able-bodied to learn TSL and be used as an alternative method for the exam in deaf schools.

碩士<br>國立成功大學<br>資訊工程學系碩博士班<br>92<br>The hearing-impaired people generally use sign language to express their intention. However, hearing people don’t know how to use sign language and, therefore, the communication obstacle between them are formed. Presently, machine translation researches mainly focus on word-to-word translation, and some syntactic rule-based translation. On the other hand, the lack of parallel corpus of sign language limits the development of machine translation. For this reason, TSL translation system applied present machine translation technique will have no good performance. In this study, we propose a statistical approach using syntactic information for the translation from Chinese to Taiwanese Sign Language (TSL). 　　More specially, we focuses on 1) establishing a integrated corpus which consist of word, part of speech, semantic role, and semantic feature by combining information of several Chinese corpora, 2) collecting the context free grammar and training its probability by EM algorithm for proposal translation mechanism, 3) proposing a Chinese to Taiwanese Sign Language translation mechanism based on sentence structure and using syntactic information by complete statistical parsing model, and 4) integrating the above approaches into a Chinese to TSL translation system. 　　In order to evaluate our proposed approaches, 2,036 parallel sentences, in which the mean length of sentence is 5.6 words, were collected. Of this database, 80% was used as the training corpus and the remainder for testing, and 7,931 transfer rules were obtained. The translation performance achieved 81.6% and 91.5% accuracy for top-1 and top-5 candidates respectively, and got 0.087 Alignment Error Rate (AER). All of the above TSL translation　evaluations, our proposed approach achieved higher performance than IBM Model 3. In Mean Opinion Score evaluation, the average translation performance of our proposed system also achieved 81% satisfactory degree. Consequently, our proposed system can provide a channel of communication between the deaf and the able-bodied, and applied to TSL education in future.

Yim-Binh, Sze.<br>Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000.<br>Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-235).<br>Abstracts in English and Chinese.<br>Acknowledgement<br>Abstract<br>Table of Contents<br>List of Tables<br>Chapter Chapter 1 --- : Introduction Page<br>Chapter (1.1) --- Research questions --- p.1<br>Chapter (1.1.1) --- Space and spoken languages --- p.1<br>Chapter (1.1.2) --- Space and sign languages --- p.4<br>Chapter (1.1.3) --- Nominals in Hong Kong Sign Language --- p.8<br>Chapter (1.1.4) --- Research focus: interaction of space and nominals --- p.11<br>Chapter (1.2) --- Thesis outline --- p.12<br>Chapter (1.3) --- A brief note on the transcription convention --- p.13<br>Chapter (1.4) --- Sociolinguistic background of Hong Kong Sign Language --- p.15<br>Chapter (1.5) --- Documentation of Hong Kong Sign Language and Chinese Sign Language --- p.17<br>Chapter Chapter 2: --- Space and Grammatical Relations<br>Chapter (2.0) --- Introduction --- p.21<br>Chapter (2.1) --- On the grammatical relations 'subject' and 'object' --- p.21<br>Chapter (2.2) --- Literature review --- p.28<br>Chapter (2.2.1) --- Grammatical relations in American Sign Language (ASL) --- p.28<br>Chapter (2.2.2) --- Grammatical relations in Chinese Sign Language (CSL) --- p.35<br>Chapter (2.3) --- Experiment 1: Picture description and selection task --- p.36<br>Chapter (2.4) --- Results: --- p.39<br>Chapter (2.4.1) --- Non-reversible sentences --- p.39<br>Chapter (2.4.2) --- Reversible sentences --- p.52<br>Chapter (2.4.2.1) --- Linear representation: S V O --- p.52<br>Chapter (2.4.2.2) --- "Spatial representation: the use of loci, inflecting verbs and classifiers" --- p.54<br>Chapter (2.4.2.3) --- Reversible and non-reversible data: a further discussion --- p.64<br>Chapter (2.4.3) --- An extension to dative constructions --- p.71<br>Chapter (2.5) --- Chapter summary --- p.77<br>Chapter Chapter 3: --- Space and NP Referential Properties<br>Chapter (3.0) --- Introduction --- p.78<br>Chapter (3.1) --- On the various referential properties --- p.78<br>Chapter (3.2) --- Realization of referential properties in spoken and sign languages --- p.79<br>Chapter (3.3) --- Specific NPs: indefinites and definites --- p.89<br>Chapter (3.3.1) --- Experiment 2: picture story description and picture reordering --- p.89<br>Chapter (3.3.2) --- NPs in subject positions --- p.90<br>Chapter (3.3.2.1) --- Specific indefinites --- p.91<br>Chapter (3.3.2.2) --- Specific definites --- p.96<br>Chapter (3.3.3) --- NPs in object positions: specific indefinites and definites --- p.106<br>Chapter (3.4) --- Non-specific indefinites and generics --- p.118<br>Chapter (3.5) --- Chapter summary --- p.121<br>Chapter Chapter 4: --- Space and Referential Loci --- p.123<br>Chapter (4.0) --- Introduction --- p.123<br>Chapter (4.1) --- Literature review --- p.1 24<br>Chapter (4.1.1) --- Frame of reference in sign languages --- p.1 24<br>Chapter (4.1.2) --- Nature of space and loci --- p.129<br>Chapter (4.1.3) --- Shift of loci/ frame of reference --- p.133<br>Chapter (4.2) --- Observation of Hong Kong Sign Language --- p.138<br>Chapter (4.2.1) --- Localization of referents in narrative discourse --- p.138<br>Chapter (4.2.2) --- Shift of loci / frame of reference in HKSL --- p.150<br>Chapter (4.2.2.1) --- Role-play/ locus shift in HKSL --- p.150<br>Chapter (4.2.2.2) --- Three more types of locus shift --- p.153<br>Chapter (a) --- Loci contrast exaggeration --- p.153<br>Chapter (b) --- Shifted focalization --- p.157<br>Chapter (c) --- Token-surrogate alternation --- p.162<br>Chapter (4.3) --- Chapter summary --- p.170<br>Chapter Chapter 5: --- Suggestions for Future Research --- p.171<br>Appendix 1: Notation conventions --- p.176<br>Appendix 2: Picture stimuli for experiment1 --- p.179<br>"Appendix 3: Topic, Comment and Topicalization in HKSL" --- p.181<br>Appendix 4: Picture stimuli for experiment2 --- p.190<br>Appendix 5: Illustrations --- p.203<br>References --- p.225