In this last seminar for this year, Dr. Jarkko Keranen, who not too long ago was attending our advanced courses in cognitive semiotics, will present some of his exciting work on cross-modal iconicity in signed languages (with focus on Finnish Sign Language) that goes beyond the visual modality. The presentation will be given in Finnish Sign Language, and interpreted to English. All are warmly welcome to the usual room, or to the zoom link, starting from 15:00, with cameras on.

As is increasingly recognised, iconicity – resemblance between expression and meaning – is a general property of human language (Perniss et al., 2010). In signed languages, the visual modality is commonly regarded as the factor contributing to their high degree of iconicity, whereas the auditory modality of spoken language offers different affordances (e.g., Armstrong, 1983; Perniss et al., 2010).
However, Sign Language Linguistics has, from the very beginning, been strongly influenced by visuocentrism – that is, a bias towards focusing on vision over other senses. This bias affects both the conception of signed language in general and the understanding of iconicity within it.
With the help of the theoretical–methodological framework of Cognitive Semiotics, my PhD dissertation proposes a multisensory and articulatory perspective on iconicity in signed languages, while also providing contributions beyond Sign Language Linguistics. The main conclusion is that an iconic sign can emerge through various sensory-semiotic ratios and patterns.

Armstrong, D. F. (1983). Iconicity, Arbitrariness, & Duality of Patterning in Signed & Spoken Language: Perspectives on Language Evolution. Sign Language Studies, 38(1), 51–83. 
Perniss, P., Thompson, R. L., & Vigliocco, G. (2010). Iconicity as a General Property of Language: Evidence from Spoken and Signed Languages. Frontiers in Psychology, 1.