Sanders
First Name
Cynthia
Last Name
Sanders
Department
American Sign Language and Interpreting Education
Scholarship Year
2025
Research Center
Non-Center Based
Scholarship Type
Journal Paper
Contributors List
Cynthia Sanders
Project Title
Visual-Spatial Grammar vs. Lexical Fixity: Classifier Strategies for Animal Packs in ASL and English
Start Date - Month
April
Start Date - Year
2025
End Date Anticipated - Month
August
End Date Anticipated - Year
2025
End Date Actual - Month
August
End Date Actual - Year
2025
Review Types
Blind Peer Reviewed
Student Assistance
None
Projected Cost
$0.00
Funding Source
Other - None
Resulting Product
None
Citation

Sanders, Cynthia. "Visual-Spatial Grammar vs. Lexical Fixity: Classifier Strategies for Animal Packs in ASL and English." Visual-Spatial Grammar vs. Lexical Fixity: Classifier Strategies for Animal Packs in ASL and English 2. 3 (2025): 140-148. Web. *

Abstract

This study presents a comparative linguistic analysis of collective noun classifiers in English and American Sign Language (ASL), focusing specifically on references to animal packs. English relies on lexicalized, often metaphorical noun phrases such as a pack of wolves or a murder of crows, conveying group identity and cultural connotation through fixed expressions. In contrast, ASL classifier constructions are morphologically dynamic and spatially grounded, employing handshape, movement, and orientation to represent entities and their relationships in space. Methods: Data were collected from literary corpora, glossaries, and ASL video materials, then categorized according to classifier type, semantic function, and representational strategy. Result: Through side-by-side coding schemes and contrastive analysis, the study reveals how each language encodes collective identity within its unique modality—lexical and auditory in English; visual-spatial and kinetic in ASL. Implication: The findings contribute to understanding cross-modal linguistic structures and the cognitive frameworks that shape classifier systems across languages.

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