Research

Current Research

Embodied Cognitive Phonology

Embodied Cognitive Phonology (ECP) combines usage-based, emergentist, and embodied views of language to form a theory of phonology which accounts for the full range of phonological phenomena in signed and spoken language.

Selected Publications:

Occhino, C. (2023a). When hands are things and movements are processes: Cognitive iconicity, embodied cognition, and signed language structure. In T. Janzen & B. Shaffer (Ed.), Signed Language and Gesture Research in Cognitive Linguistics (pp. 127-154). De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110703788-006

Occhino, C. (2017). An Introduction to Embodied Cognitive Phonology: Claw-5 Handshape Distribution in ASL and Libras. Complutense Journal of English Studies 25, 69-103. 10.5209/CJES.57198

Presentations:

Occhino, C. Finding Meaning in Phonology: An Embodied Perspective. [Keynote paper presented]. Cognitive and Functional Explorations of Sign Languages (Sign CAFÉ1) at University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. (July, 2018).

Construction Grammar in Signed Languages

Taking a construction-based approach to language assumes that form and function are experienced and processed together, and that understanding linguistic structure necessitates understanding the linguistic function of that structure.

Selected Publications:

Occhino, C., (2023b) Force Dynamic Constructions in ASL. In F. T. Li (Ed.), Handbook of Cognitive Semantics, vol. 4 (20-59), Brill.

Lepic, R., & Occhino, C. (2018). A Construction Morphology approach to sign language analysis. In G. Booij (ed.), The Construction of Words. Advances in Construction Morphology, Springer. 10.1007/978-3-319-74394-3_6

Wilcox, S., & Occhino, C. (2016b). Constructing Signs: Place as a Symbolic Structure in Signed Languages. Cognitive Linguistics, 27(3). 10.1515/cog-2016-0003

Presentations:

Occhino, C. & Begay, J. (2020, October). Comparing Classifier Constructions in ASL and Navajo. [Invited talk presented online]. Language Science Talks at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC.

Articulatory Approaches to ASL Assimilation

Understanding how signed languages are produced requires us to understand both the articulatory processes involved in production as well as the ways in which usage/production itself create the opportunity for linguistic change at the phonological level.

Publications:

Occhino, C., & Hochgesang, J. (in prep). Understanding Phonology in the Visual Modality: An Introduction to ASL Phonology, In Robert Kennedy and Patrycja Strycharczuk (Eds.). Cambridge Elements in Phonology, Cambridge University Press.

Presentations:

Hochgesang, J. A., & Occhino, C. What happens when our articulators are outside of our mouths: Examination of phonological processes when active articulators are occupied.[Paper presented] 16th High Desert Linguistics Society Conference, Albuquerque, NM., Nov. 1-3, 2024.

Articulatory Movement Repetition in Libras

Articulatory movement repetition is the repetition of the articulatory movement envelope in sign production. We investigate the role phonological, articulatory, semantic, social, and language-contact variables play in the repetition of movement in sign production in Libras (Brazilian Sign Language).

Publications:

Occhino, C., Anible, B., & Xavier, A.N. (under review). Articulatory Movement Repetition in Libras.

Presentations:

Occhino, C., Alecrim, E., Anible, B., & Xavier, A. N. Understanding movement repetition in Libras, variation, patterns & motivations. [Paper presented].14th High Desert Linguistics Society Conference, Albuquerque, NM. Nov. 20-22, 2020).

Documenting Individual Variation in ASL (DIVA)

Documenting Individual Variation in ASL (DIVA) focuses on documenting and describing linguistic variation in ASL, especially those varieties used by historically marginalized signers.

Publications:

Lucas, C., Occhino, C., Fisher, J., Hill, J. C., Hochgesang, J. A., Shaw, E., & Tamminga, M., (2024). Needed Research on American Sign Language. In R. Bayley and E. Benson (Eds.), Needed Research in North American Dialects. Publication of the American Dialect Society. Duke University Press.

Occhino, C., Hill J. C., Hochgesang, J. A., Shaw, E., Fisher, J. N., & Tamminga, M. (2021). New Trends in ASL Variation Documentation. Sign Language Studies 21 (3), 350-377. 10.1353/sls.2021.0003

Presentations:

Occhino, C., Patterson, S., & Hill, J. C.. Phonological and Lexical Variants in ASL Paper presented at the 14th High Desert Linguistics Society Conference, Albuquerque, NM. Nov. 20-22, 2020.

Effects of Iconicity in Language Processing

An ongoing, multi-lab collaboration with different goals and projects, we use psycholinguistic and corpus-based methods to explore the relationship between iconicity (construal of form reflects something about the construal of meaning), systematicity (the organization of consistent form-meaning mappings within the grammar), and their role in language organization and processing.

Publications:

Occhino, C., Anible, B., & Morford, J. P. (2020). The role of iconicity, construal, and proficiency in the online processing of handshape. Language and Cognition 12(1), 114-137. 10.1017/langcog.2020.1

Presentations:

Occhino, C., Kimmelman, V., & Anible, B. How do deaf people process iconicity in a novel signed language?. [Paper presented] 16th High Desert Linguistics Society Conference, Albuquerque, NM., Nov. 1-3, 2024.

Occhino, C. (2022, November 11). Iconicity, Experience, and Language Processing of Signed Languages. [Keynote address presented]. 15th High Desert Linguistics Society Conference, Virtual/Albuquerque, NM.

Past Research

Perceptual Organization of Language

The Perceptual Organization of Language Project looks at how sensory-motor experiences impact phonological organization and lead to changes in the phonological system in Nicaraguan and American Sign Language.

Publications:

Caselli, N., Occhino, C., Artacho, B., Savakis, A., & Dye, M., (2022) Perceptual Optimization of American Sign Language: Evidence from a Lexical Corpus. Cognition 224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2022.105040.

Presentations:

Normoyle, A., Artacho, B., Savakis, A., Senghas, A., Badler, N. I., Occhino, C. (2022, September 25-30). Rothstein, S. J., Dye, M. W. G., Open-Source Pipeline for Skeletal Modeling of Sign Language Utterances from 2D Video Sources. [Paper presented]. 14th Conference onTheoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR14), Virtual/Osaka, Japan.

Cross-language Activation in ASL-English Bilinguals

This work tests the extent to which Deaf ASL-English bilinguals activate ASL during English processing tasks. When shown pairs of English words for which half the word pairs had phonologically related ASL translations, participants judged whether the words were semantically related. Findings show bilingual signers were slower to respond to word pairs with phonologically related ASL translations, suggesting that ASL phonology was active during English processing.

Publications: The time course of cross-language activation in deaf ASL–English bilinguals

ASL Assessment Development

The ASL-Fingerspelling & Numbers Comprehension Test (FaN-CT) and the ASL-Online Vocabulary Exam (ASL_OVE) were developed between 2019-2021, supported by the NTID Office of the President. Future plans include development of an L1 version of ASL-OVE for measuring typical and atypical language acquisition trajectories and a new ASL-OVE 2.0 for use in post-secondary L2 ASL classrooms

Publications: Development of the American Sign Language Fingerspelling and Numbers Comprehension Test (ASL FaN-CT)

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