SemaSign

SemaSign Project Team

Institute for German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf

University of Hamburg

Hope E. Morgan

Hope Morgan is Team Leader for the ERC project SemaSign at the Institute of German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf (IDGS) at the University of Hamburg. Her research focuses on the systemic properties of sign language lexicons, including research into form-patterning at the phonological level, as well as investigation of how meanings become encoded in form within a lexical network—at both the level of word meaning, as well as in the motivated sub-parts of words, such as iconic motivations and metaphoric reference.

The SemaSign project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC-2023-STG no.101117395, 2024–2029).

Lisa Loy

Lisa Loy is a computational linguist and PhD candidate working in the SemaSign project at Institute of German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf (IDGS) at the University of Hamburg. Her doctoral studies focus on computational respresentations of sign language semantics and phonology. More specifically, her work explores how data collection methods are reflected in resulting semantic networks, as well as how choices in notation systems affect the computational modelling of phonological distance in sign languages.

Margaret Odhiambo

Margaret Odhiambo is a deaf Kenyan Sign Language research specialist and PhD candidate in the SemaSign project at Institute of German Sign Language and Communication of the Deaf (IDGS) at the University of Hamburg. Her thesis work explores semantic networks, lexical variation and langua-cultural intersections in Kenyan Sign Language (KSL). As part of her research, she is investigates the intricate relationships between signs, meaning and cultural influences in Kenya, in order to contribute to a more complete documentation of KSL.

Mariana Martins

Mariana Martins is a PhD candidate at Leiden University and an external member of the SemaSign project team. Her current work focuses on describing the Portuguese Sign Language (LGP) grammar with deaf sign language teachers, and writing an analysis of the emerging sign language of Guinea-Bissau (LGG) with the deaf community of Bissau (thesis topic). She is interested in how the mind shapes language structure in the visual-manual modality, the relationship between gestures and signs, the visual and metaphoric motivations of sign creation, and how signs are organised lexically, morphologically and syntactically in a linguistic system.

Julia Ruf

Julia Ruf is a staff interpreter at IDGS (University of Hamburg), and part of the organising team for the Signing Mind Seminar Series, in the role of lead interpreter.

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