News

ViCom workshop “Dimensions of iconicity in visual modality”
The workshop "Dimensions of Iconicity in the Visual Modality" was held at the University of Göttingen on February 13-14, 2025. The workshop was financially supported by the DFG Priority Programme on Visual Communication (ViCom) and sought to brought together researchers from different fields to discuss the concept of iconicity in visual communication, including iconicity in sign languages, spoken languages, and gestures. The event covered a range of topics, from the impact (or lack thereof) of iconicity on different aspects of visual communication to its role in language processing, acquisition, and teaching. All contributions of the invited presenters as well as other participants who gave on-stage and poster presentations highlighted the complex and multifaceted nature of iconicity in the visual modality. In sum, the workshop provided a platform for interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration, shedding new light on the dimensions of iconicity in the visual modality.

Workshop of the DGS-LEX project
In the run-up to the ViCom workshop “Dimensions of iconicity in visual modality”, the DGS-LEX project met for a working meeting in Göttingen. The aim of the project is to create a new lexical database for psycholinguistic experiments on DGS. The workshop discussed common annotation standards, the linking of our database to the DGS corpus, the integration of HamNoSys transcripts and the first publication of the project in the journal Linguistische Berichte (English, German, DGS). Another important aspect was the visualization of the data, which is based on the ASL database ASL-LEX and the schedule for the preparation and publication of our database.

ViCom statistics workshop
After the successful ViCom workshop on Bayesian statistics with Bodo Winter last year, we are pleased to announce a follow-up workshop. We are happy that João Verissimo (University of Lisbon will be leading this workshop. The three-day workshop will take place from April 9-11, 2025, in person at Goethe University Frankfurt (IG-Farben-Haus, Campus Westend). The course may cover (but is not limited to) Bayesian mixed-effects models, repeated-measures and interaction designs, generalized linear models for binomial, ordinal and reaction time data, Bayesian hypothesis testing (Bayes factor) and modeling of individual differences. The workshop is suitable for both participants of the first workshop (now including interaction designs, etc.) and new participants who didn’t join the first workshop as there will be a brief but impactful review included. Registration is free of charge and can be completed until February 28. Further information on the workshop can be found here.

New dates for the Sign Language Café
On January 9, 23 and February 6, we will meet again at 4 p.m. for about an hour in the “Café Central” at Göttingen University for our Sign Language Café. The Sign Language Café is another opportunity for all DGS friends to exchange ideas and to practice signing. It is also particularly suitable for students who have completed DGS 3. We would like to ask everyone to communicate exclusively in DGS. Anyone who has the time and inclination is welcome to drop by spontaneously. As always, we are happy to welcome anyone who would like to join us :-)


SignTeam at the TISLR conference in Addis Ababa
The Göttingen SignTeam participated with three presentations once again in the world largest international conference on sign language linguistics, Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research, short TISLR, which took place this year in Addis Ababa, the capitol of Ethiopia. Thomas presented current results of our Vicom project on the impact of iconicity on parts of speech. Pia presented first results of her rating study on lexical iconicity in German Sign Language. And Marianthi presented a poster on negative imperative speech acts in Greek and and American Sign Language. It was a very exciting and well-organized conference in this exciting city. Not only did we receive interesting feedback on our presentation, but we also met many nice colleagues and were able to establish new networks.

ViCom workshop “Dimensions of iconicity in visual modality”
On February 13 and 14, a workshop on “Dimensions of Iconicity in Visual Modality” will take place at the University of Göttingen. The workshop is jointly organized by three ViCom projects located in Göttingen and will deal with iconicity as a potentially general property of natural human languages in all modalities, i.e. spoken, written and signed. Recent research on multimodal communication shows that iconicity not only influences the relationship between form and meaning in sign languages, but also plays a greater role in spoken languages (e.g. ideophones and vocal gestures) and in speech-accompanying gestures than previously assumed. Further information on the workshop can be found here.