CBB Seminar | Social Seminar ~Naomi Caselli, Associate Professor, Boston University.
Date and Time
February 5, 2026
12:00PM - 01:15PM EST
Location
Northwest Building - B101 Auditorium
52 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138
CBB Seminar
Naomi Caselli ~ Associate Professor, Director, BU AI & Education Initiative; BU Deaf Center, Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, Boston University
Beyond Arbitrariness: What Iconicity Reveals About Language Learning and Use
One unique affordance of the visual-manual modality in sign language is the prevalence of iconicity: the forms of signs often visually resemble their meanings, challenging traditional assumptions that language is fundamentally arbitrary. This talk examines how iconicity shapes the relationship between phonology and semantics in both individual signs and across the lexicon, and investigates the effects of iconicity on sign processing and acquisition. Key questions include whether learners and users can leverage iconicity to facilitate the learning and processing of signs, and whether there are tradeoffs between the effects of iconicity and phonological regularity. Studying these distinctive characteristics of sign languages not only deepens our understanding of sign language itself, but can provide insight into the full breadth of the human capacity for language.
ASL availability: This talk will be accompanied by ASL interpreters