Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society

Although highly relevant to questions on how numeration systems are shaped by format, sign languages have rarely been included in representational analyses. Our study addresses this gap by examining how systems in 63 typologically diverse sign languages represent numbers across the base and power dimensions. The analysis shows that, unlike other formats, sign languages frequently combine multiple representational strategies within their numeration systems. In the base dimension, the reconciling needs for transparency and articulatory economy causes shifts from cumulative to ciphered representations. In the power dimension, format specific constraints guide which representational strategies remain viable, with parsed representations dominating higher powers. These findings highlight the important contribution that sign languages can make to comparative research on numeration systems and underscore the need for a more format sensitive understanding of numerical representation.