Human Lexical Semantics are not Universal: Colexification Evidence from Western and Asian Signed Languages
Abstract
Word meanings shift synchronically, in the moment, or diachronically, over time. This paper addresses categorical shifts in meaning, focusing on metaphor and polysemy. For instance, belt could be used in the context of "belt on a dress" and then over time, it metaphorically extended to a geographic region in "belt of poverty." Prior work has documented systematic patterns of polysemy across unrelated spoken languages, suggesting universal lexical semantics. However, it is an open question whether these patterns generalize to sign languages. The present study sampled three unrelated sign languages (Japanese, German, and American Sign Languages) and compared their semantic patterns against 14 spoken languages across Western and Asian continents. Findings demonstrate that metaphorical polysemy is constrained by iconicity (e.g., belt cannot be colexified in sign languages). Our conceptual structures may not be universally fixed as we assume, and this work elucidates the mechanisms of grammaticalization unique to signed languages.