Colloquia 2025-2026
Autumn
Thursday, October 9, 3:30 - 5:00pm
Naomi Caselli, Director BU Deaf Center, Boston University
Rosenwald 011
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.
Thursday, November 13th, 3:30 - 5:00pm
Kate Mooney, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland
Location TBA
Winter
Thursday, January 22nd, 3:30 - 5:00pm
Christopher Potts, Professor of Linguistics and Computer Science, Stanford University
Location TBA
Spring
Thursday, March 26th, 3:30 - 5:00pm
Michelle Yuan, Associate Professor, UCLA
Location TBA
Thursday, May 7th, 3:30 - 5:00pm
Meredith Tamminga, Associate Professor, University of Pennysylvania
Location TBA