Kinematic Signatures of Telic and Atelic Events in ASL Predicates

This article presents an experimental investigation of kinematics of verb sign production in American Sign Language (ASL) using motion capture data. The results confirm that event structure differences in the meaning of the verbs are reflected in the kinematic formation: for example, in the telic verbs (THROW, HIT), the end-point of the event is marked in the verb sign movement by significantly greater deceleration, as compared to atelic verbs (SWIM, TRAVEL). This end-point marker is highly robust regardless of position of the verb in the sentence (medial vs. final), although other prominent kinematic measures, including sign duration and peak speed of dominant hand motion within the sign, are affected by prosodic processes such as Phrase Final Lengthening. The study provides the first kinematic confirmation that event structure is expressed in movement profiles of ASL verbs, up to now only supported by apparent perceptual distinctions. The findings raise further questions about the psychology of event representation both in human languages and in the human mind.