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Grammatical and Sociolinguistic Aspects of Ethiopian Languages
Edited by Derib Ado, Almaz Wasse Gelagay and Janne Bondi Johannessen †
[IMPACT: Studies in Language, Culture and Society 48] 2021
► pp. 389–412

Polysemy of Ethiopian sign language

| Addis Ababa University
The purpose of this study was to examine cases of polysemous signs in Ethiopian Sign Language (hereafter ethsl). There are various processes of forming polysemy in sign language. To carry out this study, data was collected from users of sign language in Addis Ababa and Hossana by means of direct elicitation, video recording and analysis of ethsl dictionaries. The data showed some cases of polysemy through meaning extension as well as other occurrences of polysemy. A qualitative descriptive method was used to describe the polysemous signs in ethsl. The article describes different cases of initiating semantic extension processes, such as action vs. result of activity, noun vs. verb, systematic meaning relations, such as animal vs. meat, and generality. Also borrowings from oral language and other sign languages are found. One aim of this study is to contribute new knowledge about how polysemous signs in ethsl are extended/derived, as well as accounts for the process of meaning extension. This study will be useful for lexicographers of sign language dictionaries, as well as for second-language learners of sign language.
Keywords: lexical semantics, polysemy, polysemous signs
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The history of the Ethiopian Sign Language
  • 3.Conceptual framework
    • 3.1Conceptual theories that relate to polysemy in lexical meaning
    • 3.2Distinguishing polysemy from other lexical semantic relations
    • 3.3Notions of polysemy in sign language
  • 4.Research method
    • 4.1Direct elicitation
    • 4.2Observations
    • 4.3Video recording
    • 4.4 ethsl dictionary analysis
  • 5.Research findings
    • 5.1Different cases of polysemy in EthSL
    • 5.2The process of developing derivative polysemous signs in EthSL
      • a.Metonymically motivated EthSL polysemous signs
      • b.Metaphorically motivated polysemous EthSL signs
      • c.Polysemous EthSL signs originated from semantic borrowing from foreign languages
      • d.Iconically motivated polysemous EthSL signs
    • 5.3Discussion of polysemy in EthSL dictionaries and in the studied material
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 23 April 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.48.16gir
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