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Constructing meaning through translation

A cognitive linguistic analysis of ASL texts about cancer

ORCiD logo with link | Manuelle LLC
Published online: 24 April 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.24012.she
Abstract
One aspect of the author’s dissertation (Sheneman, Naomi. 2018. Does extralinguistic knowledge really matter? An examination of the impact of deaf interpreters’ personal and professional experience on cancer-related translated texts. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University PhD dissertation.) was the use of cognitive linguistics as a theoretical framework to address a relevant research question regarding how key cancer terms are translated from written English to American Sign Language (ASL). This study examined ASL translations by two Deaf interpreters and compared them with an ASL narrative about cancer by a deaf oncologist in the United States. The key difference between these two Deaf interpreters was that one was familiar with cancer and oncology, while the other was not. Cognitive linguistics was the approach for analyzing the three ASL texts following Fillmore’s (. 1982. Frame semantics. In The Linguistic Society of Korea (ed.), Linguistics in the morning calm, 111–137. Seoul, Korea: Hanshin Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 1985. Frames and the semantics of understanding. Quaderni di semantica 61. 222–254.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) frame-semantic model, examining what knowledge is evoked when expressing meaning in their utterances.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Background information
    • 1.2Purpose of the study
  • 2.Literature review
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Procedure
    • 3.3Data analysis
  • 4.Analysis of the target texts
    • 4.1Introduction
    • 4.2Length
    • 4.3Fingerspelling
    • 4.4Analysis of key term #1: Cancer
    • 4.5Analysis of key term #2: Chemotherapy
    • 4.6Analysis of key term #3: Radiation
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
    • 6.1Limitations
    • 6.2Implications and recommendations
  • Notes
  • References
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