Expressive Iconicity and Playful Language: Flexibility and Constraint in Sign and Gesture

This study explored iconic gradient modification (e.g. “It’s been a loooooooong day”) in the visual modality, asking what gives rise to this phenomenon, and whether it differs in signers vs gesturers. We find that modification is shaped by language-specific constraints (influencing only signers) and non-linguistic constraints (influencing signers and gesturers).