The lexical database of Auslan (Australian Sign Language)

Trevor Johnston | University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia

The form and content of the lexical database of Auslan (Australian Sign Language) is described and explained. The type of database utilized and its precise structure (relational or flat, the type and number of fields, the design of the data entry interface, etc.) is first described. This is followed by a detailed description of the types of information registered in the database: phonological, definitional, bilingual (English-based glossing), grammatical, and semantic. The non-gloss based representations of each sign record (graphic, video, and transcription) that are used in the lexical database are then discussed. Finally, the compatibility of the Auslan lexical database with other lexical databases is examined. The paper concludes with a discussion of the possibility of building an extensive “universal” database of signs that could centralize lexical information from scores of signed languages and facilitate cross-linguistic investigations of lexis and phonology.

Keywords: Auslan, lexicography, dictionaries, lexical databases, sign language

Published online: 18 October 2002
https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.4.1-2.11joh

Cited by

Cited by 8 other publications

No author info given

2018. In Event Structure Metaphors through the Body [Figurative Thought and Language, 4],

Anne Baker, Beppie van den Bogaerde, Roland Pfau & Trude Schermer

2016. In The Linguistics of Sign Languages,

Fenlon, Jordan, Adam Schembri, Trevor Johnston & Kearsy Cormier

2015. In Research Methods in Sign Language Studies, ► pp. 156 ff.

Johnston, Trevor

2014. The reluctant oracle: using strategic annotations to add value to, and extract value from, a signed language corpus. Corpora 9:2 ► pp. 155 ff.

Johnston, Trevor & Adam Schembri

2012. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics,

Müller de Quadros, Ronice, Diane Lillo-Martin & Deborah Chen Pichler

2014. In Spoken Corpora and Linguistic Studies [Studies in Corpus Linguistics, 61], ► pp. 84 ff.

Perniss, Pamela

2015. In Research Methods in Sign Language Studies, ► pp. 53 ff.

Supalla, Ted, Fanny Limousin & Betsy Hicks McDonald

2020. In The Handbook of Historical Linguistics, ► pp. 423 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 14 december 2020. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.