Description:
In all modalities of natural language, information is primarily conveyed through descriptive meaning, where signers and speakers interpret arbitrary expressions based on conventionalized linguistic rules. However, speakers and signers may also add demonstrational and depictive layers of meaning to their utterances, which are iconic in their nature. Linguistic theory has increasingly recognized the significance of demonstrations and depictions in various contexts, revealing their pervasive role in language. For instance, speakers utilize different parts of the body and their voice, e.g., manual and non-manual speech-accompanying gestures, ideophones, and prosodic modulations, to demonstrate different aspects of an event in an iconic fashion. Similarly, signers may use different parts of the body to iconically demonstrate an event, with various body parts potentially representing different arguments simultaneously.

For this special session of Sinn und Bedeutung 30, we invite submissions from researchers interested in empirical studies and linguistic theories of demonstration and depiction in all modalities – spoken, signed, and written. The main focus will be on recent theoretical advancements in the analysis of (multimodal) demonstrations and depictions. Potential topics include – but are not limited to – the following: