About

The grammars of signed languages are as highly complex as the grammars of spoken languages and share with them many universal features, despite the difference in modality between spoken languages (which use the auditory channel) and signed languages (which use the visual channel). Yet, sign languages also differ from spoken languages in radical ways: morphological information in sign languages is often conveyed simultaneously by different articulators rather than linearly; moreover, certain aspects of their phonological, syntactic and semantic structures are not commonly found in spoken languages. These differences raise an interesting challenge both for formal linguistic and experimental research frameworks.

Conference series

FEAST (Formal and Experimental Advances in Sign Language Theory) is the regular forum to discuss formal approaches to sign language grammar (in particular in the generative tradition), experimental approaches to sign languages, and their interaction. FEAST is held as a conference series every one or two years. The next conference will take place at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States on August 6th–8th, 2024.

FEAST conferences

  • 2011, Venice: June 20–22, 2011
  • 2012, Warsaw: June 1–2, 2012
  • 2014, Venice: June 9–11, 2014
  • 2015, Barcelona: May 4–6, 2015
  • 2016, Venice: September 1–2, 2016
  • 2017, Reykjavik: June 21–22, 2017
  • 2018, Venice: June 18–20, 2018
  • 2020, Paris: June 23–25, 2020
  • 2021, Hong Kong: June 1–4, 2021
  • 2023, Bergen: June 27–29, 2023
  • 2024, Ann Arbor, MI: August 6-8 2024

Information about previous FEAST conferences can be find here: https://sites.google.com/site/feastconference/home.

Proceedings

Since 2018, FEAST proceedings are published as an open-access journal: https://raco.cat/index.php/FEAST.

Sponsors for FEAST 2024

Funding for “Formal and Experimental Advances in Sign Language Theory 2024” is partially provided by the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Office in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA). 

In addition, Formal and Experimental Advances in Sign Language Theory 2024 is generously sponsored by the following organizations: