Language Creation Lab

Brentari, D., S. Goldin-Meadow, L. Horton, A. Senghas, & M. Coppola. (2024). The organization of verb meaning in Lengua de Señas Nicaragüense (LSN): Sequential or simultaneous structures? Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 9(1), 1-37. 

Kocab, A., A. Senghas, M. Coppola, and J. Snedeker. (2023). Potentially recursive structures emerge quickly when a new language community forms. Cognition 232, 105261. 

Quam, M. (g) and M. Coppola. (2023). Are measures of nonverbal reasoning truly nonlinguistic? Evidence from deaf, hard-of-hearing and typically hearing children. In P. Gappmayr & J. Kellogg (Eds.), BUCLD 47: Proceedings of the 47th annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, 618-631. Somerville: Cascadilla Press. 

Santos, S., H. Brownell, M. Coppola, A. Shusterman, and S. Cordes. (2023). Language experience matters for the development of numerical concepts: Evidence from oral deaf and hard of hearing children. npj Science of Learning 8(57). 

Walker, K. (pb), E. Carrigan, and M. Coppola. (2023). Early access to language supports number mapping skills in deaf children. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education.

Mishra, A. (u), K. Walker (u), B. Oshiro (g), C. Langdon, and M. Coppola. (2022). Mathematics anxiety in deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing college students. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Quam, M. (g), D. Brentari, and M. Coppola. (2022). Conventionalization of iconic handshape preferences in family homesign systems. Languages 7, 156. 

Brentari, D., R. Ergin, A. Senghas, P. W. Cho, E. Owens, and M. Coppola. (2021). Community characteristics and phonemic inventories in emerging sign languages. Phonology 38, 571-609.

Hornburg, C. B., Borriello, G.A., Kung, M., Lin, J., Litkowski, E., Cosso, J., Ellis, A., King, Y., Zippert, E., Cabrera, N., Davis-Kean, P., Eason, S. H., Hart, S. A., Iruka, I., LeFevre, J.-A., Simms, V., Susperreguy, M. I., Cahoon, A., Chan, W. W. L., Cheung, S. K., Coppola, M. ...  (2021). Next directions in measurement of the home mathematics environment: An international and interdisciplinary perspective. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 7(2), 195-220. 

Goodwin, C., Carrigan, E., Walker, K., & Coppola, M. (2021). Language not auditory experience is related to parent‐reported executive functioning in preschool‐aged deaf and hard‐of‐hearing children. Child Development.

Langdon, C., Kurz, C., & M. Coppola. (2020). Early number concepts and mathematics teaching in deaf and hard of hearing children. Early Childhood: Psychology and Education (special issue on Deaf Education: Methods in Early Childhood), 5(2), 125-156.

Carrigan, E. & Coppola, M. (2020). Delayed Language Exposure Has a Negative Impact on Receptive Vocabulary Skills in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children despite Early Use of Hearing Technology. Proceedings of the 44th Boston University Conference on Language Development, 63-76.

Coppola, M. (2020). Gestures, homesign, sign language: Cultural and social factors driving lexical conventionalization. In Olivier LeGuen, Marie Coppola, and Josefina Safar, Eds., Emerging Sign Languages of the Americas, pp. 349-390. Berlin: DeGruyter and Ishara Press.

Coppola, M. (2020). Sociolinguistic sketch: Nicaraguan Sign Language and adult homesign systems in Nicaragua. In Olivier LeGuen, Marie Coppola, and Josefina Safar, Eds., Emerging Sign Languages of the Americas, pp. 439-450. Berlin: DeGruyter and Ishara Press.

Gagne, D. & Coppola, M. (2020). Literacy in Emerging Sign Language Communities: The Impact of Social, Political, and Educational Resources. The Oxford Handbook of Deaf Studies in Literacy. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197508268.013.25

Langdon, C., C. Kurz, and M. Coppola. (2020). Early number concepts and mathematics teaching in deaf and hard of hearing children. Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education (special issue on Deaf Education) 5(2), 125-156.

Le Guen, O., M. Coppola and J. Safar (2020). How Emerging Sign Languages in the Americas contributes to the study of linguistics and (emerging) sign languages, 1-32. In Emerging Sign Languages of the Americas, O. LeGuen, M. Coppola, and J. Safar, eds. Berlin: DeGruyter.

Richie, R. (g), M. Hall, P. W. Cho, and M. Coppola. (2020). Converging evidence: Enhanced conventionalization of gestural referring expressions in richly-connected networks. Language Dynamics and Change 10(2), 259-290. 

Rissman, L., Horton, L., Flaherty, M., Senghas, A., Coppola, M., Brentari, D., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2020). The communicative importance of agent-backgrounding: Evidence from homesign and Nicaraguan Sign Language. Cognition, 203. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2020.104332

Russell, R., M.L. Hall, P. Whan Cho, & M. Coppola. (2020, April 1). Converging evidence: Network structure effects on conventionalization of gestural referring expressions. Language dynamics and change, 10, 259-290. DOI: 10.1163/22105832-bja10008

Sandler, W., R. Stamp, M. Coppola, and D. Lillo-Martin. (2020). Introduction: Irit Meir. Special issue in Memory of Irit Meir. Sign Language & Linguistics, 20(1-2), 1-16.   

Abner, N., M. Flaherty, K. Stangl, M. Coppola, D. Brentari, & S. Goldin-Meadow. (2019). The noun-verb distinction in established and emergent sign systems. Language, 95(2), 230-267. DOI: 10.1353/lan.2019.0030

Gleitman, L., A. Senghas, M. Flaherty, M. Coppola, and S. Goldin-Meadow. (2019). The emergence of the formal category “symmetry” in a new sign language. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1819872116

Gagne, D. (g), S. Goico, J. Pyers, and M. Coppola. (2019). False belief understanding requires language experience, but its precursor abilities do not. In M. M. Brown & B. Dailey (Eds.) BUCLD 43: Proceedings of the 43rd annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, pp. 256-269. Somerville: Cascadilla Press. 

Montemurro, K., M. Flaherty, M. Coppola, S. Goldin-Meadow, and D. Brentari. (2019). Grammaticalization of the body and space in Nicaraguan Sign Language. In M. M. Brown & B. Dailey (Eds.) BUCLD 43: Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development, pp. 415-426. Somerville: Cascadilla Press. 

Brentari, D., M. Coppola, P. W. Cho, & A. Senghas. (2017). Handshape complexity as a precursor to phonology: Variation, emergence, and acquisition. Language Acquisition, 1-24. DOI:10.1080/10489223.2016.1187614

Carrigan, E. M., & Coppola, M. (2017). Successful communication does not drive language development: Evidence from adult homesign. Cognition, 158, 10-27. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2016.09.012

Coppola, M. &  A. Senghas. (2017). Is it language (yet)? The allure of the gesture-language binary. Commentary on S. Goldin-Meadow & D. Brentari, Gesture, sign and language: The coming of age of sign language and gesture studies. Behavioral & Brain Sciences.

Gagne, D. & M. Coppola (2017). Visible social interactions do not support the development of false belief understanding in the absence of linguistic input: evidence from Deaf adult homesigners. Frontiers in Psychology. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00837

Jenkins, T., C. Coehlo, & M. Coppola. (2017). Effects of gesture restriction on quality of narrative production. Gesture, 16(3):416-431. DOI: 10.1075/gest.00003.jen

Carrigan E. & M. Coppola. (2016). Interaction alone cannot support the emergence of a spatial agreement system in a paired interaction context. In S. Roberts & G. Mills (Eds.) In The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference (EVOLANG11), Language Adapts to Interaction Workshop.

Hall, M., R. Richie, & M. Coppola. (2016). The impact of communicative network structure on the conventionalization of referring expressions in gesture. In The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference (EVOLANG11).

Rissman, L., L. Horton, M. Flaherty, D. Brentari, S. Goldin-Meadow, A. Senghas, & M. Coppola. (2016). Strategies in gesture and sign for demoting an agent: Effects of language community and input. In The Evolution of Language: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference (EVOLANG11).

Goldin-Meadow, S., Brentari, D., Coppola, M., Horton, L., & A. Senghas. (2015). Watching language grow in the manual modality: How the hand can distinguish between nouns and verbs. Cognition, 136, 381-395. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2014.11.029

Horton, L., Goldin-Meadow, S., Coppola, M., Senghas, A., & D. Brentari. (2015). Forging a morphological system out of two dimensions: Agentivity and number. Open Linguistics, 1(1), 596–613. DOI: 10.1515/opli-2015-0021

Applebaum, L., Coppola, M., & S. Goldin-Meadow (2014). Prosody in a communication system developed without a language model. Sign Language & Linguistics. 17(2), 181-212. DOI: 10.1075/sll.17.2.02app

Coppola, M. & D. Brentari. (2014). Longitudinal evidence for the emergence of phonological properties in a homesigner. Invited submission to special issue of Frontiers in Language Sciences: Language by mouth and hand.

Coppola, M. & D. Brentari. (2014). From iconic handshapes to grammatical contrasts: Longitudinal evidence from a child homesigner. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 830. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00830

Goldin-Meadow, S., D. Brentari, M. Coppola, L. Horton, & A. Senghas. (2014). Watching language grow in the manual modality: How the hand can distinguish between nouns and verbs. Cognition. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2014.11.029

Richie, R., Yang, C., & M. Coppola (2014). Modeling the emergence of lexicons in homesign systems. Topics in Cognitive Science, 6(1), 183-195. DOI: 10.1111/tops.12076

Richie, R., Coppola, M., & C. Yang (2014). Emergence of Natural Language Lexicons: Empirical and Modeling Evidence from Homesign and Nicaraguan Sign Language. Proceedings of the 38th Boston University Conference in Language Development.

Brentari, D., Coppola, M., Jung, A. & S. Goldin-Meadow (2013). Acquiring word class distinctions in American Sign Language: Evidence from handshape. Language Learning & Development, 9(2), 130-150. DOI: 10.1080/15475441.2012.679540

Coppola, M., Spaepen, E., & S. Goldin-Meadow (2013). Communicating about quantity without a language model: Number devices in homesign grammar.  Cognitive Psychology, 67, 1-25. DOI: 10.1016:j.cogpsych. 2013.05.003

Richie, R., Fanghella, J., & M. Coppola (2013). Emergence of lexicons in family-based homesign systems in Nicaragua. In L. Geer (Ed.) Proceedings of the 13th annual Texas Linguistics Society Meeting, Austin, TX.

Richie, R., Yang, C., & M. Coppola (2013). Modeling the emergence of lexicons in homesign systems. In M. Knauff, M. Pauen, N. Sebanz, & I. Wachsmuth (Eds.), Proceedings of the 35th Annual Cognitive Science Society Conference (pp. 1223-1228), Berlin, Germany: Cognitive Science Society.

Spaepen, E., Coppola, M., Flaherty, M., Spelke, E., & S. Goldin-Meadow (2013). Generating a lexicon without a language model: Do words for number count? Journal of Memory and Language, 69(4), 496-505. DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2013.05.004

The following is a review of a volume which is part of a series that Dr. Coppola edits: Hou, L. Y-S. (2012). Review of Sign Languages in Village Communities: Anthropological and Linguistic Insights.  Editors: U. Zeshan & C. de Vos. Volume 4 in the Sign Language Typology Book Series, Coppola, M., Crasborn, O. & Zeshan, U. (Eds.)

Brentari D. & M. Coppola (2012). What sign language creation teaches us about language. WIREs Cognitive Science,  DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1212

Brentari, D., Coppola, M., Mazzoni, L., & S. Goldin-Meadow (2012). When does a system become phonological? Handshape production in gesturers, signers, and homesigners. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 30(1): 1-31. DOI: 10.1007/s11049-011-9145-1

Carrigan, E. & M. Coppola (2012). Mothers do not drive structure in adult homesign systems:Evidence from comprehension. In N. Miyake, D. Peebles, & R. P. Cooper, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 1398-1403). Sapporo, Japan: Cognitive Science Society.

Richie, R., Fanghella, J., & M. Coppola (2012, June). Emergence of lexicons in family-based homesign systems inNicaragua. Paper presented at the 13th annual Texas Linguistics Society Meeting, Austin, TX.

Coppola, M. (2002). The emergence of the grammatical category of Subject in home sign: Evidence from family-based gesture systems in Nicaragua. PhD. Dissertation, Dept. of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.

Coppola, M. & E.L. Newport (2005). Grammatical Subjects in home sign: Abstract linguistic structure in adult primary gesture systems without linguistic input. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(52), 19249-19253. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0509306102

Coppola, M. & A. Senghas (2010). The emergence of deixis in Nicaraguan signing. In D. Brentari (Ed.) Sign Languages: A Cambridge Language Survey. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

So, W. C., M. Coppola, V. Licciardello, and S. Goldin-Meadow. (2005). The seeds of spatial grammar in the manual modality. Cognitive Science, 29, 23-37. DOI: 10.1207/s15516709cog0000_38

Coppola, M., & W.C. So (2005). Abstract and Object-Anchored Deixis: Pointing and spatial layout in adult homesign systems in Nicaragua. In A. Brugos, M. R. Clark-Cotton, and S. Ha, (Eds.), Proceedings of the 29th Boston University Conference on Language Development, (pp. 144-155). Boston: Cascadilla Press.

Kegl, J., Senghas, A., & M. Coppola (1999). Creation through contact: Sign language emergence and sign language change in Nicaragua. In M. DeGraff (Ed.) Language creation and language change: Creolization, diachrony, and development (pp. 179-237). Cambridge: MIT Press.

Kim, J., Marcus, G., Pinker, S., Hollander, M., & M. Coppola (1994). Sensitivity of children's inflection to grammatical structure. Journal of Child Language, 21, 173-209. DOI: 10.1017/S0305000900008710

Senghas, A., & M. Coppola (2001). Children creating language: How Nicaraguan Sign Language acquired a spatial grammar. Psychological Science, 12(4), 323-328. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9280.00359

Senghas, A., Coppola, M., Newport, E., & T. Supalla (1997). Argument structure in Nicaraguan Sign Language: The emergence of grammatical devices. Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development, 21: 550-561. Boston: Cascadilla Press.

Spaepen, E., Coppola, M., Spelke, E., Carey, S., & S. Goldin-Meadow (2011). Number without a language model. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(8): 3163-3168. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1015975108

Ullman, M., Corkin, S., Coppola, M., Hickok, G., Growdon, Koroshetz, W. J., & S. Pinker (1997). A neural dissociation within language: Evidence that the mental dictionary is part of declarative memory, and that grammatical rules are processed by the procedural system. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 9, 266-276. DOI: 10.1162/jocn.1997.9.2.266