This is a new line of research in my work, where I use bilingualism — and especially bimodal bilingualism (spoken and signed languages) — to probe the relationship between amodal conceptual representations and language-specific influences.
- Amodal vs. language-related meaning. Do concepts exist independently of language, or are they partly shaped by the linguistic system we use? This question lies at the heart of my new studies. I examine whether the structure and modality of a language influence how we perceive and categorise the world (conceptual relativity), while also probing for amodal, universal aspects of meaning.
- Sign language as a model. Because signed and spoken languages differ radically in structure and sensory modality, bimodal bilinguals (e.g. hearing Children of Deaf Adults, CODAs) provide a unique window into how language modality interacts with conceptual organisation.
- Methods. I combine behavioural paradigms with neuroimaging (multivariate fMRI, Representational Similarity Analysis) to test whether conceptual representations remain stable across languages and modalities, or whether they are reorganised by linguistic experience.
This emerging research programme aims to clarify the boundaries between universal, amodal aspects of conceptual knowledge and the language-driven dimensions of meaning, advancing our understanding of how experience shapes cognition.