In sign languages of the deaf some signs can meaningfully point toward things or can be meaningfully placed in the space ahead of the signer. This obligatory part of fluent grammatical signing has no ...parallel in vocally produced languages. This book focuses on American Sign Language to examine the grammatical and conceptual purposes served by these directional signs. It guides the reader through ASL grammar, the different categories of directional signs, the types of spatial representations signs are directed toward, how such spatial conceptions can be represented in mental space theory, and the conceptual purposes served by these signs. The book demonstrates a remarkable integration of grammar and gesture in the service of constructing meaning. These results also suggest that our concept of 'language' has been much too narrow and that a more comprehensive look at vocally produced languages will reveal the same integration of gestural, gradient, and symbolic elements.
We are pleased to present a Special Issue of Languages on the topic of Sign Language Emergence. Sign languages are the only extant languages that can be caught in the act of being born and developing ...with no model, and they, therefore, offer the only empirical evidence for language emergence in human societies. We have brought together a collection of articles on emerging sign languages that contribute a great deal to our current understanding of this process.This Special Issue covers eleven different emerging sign languages around the world. The articles deal with several aspects of language emergence, including, most notably: (1) the relationship between the emerging language and the culture of the larger society; (2) the role of iconicity in the emergence of sign language; (3) the relationship between the shared context in a small signing community and the degree of variation in the vocabulary; and (4) the vulnerability of budding sign languages. Spoken creole languages are also young, but are different from emerging sign languages, in that the speakers of pidgins from which creoles are assumed to have descended already had native languages. One article compares the features of creoles and of emerging sign languages.We are especially pleased with the diversity and breadth of interests of the contributors to the volume, who are based on four continents. The languages that they cover are equally diverse in their geographical provenance.
The Routledge Handbook of Theoretical and Experimental Sign Language Research bridges the divide between theoretical and experimental approaches to provide an up-to-date survey of key topics in sign ...language research. With 29 chapters written by leading and emerging scholars from around the world, this Handbook covers the following key areas:
On the theoretical side, all crucial aspects of sign language grammar studied within formal frameworks such as Generative Grammar;
Each chapter features an introduction, an overview of existing research, and a critical assessment of hypotheses and findings. The Routledge Handbook of Theoretical and Experimental Sign Language Research is key reading for all advanced students and researchers working at the intersection of sign language research, linguistics, psycholinguistics, and neurolinguistics.
On the experimental side, theoretical accounts are supplemented by experimental evidence gained in psycho- and neurolinguistic studies;
On the descriptive side, the main phenomena addressed in the reviewed scholarship are summarized in a way that is accessible to readers without previous knowledge of sign languages.
We are pleased to present a Special Issue of Languages on the topic of Sign Language Emergence. Sign languages are the only extant languages that can be caught in the act of being born and developing ...with no model, and they, therefore, offer the only empirical evidence for language emergence in human societies. We have brought together a collection of articles on emerging sign languages that contribute a great deal to our current understanding of this process.This Special Issue covers eleven different emerging sign languages around the world. The articles deal with several aspects of language emergence, including, most notably: (1) the relationship between the emerging language and the culture of the larger society; (2) the role of iconicity in the emergence of sign language; (3) the relationship between the shared context in a small signing community and the degree of variation in the vocabulary; and (4) the vulnerability of budding sign languages. Spoken creole languages are also young, but are different from emerging sign languages, in that the speakers of pidgins from which creoles are assumed to have descended already had native languages. One article compares the features of creoles and of emerging sign languages.We are especially pleased with the diversity and breadth of interests of the contributors to the volume, who are based on four continents. The languages that they cover are equally diverse in their geographical provenance.
Created by an unparalleled board of experts led by renowned ASL linguist and poet Clayton Valli, The Gallaudet Dictionary of American Sign Language contains over 3, 000 illustrations. Each sign ...illustration, including depictions of fingerspelling when appropriate, incorporates a complete list of English synonyms. A full, alphabetized English index enables users to cross- reference words and signs throughout the entire volume. The comprehensive introduction lays the groundwork for learning ASL by explaining in plain language the workings of ASL syntax and structure. It also offers examples of idioms and describes the antecedents of ASL, its place in the Deaf community, and its meaning in Deaf culture. This extraordinary reference also provides a special section on ASL classifiers and their use. Readers will find complete descriptions of the various classifiers and examples of how to use these integral facets of ASL. The Gallaudet Dictionary of American Sign Language is an outstanding ASL reference for all instructors, students, and users of ASL.*Please note that this paperback edition does not include the DVD found in the hardcover edition.
The evaluation of sign language proficiency needs to be based on measures with well-established psychometric proprieties. To date, no valid and reliable test is available to assess Polish Sign ...Language (Polski Język Migowy, PJM) skills in deaf children. Hence, our aim with this study was to adapt the British Sign Language Receptive Skills Test (the first standardized test to determine sign language proficiency in children) into PJM, a less researched sign language. In this paper, we present the first steps in the adaptation process and highlight linguistic and cultural similarities and differences between the British Sign Language Receptive Skills Test and the PJM adaptation. We collected data from 20 deaf children who were native signers (age range: 6 to 12) and 30 deaf children who were late learners of PJM (age range: 6 to 13). Preliminary analyses showed that the PJM Receptive Skills Test has acceptable psychometric characteristics (item analysis, validity, reliability, and sensitivity to age). Our long-term goal with this work was to include younger children (age range: 3 to 6) and to standardize the PJM Receptive Skills Tests, so that it can be used in educational settings and in scientific research.
This book presents a first comprehensive overview of existing research on information structure in sign languages. Furthermore, it is combined with novel in-depth studies of Russian Sign Language and ...Sign Language of the Netherlands. The book discusses how topic, focus, and contrast are marked in the visual modality and what implications this has for theoretical and typological study of information structure. Such issues as syntactic and prosodic markers of information structure and their interactions, relations between different notions of information structure, and grammaticalization of markers of information structure are highlighted. Empirical studies of the two sign languages also showcase different methodologies that are used in such research and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. The book contains a general introduction to the field of information structure and thus can be used by linguists new to the field.
This study reports on strategies to indicate plural referents in hearing learners of Sign Language of the Netherlands. This is the first explorative study that focuses on L2 expressions of plurality ...in a sign language. Using data from two datasets, I examined when learners start to express plural and which strategies they apply, and I noted typical learner characteristics. The first study examined spontaneous conversations of three learners, during the first 18 months of their learning. The second study analyzed elicited data from 11 learners during their first year of learning. The data reveal that learners are able to express plural referents in early stages, using strategies that are familiar to them (quantifiers) as well as strategies that do not occur in their mother tongue (reduplication of the noun, use of spatial devices). The early emergence might be explained by the salient nature of the devices and the resemblance with gestural portrayals.
A one‐page Accessible Summary and a Video Summary in NGT (Nederlandse Gebarentaal, Sign Language of the Netherlands) of this article in non‐technical language are freely available in the Supporting Information online and at https://oasis‐database.org
Sign language learners with a spoken language background face the challenge of acquiring a second language in a different modality. In the course of this endeavor, one of the modality-specific ...phenomena they encounter is the use of classifier predicates, also known as depicting signs. Classifier predicates contain a meaningful hand configuration that refers to an entity, denoting a salient characteristic of this entity (Zwitserlood, 2003). The use of a classifier predicate allows the signer to indicate the location, motion and orientation of a referent. If two classifier predicates are used simultaneously, the signer can represent the spatial arrangement of both referents (Schembri, Jones and Burnham, 2001). This visual representation is new for learners with a spoken language background. Since there is a paucity of literature on second language (L2) sign language acquisition, there is no empirical evidence on the developmental stages that L2 learners go through in acquiring the devices to produce such visual representations. In this study, we followed 14 novel learners of Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) over a period of two years. The learners were asked to produce sign language descriptions of prompts containing various objects (e.g. cars, bicycles, trucks, human beings and animals) that could be depicted by a classifier predicate. Analyses show that after a year of instruction, the majority of learners are capable of producing scene descriptions featuring two classifier predicates to denote the spatial layout of the objects. The first classifier predicates appear in the data at an early stage, suggesting that the strategy of denoting an object with a meaningful handshape representing the object is not difficult to learn. Furthermore, the data show that learners initially struggle with the orientation of objects and handshape selection. This study is the first to systematically elicit classifier predicates from novel learners for an extended period of time. The results have important implications for the field of sign language pedagogy and teaching.
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