Sign Language Acquisition Studies: Past, Present And Future (original) (raw)
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One grammar or two? Sign Languages and the Nature of Human Language
Linguistic research has identified abstract properties that seem to be shared by all languages-such properties may be considered defining characteristics. In recent decades, the recognition that human language is found not only in the spoken modality but also in the form of sign languages has led to a reconsideration of some of these potential linguistic universals. In large part, the linguistic analysis of sign languages has led to the conclusion that universal characteristics of language can be stated at an abstract enough level to include languages in both spoken and signed modalities. For example, languages in both modalities display hierarchical structure at sub-lexical and phrasal level, and recursive rule application. However, this does not mean that modality-based differences between signed and spoken languages are trivial. In this article, we consider several candidate domains for modality effects, in light of the overarching question: are signed and spoken languages subject to the same abstract grammatical constraints, or is a substantially different conception of grammar needed for the sign language case? We look at differences between language types based on the use of space, iconicity, and the possibility for simultaneity in linguistic expression. The inclusion of sign languages does support some broadening of the conception of human language-in ways that are applicable for spoken languages as well. Still, the overall conclusion is that one grammar applies for human language, no matter the modality of expression.
In the field of language acquisition, the acquisition of subject-verb agreement and of lexical sub-categorization are typically thought of as two different phenomena. Given the typological characteristics of British Sign Language (henceforth BSL), the acquisition of verb morphology in this language pertains to these two issues: a) it is a pro-drop language and b) the marking of both subject and object-verb agreement interacts with syntactic and semantic sub-lexical categorization features.
The roles of modality and typology in the acquisition of verb morphology in British Sign Language
The development of morphological verb agreement in children's language involves several different linguistic phenomena. Language-specific influences impact on developmental patterns and age of acquisition. This study addresses three potential factors involved in the development of verb agreement morphology in sign languages and more specifically in a case study of one deaf child of native signing parents acquiring British Sign Language. The data were collected longitudinally between the ages of 1;10 and 3;0 with analysis concentrating on the emergence and mastery of the inflectional system for encoding person agreement. The data are compared with other studies of verb agreement in both signed and spoken language acquisition. Analysis reveals a relatively late onset of verb use and protracted development of the agreement system with productive use of inflectional morphology reached at 3;0. The observed developmental patterns and age of acquisition are explained by the combined influence of a set of both typological and modality-specific factors.
Modality-independent and modality-specific aspects of grammaticalization in sign languages
Spine, 2006
One type of internal diachronic change that has been extensively studied for spoken languages is grammaticalization whereby lexical elements develop into free or bound grammatical elements. Based on a wealth of spoken languages, a large amount of prototypical grammaticalization pathways has been identified. Moreover, it has been shown that desemanticization, decategorialization, and phonetic erosion are typical characteristics of grammaticalization processes. Not surprisingly, grammaticalization is also responsible for diachronic change in sign languages. Drawing data from a fair number of sign languages, we show that grammaticalization in visual-gestural languages -as far as the development from lexical to grammatical element is concerned -follows the same developmental pathways as in spoken languages. That is, the proposed pathways are modalityindependent. Besides these intriguing parallels, however, sign languages have the possibility of developing grammatical markers from manual and non-manual co-speech gestures. We will discuss various instances of grammaticalized gestures and we will also briefly address the issue of the modality-specificity of this phenomenon. for invaluable feedback on signed and spoken language data.
First verbs in British Sign Language development1
This paper describes the development of the verb lexicon and argument structures in one child's British Sign language (BSL) during the period 1;10 -3;2. The data are discussed with reference to current models of lexical and grammatical development. Before 2;1 verbs produced by the child -which lag behind nouns in the early stages of vocabulary development -appeared initially as single signs without productive morphological inflections. After this period when verbs are combined with other signs the verbs consist of citation forms. The first morphological inflections appeared on a verb by verb basis from 2;9 onwards. A consistent preference for producing verb utterances from the perspective of the signer was identified. No preference for iconic signs in the first stage of language development was found. The results indicate that before 3;0 there is little evidence for the acquisition of a generalised verb frame.
Lingua, 2006
The linguistic study of sign languages attracts more and more the attention from researchers of general linguistics since analyses of the grammar, the acquisition, the production, and the processing of sign languages provide additional evidence for modality independent language universals. However, recent research in sign language linguistics still ranges between investigations into very basic empirical issues and highly elaborated analyses of phonological, morphological, or syntactic phenomena. This book definitely follows the second direction. It offers a detailed analysis of central aspects of the syntax of American Sign Language (ASL) within the framework of recent theories of generative grammar. The main focus of Neidle, Kegl, MacLaughlin, Bahan, and Lee (henceforth NKMBL) is on the syntactic function of nonmanual markers such as head position, facial expression, eyebrow movement, and eye gaze. The authors argue that these markers directly express abstract syntactic features located in functional heads. As a consequence, the hierarchical structure of functional projections can be derived from the distribution of nonmanual markers. Therefore, the analysis proposed in this book has an important impact on the design of modern generative theories, too.
1976
This 24-item annotated bibliography is intended to facilitate introduction to the field of sign language studies. /t lists selected published works in English in which sign language is viewed from several different aspects, including: theoretical studies (nos. 1, 5, 6, 19, 20 and 21); works relating Sign to other visual communication systems (nos. 4, 7 and 13); historical studies (nos. 9 and 18); textbooks of American Sign Language (nos. 8 and 16): psycholinguistic studies including Sign acquisition (nos. 2, 3, 10, 12, 14, 17, 22 and 23); and sociolinguistic studies (nos. 15 and 24). Works on topics related or peripheral to Sign, such as kinesics and gestural system, where Sign is not mentioned, are not included, but are referenced in the bibliographies of the items listed and in Hayes (no. 11). The orientation of he listed works is toward consideration of what criteria a language must satisfy, and whether these are met by Sign. The annotations summarize the contents and often include an evaluation of the possible significance of the works. (Author/RH) * *