Sign Languages

by Diane Brentari

Overview

What are the unique characteristics of sign languages that make them so fascinating? What have recent researchers discovered about them, and what do these findings tell us about human language more generally? This thematic and geographic overview examines more than forty sign languages from around the world. It begins by investigating how sign languages have survived and been transmitted for generations, and then goes on to analyse the common characteristics shared by most sign languages: for example, how the use of the visual system affects grammatical structures. The final section describes the phenomena of language variation and change. Drawing on a wide range of examples, the book explores sign languages both old and young, from British, Italian, Asian and American to Israeli, Al-Sayyid Bedouin, African and Nicaraguan. Written in a clear, readable style, it is the essential reference for students and scholars working in sign language studies and deaf studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521883702
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/27/2010
Series:	Cambridge Language Surveys
Pages:	714
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Diane Brentari is Professor of Linguistics and Director of the ASL Program at Purdue University. She is the author of A Prosodic Model of Sign Language Phonology (1998) and has published widely in the area of sign language phonology and morphology. Her current research involves the crosslinguistic analyses of sign languages.

Table of Contents

List of figures viii

List of tables xiii

List of contributors xv

List of sign language abbreviations xix

Notational conventions xxi

1 Introduction Diane Brentari 1

I History and Transmission 17

2 Transmission of sign languages in Northern Europe Penny Boyes Braem Christian Rathmann 19

3 Transmission of sign languages in Latin America Claire Ramsey David Quinto-Pozos 46

4 Transmission of sign languages in the Nordic countries Brita Bergman Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen 74

5 Transmission of sign languages in Mediterranean Europe Josep Quer Laura Mazzoni Galini Sapountzaki 95

6 Transmission of sign languages in Africa Dorothy Lule Lars Wallin 113

7 Transmission of Polish sign systems Piotr Wojda 131

II Shared Crosslinguistic Characteristics 149

8 Notation systems Harry van der Hulst Rachel Channon 151

9 Verb agreement in sign language morphology Gaurav Mathur Christian Rathmann 173

10 Functional markers in sign languages Sandro Zucchi Carol Neidle Carlo Geraci Quinn Duffy Carlo Cecchetto 197

11 Clause structure Ronice Müller de Quadros Diane Lillo-Martin 225

12 Factors that form classifier signs Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersen 252

13 Handshape contrasts in sign language phonology Diane Brentari Petra Eccarius 284

14 Syllable structure in sign language phonology Tommi Jantunen Ritva Takkinen 312

15 Grammaticalization in sign languages Sherman Wilcox Paolo Rossini Elena Antinoro Pizzuto 332

16 The semantics-phonology interface Ronnie B. Wilbur 355

17 Nonmanuals: their grammatical and prosodic roles Roland Pfau Josep Quer 381

III Variation and Change 403

18 Sign languages in West Africa Victoria Nyst 405

19 Sign languages in the Arab world Kinda Al-Fityani Carol Padden 433

20 Variation in American Sign Language Ceil Lucas Robert Bayley 451

21 Sociolinguistic variation in British, Australian and New Zealand Sign Languages Adam Schembri Kearsy Cormier Trevor Johnston David McKee Rachel McKee Bencie Woll 476

22 Variation in East Asian sign language structures Susan Fischer Qunhu Gong 499

23 Crosslinguistic variation in prosodic cues Gladys Tang Diane Brentari Carolina González Felix Sze 519

24 Deixis in an emerging sign language Marie Coppola Anne Senghas 543

25 The grammar of space in two new sign languages Carol Padden Irit Meir Mark Aronoff Wendy Sandler 570

Notes 593

References 618

Index 670

Editorial Reviews

"William Stokoe, who was the first to linguistically describe American Sign Language and who started a revolution in linguistics, would have appreciated and enjoyed this book." —Choice

From the Publisher