Linguistics of sign

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SIGN LANGUAGES

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Background

• a language which uses manual communication
  instead of sound to convey meaning -
  simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation
  and movement of the hands, arms or body, and
  facial expressions to express fluidly a speaker's
  thoughts.
• commonly develop in deaf communities, which can
  include interpreters and friends and families of
  deaf people as well as people who are deaf or
  hard of hearing themselves.
• also used by people with speech impairments such
  as aphasia.
• to popular belief, sign language is not universal.

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• Wherever communities of deaf people exist, sign
  languages develop, but as with spoken languages,
  these vary from region to region.
• They are not based on the spoken language in the
  country of origin in fact their complex spatial
  grammars are markedly different.
• various signed "modes" of spoken languages have
  been developed, such as Signed English and
  Warlpiri Sign Language.
• Hundreds of sign languages are in use around the
  world and are at the core of local Deaf cultures.
• Some sign languages have obtained some form of
  legal recognition, while others have no status at
  all.

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Linguistics of sign

• The linguistic sign was first defined by the
  Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure in his
  Course in General Linguistics in the early 20th
  century.
• Saussure addressed the seemingly obvious but also
  somewhat revolutionary insight that words are not
  the things they attempt to represent.
• Language does not function through some sort of
  special connection between words and things
  rather, language, for Saussure, is a relatively
  self-contained system with its own rules.
• Language is made up of signs, which have little
  to do with the referent, the actual objects in
  the world.
• The signs themselves are composed of two parts
  the signifier (the letters on the page or the
  sound that bounces off our eardrum) and the
  signified (the concept that appears on our brain
  when we read or hear the signifier).

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Relationships with oral languages

• A common misconception is that sign languages are
  somehow dependent on oral languages, that is,
  that they are oral language spelled out in
  gesture, or that they were invented by hearing
  people. Hearing teachers of deaf schools, such as
  Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, are often incorrectly
  referred to as inventors of sign language.
• The Manual Alphabet is used in sign languages,
  mostly for proper names and technical or
  specialized vocabulary. The use of fingerspelling
  was once taken as evidence that sign languages
  are simplified versions of oral languages, but in
  fact it is merely one tool among many.
  Fingerspelling can sometimes be a source of new
  signs, which are called lexicalized signs.
• On the whole, deaf sign languages are independent
  of oral languages and follow their own paths of
  development.
• Similarly, countries which use a single oral
  language throughout may have two or more sign
  languages whereas an area that contains more
  than one oral language might use only one sign
  language.

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Spatial grammar and Simultaneity

• Oral language is linear. Only one sound can be
  made or received at a time.
• Sign language, on the other hand, is visual
  hence a whole scene can be taken in at once.
  Information can be loaded into several channels
  and expressed simultaneously.
• in English one could utter the phrase, "I drove
  here". To add information about the drive, one
  would have to make a longer phrase or even add a
  second, such as, "I drove here along a winding
  road," or "I drove here. It was a nice drive."
• in American Sign Language, information about the
  shape of the road or the pleasing nature of the
  drive can be conveyed simultaneously with the
  verb 'drive' by inflecting the motion of the
  hand, or by taking advantage of non-manual
  signals such as body posture and facial
  expression, at the same time that the verb
  'drive' is being signed.
• Therefore, whereas in English the phrase "I drove
  here and it was very pleasant" is longer than "I
  drove here", in American Sign Language the two
  may be the same length.
• In fact, in terms of syntax, ASL shares more with
  spoken Japanese than it does with English. Karen
  Nakamura,1995)

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Written Forms of Sign Languages

• Sign language differs from oral language in its
  relation to writing.
• The phonemic systems of oral languages are
  primarily sequential that is, the majority of
  phonemes are produced in a sequence one after
  another, although many languages also have
  non-sequential aspects such as tone. As a
  consequence, traditional phonemic writing systems
  are also sequential, with at best diacritics for
  non-sequential aspects such as stress and tone.
• Sign languages have a higher non-sequential
  component, with many "phonemes" produced
  simultaneously. For example, signs may involve
  fingers, hands, and face moving simultaneously,
  or the two hands moving in different directions.
  Traditional writing systems are not designed to
  deal with this level of complexity.
• These systems are based on iconic symbols. Some,
  such as sign writing and HamNoSys, are
  pictographic.

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Examples of Sign Writing
About Me
Calendar
My Blog
Contact Me
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American Sign Language
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History

• almost 5 hundred thousand users
• ASL is a complete and refined language which
  contains it's own grammar, syntax and culture.
  With all other Sign Languages, ASL's grammar do
  differ completely from written English.
• Standardized Sign Language dates back from the
  early 1700s which also forms part of ASL's
  origins
• In 1755, Abbé de l'Épée founded the first public
  school for deaf children in Paris.

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• Laurent Clerc, a graduate and former teacher of
  the French School, went to U.S.A. with Thomas
  Hopkins Gallaudet to found the first permanent
  school for the deaf. It was established in
  Hartford, Connecticut.

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Word Order

• Subject-Object-Verb
• Ex. I am fine, thank you.

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Taiwanese Sign Language
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History

• most commonly used in Taiwan
• heavily influenced by Japanese Sign Language
  during Japanese rule and thus has some mutual
  intelligibility with both Japanese Sign Language
  and Korean Sign Language
• The first International Symposium on Taiwan Sign
  Language Linguistics was held on March 1-2, 2003,
  at Chung Cheng University in Minhsiung

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Word Order

• Object-Subject-Verb
• Ex. Long time no see

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Japanese Sign Language
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History

• two main sign languages in Japan Japanese Sign
  Language and Japanese Oral Sign Language.
• JSL used by Deaf people and JOSL is mainly used
  by volunteers and is a pidgin signed Japanese.
  The main difference between the two is the
  sequence of the words.

• In 1862, the Edo government dispatched envoys to
  various European schools for the deaf. The first
  school for the deaf wasn't established until 1878
  in Kyoto, and it wasn't until 1948 that deaf
  children were required to attend formal education.

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Word Order

• JSL Subject-Verb-Object
• JOSL Subject-Object-Verb

• Ex.1 I like you

http//homepage3.nifty.com/shuwa-world/
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• Ex. 2 Lets go flower-viewing.

http//homepage3.nifty.com/shuwa-world/
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Baby's Sign Language

• Baby Sign involves using sign language to
  communicate with infants and toddlers
• Children of an early age have a desire to
  communicate their needs and wishes, but lack the
  ability to do so clearly. With practice parents,
  infants and toddlers can communicate fluently and
  clearly.

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• Babies in deaf families, immersed in a signing
  environment, use simple signs from as early as 6
  weeks.
• Use of baby sign language is growing, but still
  not widespread, partially due to the fear that
  children who sign will not learn to speak
  properly later on

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• A small set of signs are usually adopted first,
  based of common objects and terms, that would be
  familiar to the child's everyday life.

MORE

• Parents who have some enthusiasm for sign
  language may already know the local adult signs
  for "eat", "sleep", "more", "play". It is common
  for parents to teach their babies non-simplified
  signs from adult sign language such as American
  Sign Language rather than specialized, or made up
  Baby Sign.

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Home Sign

• the gestural communication system developed by a
  deaf child who lacks input from a language model
  in the family.
• This is a common experience for deaf children
  with hearing parents who are isolated from a sign
  language community.
• home sign systems show some of the same
  characteristics of signed and spoken languages,
  and are quite distinguishable from the gestures
  that accompany speech
• Words and simple sentences are formed, often in
  similar patterns despite different home sign
  systems being developed in isolation from each
  other.

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International Sign

• in 1973, a WFD committee ("the Commission of
  Unification of Signs") published a standardized
  vocabulary.
• there is a dominant influence from American Sign
  Language and European sign languages, and African
  and Asian signers find IS considerably more
  difficult to understand.
• The name "Gestuno" was chosen from Italian,
  meaning "the unity of sign languages", but the
  name has fallen out of use in favor of the phrase
  "International Sign".

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• International Sign does not have a fixed grammar,
  so some argue it's better defined as a vocabulary
  rather than a complete language. Signers may use
  the IS signs with the grammar of their own native
  sign language

Bill, Please
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Benefits

• ASL
• Children who sign actually speak earlier than
  kids who dont sign
• Children who sign tend to have a larger
  vocabulary
• It enhances their self-esteem
• They have an increased interest in books
• It improves their emotional development
• They engage in more sophisticated play
• It builds greater brain function
• It is a good introduction to a second language
• Some studies show that children who sign have an
  IQ that is as much as 10-12 points higher

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• Babys
• Babies who Sign tend to be happier and less
  frustrated
• Babies who Sign tend to verbalize sooner
• Sign Language can strengthen fine motor skills
• Sign Language can improve reading scores
• Sign Language may help build and reinforce
  creativity
• Sign Language is a fun way for young children to
  get excited about different languages and
  cultures