Formational units in sign languages / / edited by Rachel Channon, Harry van der Hulst.

• Author: Channon, Rachel
• TeilnehmendeR: Channon, Rachel, 1950-; Hulst, Harry van der.
• Year of Publication: 2011
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Sign Language Typology [SLT]
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (352 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Sign languages and spoken languages have an equal capacity to communicate our thoughts. Beyond this, however, while there are many similarities, there are also fascinating differences, caused primarily by the reaction of the human mind to different modalities, but also by some important social differences. The articulators are more visible and use larger muscles with consequent greater effort. It is difficult to visually attend to both a sign and an object at the same time. Iconicity is more systematic and more available in signs. The body, especially the face, plays a much larger role in sign. Sign languages are more frequently born anew as small groups of deaf people come together in villages or schools. Sign languages often borrow from the written form of the surrounding spoken language, producing fingerspelling alphabets, character signs, and related signs. This book examines the effects of these and other differences using observation, experimentation and theory. The languages examined include Asian, Middle Eastern, European and American sign languages, and language situations include home signers and small village signers, children, gesturers, adult signers, and non-native signers.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction: Phonetics, Phonology, Iconicity and Innateness -- Part I. Observation -- Marked Hand Configurations in Asian Sign Languages / Fischer, Susan / Gong, Qunhu -- The phonetics and phonology of the TİD (Turkish Sign Language) bimanual alphabet / Kubus, Okan / Hohenberger, Annette -- Child-directed signing as a linguistic register / Pizer, Ginger / Meier, Richard P. / Shaw Points, Kathleen -- Part II. Experiment -- Sign language comprehension: Insights from misperceptions of different phonological parameters / Adam, Robert / Orfanidou, Eleni / McQueen, James M. / Morgan, Gary -- Lexical and Articulatory Influences on Phonological Processing in Taiwan Sign Language / Ann, Jean / Myers, James / Tsay, Jane / Oswego, Suny -- When does a system become phonological? Potential sources of handshape contrast in sign languages / Brentari, Diane / Eccarius, Petra -- A phonological awareness test for deaf children using Brazilian Sign Language / Cruz, Carina Rebello / Lamprecht, Regina Ritter -- Phonological category resolution in a new Sign Language: A comparative study of handshapes / Israel, Assaf / Sandler, Wendy -- American Sign Language Tone and Intonation: A Phonetic Analysis of Eyebrow Properties / Weast, Traci -- Part III. Theory -- Are dynamic features required in signs? / Channon, Rachel / Hulst, Harry van der -- A constraint-based account of distributional differences in handshapes / Eccarius, Petra -- ASL Movement Phonemes and Allophones / Hansen, Kathryn L. -- Movement types, Repetition, and Feature Organization in Hong Kong Sign Language / Mak, Joe / Tang, Gladys -- Language index -- Subject index