Sign Language PhonologyA concise overview of key findings and ideas in sign language phonology and its contributions to related fields, including historical linguistics, morphology, prosody, language acquisition and language creation. Working on sign languages not only provides important new insights on familiar issues, but also poses a whole new set of questions about phonology, because of the use of the visual communication modality. This book lays out the properties needed to recognize a phonological system regardless of its modality. Written by a leading expert in sign language research, the book describes the current state of the field and addresses a range of issues that students and researchers will encounter in their work, as well as highlighting the significant impact that the study of sign languages has had on the field of phonology as a whole. It includes lists of further reading materials, and a full glossary, as well as helpful illustrations that demonstrate the important aspects of sign language structure, even to the most unfamiliar of readers. A text that will be useful to both specialists and general linguists, this book provides the first comprehension overview of the field. |
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acquisition activation adults American Sign Language articulation associated become bilinguals body Brentari Cambridge Chapter classifier Cognition compared complexity components constraints contrast cues deaf described discussed distinction early effects emergence Emmorey English et al evidence example experience expressions factors Figure fingerspelling forms function gesture grammatical groups hand handshape hearing homesigners iconicity important indicate individuals involved joint Journal learning lexical lexicon linguistic manual meaning modality morphological move movement native nature non-signers object occur patterns perception phonetic phonological processing produced properties prosodic question reading reference Research Sandler segment selected fingers semantic shape shown sign language phonology signers similar space specific speech spoken languages structure suggest syllable task tion types typically units University Press variation verbs versus visual