Linguistic Properties in Signed and Spoken Languages

Allison Agona

American Sign Language

Established in the year 1817
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (Hearing American) Laurent Clerc (Deaf Frenchman and Signer)

Established the first school for the deaf in Hartford, Connecticut

The Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Person
Todays Name: American School for the Deaf
(Valli and Lucas 14)

American Sign Language

Genetically Related Language
Branches from French Sign Language

Sicard
Director of The Royal Institution of the Deaf in Paris Invited Gallaudet to learn teaching methods and their sign language

Language Acquisition
Sharing Characteristics and Language Universals
Characteristics: - Learning and Exposure - Critical Age Hypothesis - Environmental Factors - Linguistic Stages - Bilingualism Language Universals: - Morphology - Syntax - Pragmatics - Phonology

Language Acquisition: Exposure

The vast majority of deaf people develop language namely sign language if they are exposed to it (Lederberg et al. 16) 1990s lacked the ability to identify deaf children early in a childs life Average age of indication was 24 months Solution: New developments in technology
Neonatal identification Indication narrowed to 6 months
(Lederberg et al. 16)

Language Acquisition: Critical Age Hypothesis

Critical Age Hypothesis: the ability to learn a native language develops within a fixed period, from birth to middle childhood (Fromkin
et al. 62)

Early exposure increases the chances of a hearing and deaf child to learn a language
Critical Period: Birth to Middle Childhood
Proceeds easily, swiftly, and without external intervention (62)

Language Acquisition: Environmental Factors

Crucial to a childs language acquisition Statistics: Birth of Deaf Children
5% are born to deaf parents 95% are born to hearing parents
These parents seek outside support and education

(Lederberg et al. 16)

Language Acquisition: Environmental Factors

Connections:
Hearing Example: Genie Deaf Example: Chelsea

Language Acquisition: Linguistic Stages

3 Stages:
Babbling Holophrastic Telegraphic First indicators that deaf and hearing children acquire language in the same manner

(Fromkin et al. 355)

Linguistic Stages: Babbling

Babbling Stage
Hearing children start to process what they are hearing and babble nonsense words Deaf children do the same, but with their hands
Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnZVpc3T60I

Linguistic Stages: Holophrastic

Holophrastic Stage
Hearing children start to use simple, one word phrases to convey a message Deaf children start to use one sign words to convey a message
Example: Mom and Dad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eSowIpE640 - also explains the pragmatics of where female and male signs appear

Linguistics Phrases: Telegraphic

Telegraphic Stage
Hearing children start to combine two-word phrases Deaf children start signing two-sign phrases, but function signs are omitted
Example: Sign for All Done
Pay close attention to hand movement and eyebrow position This puts the sign in past tense

Language Acquisition: Bilingualism

Bilingual Acquisition occurs most frequently in:
Deaf children born to hearing parents
Children are exposed to spoken language before sign language

Lederberg, Schick, and Spencer call this simultaneous communication in their article Language and Literacy Development of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children: Successes and Challenges

Bilingualism: Simultaneous Communication

A model formed by educators in 1960s and 1970s and created sign systems These systems combine natural signs with newly-created signs to represent grammatical morphemes of spoken languages (Lederberg et al.
17)

Bilingualism
Other indicators:
Deaf children learn to read and write spoken language Some speak because of advancements in technology such as:
The Cochlear Implant Hearing Aids

Language Universals
American Sign Language and English share the same language universals such as:
Morphology Syntax Pragmatics Phonology

Language Universals: Morphology

Like English, signs belong to grammatical categories such as: root morphemes, affix and suffix morphemes, free and bound morphemes, lexical content, grammatical morphemes, as well as inflectional and derivational morphemes.

Language Universals: Morphology

Differences:
Root of a word appear in various movements and location, signing space All gestures are simultaneous
This cannot occur in spoken languages

(Fromkin et al. 103)

Language Universals: Morphology

Important Categories: Suffix Morphemes and Inflectional and Derivational Morphemes Suffix morphemes - used for negation
Signer wants something palms facing up Signer doesnt want something palms facing down

(Fromkin et al. 104)

Language Universals: Morphology

Derivational morphemes
Root of the sign stays the same , but movement of the hand changes changes the part of speech
Example: sign for All Done

(Fromkin et al. 104)

Language Universals: Morphology

Inflectional morphemes indicates proximity
Example: Indicating if a signer loves another person
Toward the body indicates I love you Away from the body indicates the other person loves the signer

(Fromkin et al. 104)

Language Universals: Syntax

Space is an important part of ASL grammar (Kegl 173) Signing Space
Vertically- from below the stomach to the top of the head Horizontally- a bubble spanning 180 degrees in front of the speakers

Language Universals: Syntax

Word Order
Subject-Verb-Object
Judy Anne Kegel and her theory Flexibility Condition
Based on inflected verbs- the more present, the freer the word order (182)

Example: Simple sentence I give the book to you.

Language Universals: Phonology

English has 3 types: acoustic, auditory, articulatory American Sign Language has 3 types: configuration, movement, and location

Language Universals: Phonology

American Sign Language Types: 1. Configuration shape of the hand Straight or Arc 2. Movement deals with hands and arms and their movement toward or away from the body Two types of Movement Unidirectional moving in one direction Bidirectional moving in one direction then back
(Fromkin et al. 257)

Language Universals: Phonology

3. Location deals with signing space and where the hands are located within that space Because ASL has manners and places of articulation, is there are any changes in hand shape, movement or location, it changes the meaning of the sign. Example: Father and Fine

Language Universals: Pragmatics

Phonology and Pragmatics occur simultaneously! Facial Expressions and Body Movement (Kinesics)

Based on certain verb classes Telic and Atelic Verbs

Telic Verbs: describe things that involve change
Examples: Fall or Break

Atelic Verbs: describes the event itself

Examples: Swim or Walk
(Malaia et al. 1677)

Language Universals: Pragmatics

Prosodic Features in Sign Language
Stress is examined in a study on contact, which is a suggested fourth branch of sign language phonetics. *

Suggests that facial expressions, speed, and movement as well as body movement convey the complex range of functions that pitch, duration, and loudness do in spoken languages (Lederberg et al. 16).
*Robert Wilbur performed a study on contact and its role in ASL phonology called: The role of contact in the phonology of ASL

Language Universals: Pragmatics

Interesting New Theory: Iconicity
The relationship between form and meaning
Arbitrary meaning something that does not exist in spoken languages, but does apply in sign languages
Example: The sign for hearing aid, please refer to Figure 1
Figure 1. The relationship between form and meaning in the ASL sign for hearing aid

(Thompson et al. 550-52)

Language Acquisition and Sign Language

American Sign Language does take on the same linguistic characteristics, stages, universals, and properties of spoken languages. Therefore, language acquisition is present in all humans and all types of languages.

Works Cited
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams. An Intorduction to Language. 9th Ed. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Kegl, Judy Anne. ASL Syntax: Research in Progress and Proposed Research. Sign Language & Linguistics 7.2 (2004): 173-206. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 November 2013. Lederberg, Amy R., Brenda Schick, and Patricia E. Spencer. Language and Literacy Development of Deaf and Hard -ofHearing Children: Success and Challenges. Developmental Psychology 49.1 (2013): 15-30. PsycARTICLES. Web. 19 Novemeber 2013. Malarie Evie, Ronnie B. Wilbur, and Marina Milkovic. Kinematic Parameters of Signed Verbs. Journals of Speech, Language & Hearing Research 56.5 (2013): 1677-1688. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 November 2013. Thompson, Robin L., David P. Vinson, and Gabriella Vigliocco. The Link Between Form and Meaning In American Sign Language: Lexical Processing Effects. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 35.2 (2009): 550-557. PsyARTICLES. Web. 19 November 2013. Valli, Clayton and Ceil Lucas. Linguistics of American Sign Language: An Introduction. 3rd Ed. Washington D.C.:Gallaudet University Press, 2000. Web. 15 November 2013. Wilbur, Ronnie B. The Role of Contact in the Phonology of ASL. Sign Language & Linguistics 13.2 (2010): 203-216. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 November 2013.