Variation in wh-questions in Icelandic Sign Language

2015 ◽  
pp. 145-156
Author(s):  
Jóhannes Gísli Jónsson ◽  
Elísa Guðrún Brynjólfsdóttir ◽  
Rannveig Sverrisdóttir
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Wh Questions

Cross-fostered chimpanzees modulate signs of American Sign Language

Gesture ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 107-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie J. Chalcraft ◽  
R. Allen Gardner
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Foster Families ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Genetic Endowment ◽  
Evo Devo ◽  
Cross Fostering

Evolutionary and developmental (Evo-Devo) biologists study the interaction between genetic endowment and developmental environment (Lewontin, 2001; Robert, 2004). Cross-fostering is a powerful tool for studying Evo-Devo. Chimpanzees lived under conditions very similar to the conditions of human children with human foster families who used American Sign Language (ASL) exclusively in their presence. In this environment, cross-fostered chimpanzees acquired and used signs as human children do. Intensive analyses of extensive video records of casual conversation show that Tatu at 46–48 months directionally modulated action signs to indicate actor and instrument as human signers do. Tatu directionally modulated action signs in responses to Wh-questions such as “Who?” but directional modulations failed to appear in responses to What Demonstrative questions such as “What that?” These results confirm and extend previous results for Dar at 37–48 months. Further analyses show that Tatu also quantitatively modulated all types of signs to indicate intensity as human signers do.

What is the chin doing?: An analysis of interrogatives in Austrian sign language

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 133-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Schalber
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Syntactic Position ◽  
Common Foundation ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Manual Signs ◽  
Chin Down

The aim of this paper is to investigate the structure of polar (yes/no questions) and content questions (wh-questions) in Austrian Sign Language (ÖGS), analyzing the different nonmanual signals, the occurrence of question signs and their syntactic position. As I will show, the marking strategies used in ÖGS are no exception to the crosslinguistic observations that interrogative constructions in sign languages employ a variety of nonmanual signals and manual signs (Zeshan 2004). In ÖGS polar questions are marked with ‘chin down’, whereas content questions are indicated with ‘chin up’ or ‘head forward’ and content question signs. These same nonmanual markers are reported for Croatian sign language, indicating common foundation due to historical relations and intense language contact.

scholarly journals Compreensão e produção oral de interrogativas-Q em crianças portuguesas surdas com implante coclear

2018 ◽  
pp. 168-189
Author(s):  
Mara Moita ◽  
Maria Lobo
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Linguistic Variables ◽  
Language Therapy ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Speech And Language Therapy ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Therapy Sessions ◽  
Impaired Children

The present study investigates the comprehension and production of Portuguese wh-questions by hearing impaired children with cochlear implants. We investigate whether the asymmetries found in typically developing children are also present in our target group or whether the difficulties are more widespread. In particular, we investigate whether there are asymmetries between subject and (DP/PP) object wh-questions produced by these children, and whether wh-questions with a lexical restriction are more difficult than bare wh-questions. We also consider the importance of extra-linguistic variables, such as age of implantation, hearing age, early attendance of speech and language therapy sessions, and exposure to sign language.

Cross-fostered chimpanzees modulate signs of American Sign Language

Gesture ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 107-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie J. Chalcraft ◽  
R. Allen Gardner
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Foster Families ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Genetic Endowment ◽  
Evo Devo ◽  
Cross Fostering

Evolutionary and developmental (Evo-Devo) biologists study the interaction between genetic endowment and developmental environment (Lewontin, 2001; Robert, 2004). Cross-fostering is a powerful tool for studying Evo-Devo. Chimpanzees lived under conditions very similar to the conditions of human children with human foster families who used American Sign Language (ASL) exclusively in their presence. In this environment, cross-fostered chimpanzees acquired and used signs as human children do. Intensive analyses of extensive video records of casual conversation show that Tatu at 46–48 months directionally modulated action signs to indicate actor and instrument as human signers do. Tatu directionally modulated action signs in responses to Wh-questions such as “Who?” but directional modulations failed to appear in responses to What Demonstrative questions such as “What that?” These results confirm and extend previous results for Dar at 37–48 months. Further analyses show that Tatu also quantitatively modulated all types of signs to indicate intensity as human signers do.

scholarly journals Two languages at hand

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Zeshan ◽  
Sibaji Panda
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Specific Question ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Indian Sign Language

This article explores patterns of co-use of two sign languages in casual conversational data from four deaf bilinguals, who are fluent in Indian Sign Language (ISL) and Burundi Sign Language (BuSL). We investigate the contributions that both sign languages make to these conversations at lexical, clause, and discourse level, including a distinction between signs from closed grammatical classes and open lexical classes. The results show that despite individual differences between signers, there are also striking commonalities. Specifically, we demonstrate the shared characteristics of the signers’ bilingual outputs in the domains of negation, where signers prefer negators found in both sign languages, and wh-questions, where signers choose BuSL for specific question words and ISL for general wh-questions. The article thus makes the argument that these signers have developed a fairly stable bilingual variety that is characteristic of this particular community of practice, and we explore theoretical implications arising from these patterns.

Some observations on wh-clauses in Japanese Sign Language

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asako Uchibori ◽  
Kazumi Matsuoka
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Indirect Speech ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Embedded Clauses ◽  
Syntactic Properties ◽  
Japanese Sign Language ◽  
Theoretical Issues

This paper offers basic observations about wh-questions in JSL with clause-final wh-signs, i.e., wh-finals. Basic word order of matrix wh-sentences in Japanese Sign Language (JSL) have been reported by previous studies such as Morgan (2006), Fischer and Gong (2010), Kimura (2011), and Akahori and Oka (2011), among others, which reported that wh-signs can appear in the clause-final position in addition to clause-initial and in-situ positions. In order to investigate the syntactic mechanism of JSL wh-constructions, it is also necessary to confirm basic syntactic properties of wh-signs in embedded clauses. However, distributions of wh-signs in embedded clauses have not been fully investigated in previous studies. Based on the discussion on the word order of sentences with direct and indirect speech in JSL in Uchibori et al. (2011), this paper demonstrates that wh-signs occur in embedded clauses that are not instances of direct speech (or quotations) of wh-questions, but those of syntactically embedded indirect speech. In embedded clauses, wh-finals appear as in the matrix wh-questions. Relevant theoretical issues are discussed concerning the relation between linear properties (i.e., distributions of wh-expressions) and the structural properties of natural language.

Syntax and prosodic consequences in ASL

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Churng
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Question Types ◽  
Remnant Movement ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Parallel Merge

This study investigates three different multiple wh-question types in American Sign Language (ASL). While the three are strikingly similar, subtle but systematic differences in their prosody make them semantically distinct. I derive these distinctions from their syntax, via extensions of Koopman and Szabolcsi’s (2000) remnant movement and Sportiche’s (1988) stranded movement, and I propose that multiple wh-questions in ASL involve Parallel Merge structures of the kind proposed by Citko (2005). I also present new generalizations to characterize their prosody, whereby A-bar movement gives rise to prosodic breaks and ‘prosodic resets’.

scholarly journals Felicia Bisnath - Wh-questions in the Trinidad and Tobago Signing Community

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felicia Bisnath
Keyword(s):  
Trinidad And Tobago ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Deaf Education ◽  
Deaf People ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Deaf Parents ◽  
Wh Questions

Signing in Trinidad and Tobago is characterised by variation and multilingualism arising out of deaf education. Two varieties are named for the purposes of this paper: Trinidad and Tobago Sign Language (TTSL) which is an indigenous variety, and Trinidad and Tobago American Sign Language (TTASL) which can be considered a product of contact between TTSL and American Sign Language (TTASL). This paper describes variation in the domain of wh-questions as they are used by three different kinds of consultants: two deaf people who grew up with and without deaf parents and relatives respectively, and a hearing person with deaf parents. Eighteen unique wh-words, one non-manual form and four positions of the wh-word were elicited. These grammatical properties when viewed alongside the backgrounds of the language consultants reveal variation between TTSL and TTASL. Terminological variation in what “TTSL” refers to was also found. This variation is linked to the language background of signers, and shows that the named varieties created by linguists out of convenience do not necessarily reflect the perceptions of all members of a community.

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