Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Emergence of Linguistic Structure in a Family Homesign Language

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

What would a language created completely from scratch look like? This question cannot be answered by studying spoken languages, whose origins extend back into prehistory. However, sign languages continue to be created in the present day wherever a critical mass of deaf individuals forms. Thus, newly emerging sign languages provide researchers the opportunity to observe the process of language creation directly. This research project focuses on one such sign language, created by three deaf siblings and four of their hearing family members. This homesign language began as an idiosyncratic gesture system developed by the first deaf individual born into the family and was later elaborated into a shared sign system by later-born deaf and hearing family members. This research project sets out to document the grammatical structure of the language, focusing on the ways in the which the sign system of the first-born deaf individual differs from those of the later-born signers. This approach has the potential to shed light on how grammatical structure emerges and develops at the earliest stages of language creation. This research project focuses on two grammatical structures that have been documented in nearly all sign languages studied to date: (i) classifier constructions and (ii) directional verbs. Classifier constructions represent the motion and location of objects in space and involve a meaningful handshape unit that identifies the category of the object. The inventory of classifier handshapes is unique to each signed language. This project uses existing sign language assessment tools to determine whether the signers have developed conventions for the use of classifier handshapes. Like classifier constructions, directional verbs also make use of space. However, rather than marking locative relations, directional verbs use space to represent the grammatical relations of subject and object—who does what to whom. In other emerging sign languages, directional verbs have been shown to develop gradually as the language is passed down from generation to generation. This research project asks whether the transmission of the language among members of the family has supported the emergence of directional verbs. Classifier constructions and directional verbs have been argued to represent the interface of grammatical structure with non-linguistic gesture. To determine the contribution of gesture to the emergent structure of the language, this research project also examines the gestures produced by hearing, non-signing individuals from the larger community. Altogether, this project aims to tease apart the contributions of a variety of factors to the process of language emergence, including: an individual's capacity to create language, transmission of a sign system from individual to individual, and the role of the gestural practices of the ambient speech community. This research contributes to our understanding of the human language capacity and raises awareness about sign languages. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.