The following article looks into the question of negative affixation in Polish Sign Language. Until today only one negative prefix and one negative suffix were recognized in Polish Sign Language. Our research investigates farther these two affixes looking into their etymologies, constraints and new examples of their use. The negative prefix…

In this article, we examine various strategies used to express cardinal numbers in Yucatec Maya Sign Languages (YMSLs) from three historically unrelated communities in Yucatán, Mexico: Chicán, Nohkop, and Cepeda Peraza. Our findings describe some numeral strategies, which remained unattested in previous accounts, and demonstrate that YMSL numerals…

Slovene Sign Language (SZJ) has as yet received little attention from linguists. This article presents some basic facts about SZJ, its history, current status, and a description of the Slovene Sign Language Corpus and Pilot Grammar (SIGNOR) project, which compiled and annotated a representative corpus of SZJ. Finally, selected quantitative data…

The idea that iconic visible gesture had something to do with the origin of language, particularly speech, is a frequent element in speculation about this phenomenon and appears early in its history. Socrates hypothesizes about the origins of Greek words in Plato's satirical dialogue, "Cratylus", and his speculation includes a possible…

This article presents an overview of current automatic sign recognition research. A review of recent studies, as well as on our own research, has identified several problem areas that hamper successful sign recognition by a computer. Some of these problems are shared with automatic speech recognition, whereas others seem to be unique to automatic…

This article first introduces some theoretical considerations concerning the emergence and evolution of sign languages from the semiogenetic perspective. It then presents results from a linguistic study of the phenomenon of lexical stabilization in three emerging sign languages used by Brazilian deaf adults who live in a hearing environment…

An analysis was made of the correspondence between intonation and the larger and smaller movements accompanying two-syllable and longer utterances. Synchrony between peaks of intonation and movement pattern was found and is used to argue for a performative basis for early two-word productions. (Author/EJS)

Presents results of a quantitative analysis that evaluates the incidence of iconicity in a sign language, Italian Sign Language (LIS). Argues that the high incidence of iconicity is a response to a need for economy. To justify the coexistence of iconicity and arbitrariness in the LIS lexicon, suggests a revisiting of the notion of arbitrariness.…

Two experiments questioned whether deaf signers agree on the location of sign boundaries in American Sign Language (ASL), as well as where in time the boundaries are located. Results indicated that the deaf subjects were using linguistic knowledge of ASL when making judgments of the location of sign boundaries. (SL)

This paper describes the gestural behavior of four tribal groups, Kipsigis, Luo, Gusii, and Samburu, observed and elicted in the course of two and one-half years of field work in Western Kenya in 1970-72. The gestures are grouped into four categories: (1) initiators and finalizers of interaction; (2) imperatives; (3) responses; (4) qualifiers.…

A study tested the hypothesis that manual encoding aids learning in the prelingually deaf. Twenty-four adults who used fingerspelling as their primary means of communication participated in two groups of a paired-associate learning paradigm, using eight study-test trial sequences. Those using fingerspelling showed more recall and a faster learning…

Systematic sampling was done of signing between five home-reared chimpanzees who had had 4-7 years of complete immersion in integrating their signing interaction into their nonverbal communication. Eight-eight percent of all signs reported fell into the social categories of reassurance, social interaction, and play. (SL)

Thirty-five deaf children with hearing parents were tested for cheremic perception. Deaf children using sign language, like hearing children using spoken language, have more difficulty discriminating between lexical items that form minimal pairs in their language than between items that differ more. (SL)

mparison of sign language used by Urubu-Kaapor Indians in the Amazonian jungle (UKSL) and sign language used by deaf people in Sao Paulo (SPSL). In the former situation, deaf people are more integrated and accepted into their community than in Sao Paulo, because most hearing individuals are able and willing to use sign language to communicate with…

Study indicates that hearing impaired residential students are more proficient users of American Sign Language than are hearing impaired children enrolled in local, public school programs, and older such residential students are more proficient in the language than are younger students. (SL)