The historically attested change of two-handed signs on the face to one-handed variants, which occurs in two historically related sign languages, French Sign Language and American Sign Language, is used to test variation theory. The results of the study support viewing languages in a dynamic framework. (AMH)

Recent research in sociolinguistics has demonstrated the need for looking at language in a dynamic framework, that is, for not imposing the traditional synchronic-diachronic dichotomy on linguistic studies. Support for the dynamic framework has been given from various oral languages. This paper attempts to test variation theory with historically…

This is a selection of papers that have appeared in the journal "Sign Language Studies" between 1972 and 1979. The aim is to provide the reader with some knowledge of the world as signers see it. The book is for academic decision-makers, teachers and parents of deaf students, as well as the intellectually curious. Following an introductory essay,…

This report is a cross-linguistic study that compares the sequence of emergence of semantic relations in English with the sequence of emergence of these relations in the acquisition of American Sign Language. American Sign Language (ASL) differs from English in modality (it is a visual-gesture language rather than an auditory-vocal one) and in the…