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The Nature of Gesture andLanguage
David F. Armstrong, William C.
Stokoe, Sherman E. Wilcox
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Sherman Wilcox
Professor of Linguistics
Chair of Department of Linguistics at theUniversity of New Mexico
Studies Signed languages (mostly ASL) Author of books and scholarly articles on
linguistics, evolution of language, gesture, Deafculture, and signed language interpreting
Learning to See , American Deaf Culture , TheGestural Origin of Language , The Nature ofGesture and Language
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Can gesture be considered
independent of speech? some linguists think there is no relationship
Manual gestures serve referential functions:McNeill (1985)
Gestural primitives common to all people (and in somecases all primates/mammals)
bigness = sign of threat/intimidation = loudness
smallness = signs of submission = softness
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What are the different forms of
gesture? Salient gestures that are universally
understood
Gestural pool unique to but universalwithin a social group
Spoken/signed gestures unique to spokenand signed communities respectively(mutually unintelligible)
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Defining what is linguistic
We tend to consider linguistic what we can write down, andnonlinguistic everything else; but this division is a cultural artifact, anarbitrary limitation derived from historical evolution --McNeill, 1985
How is written communication different from gesturalcommunication (spoken or signed)?
words are complexes of muscular gestures which are temporallyordered, but not in the serial segmental fashion familiar fromclassical [linguistic] theory --- Mowrey and Pagliuca (1988)
Wilcox & co. argue against the assumption
that grammar is independent of meaninggrammar is based on body schema!
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Connecting our mouths to our
bodies The human vocal apparatus is capable of producing a vast array ofsounds, just as the body as a whole is capable of producing anenormous number of visible movements. --- Armstrong (1986)
Gesture and speech function as an inseparable unit --- McNeill
Evidence from childrens language acquisition supports this theory(especially from studies between a mother infant)
The study of both spoken and signed language production thesearch for the neural basis of human communication in general
Telling us something about the evolution of language looking atthe importance of hands, the visual system, and upright posture inthe development of language
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If we take this approach
We assume that the mental and the physical and
independent of one another (linguistic units are
therefore only mental things)
One linguist named Kendon
(1991) asks if language
began as gesture, why did itnot stay that way?
Wilcox & co. answer: It did stay that way!
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Is the organization of signed and
spoken language the same? Over the years there have been
assumptions that language cannotbe separated from speech.
However thats NOT True
by looking to vision as the
major primate and humanperceptual system, we mayescape the error of mistaking theacoustic manifestation oflanguage for language itself.
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It has its own rules ofgrammar and syntax.
Signed languages havebeen demonstrated to behighly constrained, followinggeneral restrictions onstructure and organization
comparable to thoseproposed for spokenlanguage H. Poizner, E.S.Klima, and U. Bellugi
Linguistic research has established
that ASL is a natural human
language.
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This also goes for other signed
languages: There are many different kinds of signed languages andeach are distinct and independent.
Each language has their own linguistic cultures.
If one wanted to be truly
proficient in signed language
then they should be immersed
in a community of deaf people
much in the same way
other foreign languages
are learned.
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Deaf Culture
There are people who prefer to refer to themselves asDeaf as opposed to hearing impaired
The bond between Deaf people does not arise fromthe same cultural norms as those in surroundingcommunities who hear
Deaf people from all over the world are also divided bylanguage barriers as there is no universal signlanguage. (Though there is Gestuno)
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Gaulldet University
University for the education of the deaf
and heard of hearing that is located in
Washington, D.C.
Bilingual community in which ASL and
English co-exist
Deaf President Now
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Language in general shares a
general cognitive substrate. Alphabetical writing, inventedlong after language began tobe spoken, produces theillusion that vocal gesturescan reveal whole structure of
language.
This is counter to thewidespread belief that thewords of languages must becomposed of vocal material,the material composing wordsin the primary sign languagesof deaf populations is visual.
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Primary sign language was not intended to
replace a spoken language, it is intended to beused as a means of communication for those
who cannot hear and may not be able to speak
Visible actions...can stand in the reinforce andduplicate and even substitute for vocal
messages; they can stand in the absence of
speech for the means of unspoken words they
can accompany speech and help to mark itsprosody and regulate its flow
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We should remember thatsound is an abstract
concept.
Ex: For instance theexample given in the bookstates that we as humans
ask for eyewitness and notearwitnesses.
Different organization ofspoken languages andsigned languages isinevitable, given thedifferences in the twoperceptual systems.
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Facts about ASL
Dominant sign language used by the DeafCommunity in the U.S.
It shares NO RELATION to British SignLanguage
It has its own grammar structure includingphonology, morphology, semantics, syntax,and pragmatics
Its a visual language thus uses complex
visual-spatial orientation
Also contains gestures, classifiers,fingerspelling, etc.
More related to FSL
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Baby Sign Language
Developed by professors LindaAcredolo and Susan Goodwyn
Joseph Garcia found thatbabies exposed to signsregularly at 6 to 7 months canbegin using them as early as 8months
Belief that young children havedesire to communicated butvocal ability and coordinationlags behind cognitive ability
Learn words such as eat,sleep, hug, play, etc.
Home based and ASL basedsigning
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Emotes: An example of Gesture
=)
=(
T___T
^^;;;
:0
:p
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Bibliography
Wilcox, Sherman; Armstrong, David;
Stokoe, William. Gesture and the Nature
of Language. New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1995
http://www.deaflibrary.org/ by Karen
Nakamura