Sign Languages of the World

Sign Languages of the World PDF Author: Julie Bakken Jepsen
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 1614518173
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 1018

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Book Description
Although a number of edited collections deal with either the languages of the world or the languages of particular regions or genetic families, only a few cover sign languages or even include a substantial amount of information on them. This handbook provides information on some 38 sign languages, including basic facts about each of the languages, structural aspects, history and culture of the Deaf communities, and history of research. This information will be of interest not just to general audiences, including those who are deaf, but also to linguists and students of linguistics. By providing information on sign languages in a manner accessible to a less specialist audience, this volume fills an important gap in the literature.

Sign Languages of the World

Sign Languages of the World PDF Author: Julie Bakken Jepsen
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 1614518173
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 1018

Get Book Here

Book Description
Although a number of edited collections deal with either the languages of the world or the languages of particular regions or genetic families, only a few cover sign languages or even include a substantial amount of information on them. This handbook provides information on some 38 sign languages, including basic facts about each of the languages, structural aspects, history and culture of the Deaf communities, and history of research. This information will be of interest not just to general audiences, including those who are deaf, but also to linguists and students of linguistics. By providing information on sign languages in a manner accessible to a less specialist audience, this volume fills an important gap in the literature.

The Legal Recognition of Sign Languages

The Legal Recognition of Sign Languages PDF Author: Maartje De Meulder
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
ISBN: 1788924029
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 421

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Book Description
This book presents the first ever comprehensive overview of national laws recognising sign languages, the impacts they have and the advocacy campaigns which led to their creation. It comprises 18 studies from communities across Europe, the US, South America, Asia and New Zealand. They set sign language legislation within the national context of language policies in each country and show patterns of intersection between language ideologies, public policy and deaf communities’ discourses. The chapters are grounded in a collaborative writing approach between deaf and hearing scholars and activists involved in legislative campaigns. Each one describes a deaf community’s expectations and hopes for legal recognition and the type of sign language legislation achieved. The chapters also discuss the strategies used in achieving the passage of the legislation, as well as an account of barriers confronted and surmounted (or not) in the legislative process. The book will be of interest to language activists in the fields of sign language and other minority languages, policymakers and researchers in deaf studies, sign linguistics, sociolinguistics, human rights law and applied linguistics.

Sign Languages

Sign Languages PDF Author: Diane Brentari
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139487396
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 715

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Book Description
What are the unique characteristics of sign languages that make them so fascinating? What have recent researchers discovered about them, and what do these findings tell us about human language more generally? This thematic and geographic overview examines more than forty sign languages from around the world. It begins by investigating how sign languages have survived and been transmitted for generations, and then goes on to analyse the common characteristics shared by most sign languages: for example, how the use of the visual system affects grammatical structures. The final section describes the phenomena of language variation and change. Drawing on a wide range of examples, the book explores sign languages both old and young, from British, Italian, Asian and American to Israeli, Al-Sayyid Bedouin, African and Nicaraguan. Written in a clear, readable style, it is the essential reference for students and scholars working in sign language studies and deaf studies.

Sign Languages in Village Communities

Sign Languages in Village Communities PDF Author: Ulrike Zeshan
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 1614511497
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
The book is a unique collection of research on sign languages that have emerged in rural communities with a high incidence of, often hereditary, deafness. These sign languages represent the latest addition to the comparative investigation of languages in the gestural modality, and the book is the first compilation of a substantial number of different "village sign languages".Written by leading experts in the field, the volume uniquely combines anthropological and linguistic insights, looking at both the social dynamics and the linguistic structures in these village communities. The book includes primary data from eleven different signing communities across the world, including results from Jamaica, India, Turkey, Thailand, and Bali. All known village sign languages are endangered, usually because of pressure from larger urban sign languages, and some have died out already. Ironically, it is often the success of the larger sign language communities in urban centres, their recognition and subsequent spread, which leads to the endangerment of these small minority sign languages. The book addresses this specific type of language endangerment, documentation strategies, and other ethical issues pertaining to these sign languages on the basis of first-hand experiences by Deaf fieldworkers.

Reading Between the Signs

Reading Between the Signs PDF Author: Anna Mindess
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey
ISBN: 1941176038
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 484

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Book Description
"A must-read! An enlightening book ... a defining document in the literature of Deaf culture." - Linda Bove, Certified Deaf Interpreter, Actress, Consultant In Reading Between the Signs, Anna Mindess provides a perspective on a culture that is not widely understood-American Deaf culture. With the collaboration of three distinguished Deaf consultants, Mindess explores the implications of cultural differences at the intersection of the Deaf and hearing worlds. Used in sign language interpreter training programs worldwide, Reading Between the Signs is a resource for students, working interpreters and other professionals. This important new edition retains practical techniques that enable interpreters to effectively communicate their clients' intent, while its timely discussion of the interpreter's role is broadened in a cultural context. NEW TO THIS EDITION: New chapter explores the changing landscape of the interpreting field and discusses the concepts of Deafhood and Deaf heart. This examination of using Deaf interpreters pays respect to the profession, details techniques and shows the benefits of collaboration.

Sociolinguistics and Deaf Communities

Sociolinguistics and Deaf Communities PDF Author: Ceil Lucas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107051940
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
This book provides an up-to-date overview of the main areas of the sociolinguistics of sign languages.

Sign Languages

Sign Languages PDF Author: Joseph Hill
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429665148
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Sign Languages: Structures and Contexts provides a succinct summary of major findings in the linguistic study of natural sign languages. Focusing on American Sign Language (ASL), this book: offers a comprehensive introduction to the basic grammatical components of phonology, morphology, and syntax with examples and illustrations; demonstrates how sign languages are acquired by Deaf children with varying degrees of input during early development, including no input where children create a language of their own; discusses the contexts of sign languages, including how different varieties are formed and used, attitudes towards sign languages, and how language planning affects language use; is accompanied by e-resources, which host links to video clips. Offering an engaging and accessible introduction to sign languages, this book is essential reading for students studying this topic for the first time with little or no background in linguistics.

Sign Language

Sign Language PDF Author: Jim G. Kyle
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521357173
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
The discovery of the importance of sign language in the deaf community is very recent indeed. This book provides a study of the communication and culture of deaf people, and particularly of the deaf community in Britain. The authors' principal aim is to inform educators, psychologists, linguists and professionals working with deaf people about the rich language the deaf have developed for themselves - a language of movement and space, of the hands and of the eyes, of abstract communication as well as iconic story telling. The first chapters of the book discuss the history of sign language use, its social aspects and the issues surrounding the language acquisition of deaf children (BSL) follows, and the authors also consider how the signs come into existence, change over time and alter their meanings, and how BSL compares and contrasts with spoken languages and other signed languages. Subsequent chapters examine sign language learning from a psychological perspective and other cognitive issues. The book concludes with a consideration of the applications of sign language research, particularly in the contentious field of education. There is still much to be discovered about sign language and the deaf community, but the authors have succeeded in providing an extensive framework on which other researchers can build, from which professionals can develop a coherent practice for their work with deaf people, and from which hearing parents of deaf children can draw the confidence to understand their children's world.

The Sociolinguistics of Sign Languages

The Sociolinguistics of Sign Languages PDF Author: Ceil Lucas
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521794749
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
This is an accessible introduction to the major areas of sociolinguistics as they relate to sign languages and deaf communities. Clearly organised, it brings together a team of leading experts in sign linguistics to survey the field, and covers a wide range of topics including variation, multilingualism, bilingualism, language attitudes, discourse analysis, language policy and planning. The book examines how sign languages are distributed around the world; what occurs when they come in contact with spoken and written languages; and how signers use them in a variety of situations. Each chapter introduces the key issues in each area of inquiry and provides a comprehensive review of the literature. The book also includes suggestions for further reading and helpful exercises. The Sociolinguistics of Sign Languages will be welcomed by students in deaf studies, linguistics and interpreter training, as well as spoken language researchers, and researchers and teachers of sign language.

Keeping Languages Alive

Keeping Languages Alive PDF Author: Mari C. Jones
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107029066
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 285

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Book Description
Explores current efforts to record, collect and archive endangered languages which are in danger of falling silent.