In this tutorial group you will focus on two recently emerged sign languages. Team A will read a paper that describes Al Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL), and Team B will read a paper that describes Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL). Many sign languages are relatively young, and these two languages are quite young too (especially NSL), but what makes them special is that they have been documented from quite early on. This makes it possible to compare different stages of the language, and see how new language rules are introduced. The two languages emerged in different settings, though, which may have led to differences in structure.
This week’s tutorial will not be a debate really, but an attempt to compare ABSL and NSL. The two languages were discovered, and have been analysed by different groups of linguists who use different terminologies and have used different ways to elicit data, which makes a direct comparison surprisingly hard. Your task is to come up with answers to the following questions.
1. The two sign languages emerged in different settings: ABSL is a village sign language and NSL is an urban sign language. Compare the two and discuss the differences.
2. Both papers address argument structure / word order. The way in which data was collected an is reported is quite different. See if you can come up with a concise summary that covers both papers.
3. Which structural differences could have been caused by the different circumstances in which the languages emerged?
4. What is the role of emerging sign languages in the language evolution debate?
readings:
Team A
Sandler, W., Meir, I., Padden, C., & Aronoff, M. (2005). The emergence of grammar: Systematic structure in a new language. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102(7), 2661-2665.
Available here.
Team B
Senghas, A., Coppola, M., Newport, E. L., & Supalla, T. (1997). Argument structure in Nicaraguan Sign Language: The emergence of grammatical devices. In Proceedings of the Boston university conference on language development (Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 550-61). Boston, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Available here.