Dedicated gestures and the emergence of sign language
Wendy Sandler | University of Haifa, Israel
Sign languages make use of the two hands, facial features, the head, and the body to produce multifaceted gestures that are dedicated for linguistic functions. In a newly emerging sign language — Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language — the appearance of dedicated gestures in signers of four age groups or strata reveals that recruitment of gesture for language is a gradual process. Starting with only the hands in Stratum I, each additional articulator is recruited to perform grammatical functions as the language matures, resulting in ever increasing grammatical complexity. The emergence of dedicated gesture in a new language provides a novel context for addressing questions about the relationship between the physical transmission system and grammar and about the emergence of linguistic complexity in human language generally.
Keywords: gesture, language emergence, prosody, Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language, sign language, language complexity
Published online: 24 May 2013
https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.12.3.01san
https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.12.3.01san
Cited by
Cited by 35 other publications
Boucher, Victor J., Annie C. Gilbert & Antonin Rossier-Bisaillon
Börstell, Carl & Ryan Lepic
Chater, Nick & Morten H. Christiansen
Dachkovsky, Svetlana, Rose Stamp & Wendy Sandler
Edwards, Terra
Esteve-Gibert, Núria & Bahia Guellaï
Fenlon, Jordan, Kensy Cooperrider, Jon Keane, Diane Brentari & Susan Goldin-Meadow
Gawne, Lauren, Chelsea Krajcik, Helene N. Andreassen, Andrea L. Berez-Kroeker & Barbara F. Kelly
Guellaï, Bahia, Alan Langus & Marina Nespor
Gulamani, Sannah, Chloë Marshall & Gary Morgan
GUSSENHOVEN, CARLOS & MARCO VAN DE VEN
Janke, Vikki & Chloë R. Marshall
Jaraisy, Marah & Rose Stamp
Johnston, Trevor
Johnston, Trevor, Jane van Roekel & Adam Schembri
Kastner, Itamar, Irit Meir, Wendy Sandler & Svetlana Dachkovsky
Liebal, Katja
Omardeen, Rehana, Kate Mesh & Markus Steinbach
Oña, Linda S., Wendy Sandler & Katja Liebal
Puupponen, Anna, Laura Kanto, Tuija Wainio & Tommi Jantunen
Sandler, Wendy
Sandler, Wendy
Sandler, Wendy
Stamp, Rose & Wendy Sandler
Weibel, Nadir, So-One Hwang, Steven Rick, Erfan Sayyari, Dan Lenzen & Jim Hollan
Zlatev, Jordan
Żywiczyński, Przemysław & Sławomir Wacewicz
Żywiczyński, Przemysław, Sławomir Wacewicz & Casey Lister
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 09 april 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.