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Article published In:
Anthropology of Gesture
Edited by Heather Brookes and Olivier Le Guen
[Gesture 18:2/3] 2019
► pp. 343–369

The impact of cross-linguistic variation in gesture on sign language phonology and morphology

The case of size and shape specifiers

| Leiden University

A considerable body of literature points at parallels between gestural elements and sign language structures. This raises the question to what extent variation in gesture environment may lead to related variation across sign languages, or, mutatis mutandis, to what extent similarities in gesture environment may lead to similarities across (otherwise unrelated) sign languages.

This article will address that question by reviewing a series of studies relating to size and shape specifying (SASS) signs and gestures in signed and spoken languages in West Africa. The review finds that the use of body-based SASS gestures coincides with the use of body-based SASS signs in the sign languages studied, which in turn aligns with (a) restrictions on the number and types of handshapes used in space-based SASS signs, (b) limited use of space-based size depiction in lexical items (Nyst, 2018), and (c) a gap in the repertoire of phonemic handshapes.

I conclude that culture-specific patterning in gesture environment may impact on cross-linguistic variation in SASS morphology and handshape phonology. As such, the gestural environment presents an explanation why SLs may be alike or different, in addition to shared ancestry, language contact, and iconicity.

Keywords: gesture-sign language interface, GestureBund, impact of iconicity on SL structure, impact of gesture variation on SL typology, West African sign languages
Article outline
  • Cross-linguistic variation in gesture and signing
  • Types of size and shape depiction
  • Body-based size and shape depiction in gesture and signing
    • Size and shape depiction in Anyi and Dutch co-speech gestures
    • Integration into the linguistic system of size and shape gestures: Body-based size and shape depiction in an emerging and an established SL
  • Space-based size and shape depiction
    • Space-based size and shape depiction in Anyi and Dutch SASS gestures
    • Space-based size depiction in three African and three European SLs
  • Hand-internal size depiction or open handshapes with thumb opposition
    • Marginality of open handshapes with thumb opposition in phonetic handshapes
    • Absence of open handshapes with thumb opposition in phonemic handshapes
  • Discussion
    • Cross-cultural variation in gesture as a blueprint for cross-linguistic variation in SLs
    • Documenting and describing gestural environments
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 17 February 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/gest.19009.nys
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