• Forthcoming titles
      • New in paperback
      • New titles by subject
      • July 2022
      • June 2022
      • May 2022
      • April 2022
      • New serials
      • Latest issues
      • Currently in production
      • Active series
      • Other series
      • Open-access books
      • Text books & Course books
      • Dictionaries & Reference
      • By JB editor
      • Active serials
      • Other
      • By JB editor
      • Printed catalogs
      • E-book collections
      • Amsterdam (Main office)
      • Philadelphia (North American office)
      • General
      • US, Canada & Mexico
      • E-books
      • Examination & Desk Copies
      • General information
      • Access to the electronic edition
      • Special offers
      • Terms of Use
      • E-newsletter
      • Book Gazette
Article published in:
Investigating Understudied Sign Languages - Croatian SL and Austrian SL, with comparison to American SL
Edited by Ronnie B. Wilbur
[Sign Language & Linguistics 9:1/2] 2006
► pp. 5–32

What does the study of signed languages tell us about ‘language’?

Ronnie B. Wilbur | Purdue University
Linguists focusing on what all languages have in common seek to identify universals, tendencies, and other patterns to construct a general model of human language, Universal Grammar (UG). The design features of this model are that it must account for linguistic universals, account for linguistic diversity, and account for language learnability. Sign languages contribute to the construction of this model by providing a new source of data, permitting the claims and assumptions of UG to be rigorously tested and modified. One result of this research has been that the notion of ‘language’ itself has been clarified, clearly separating it from speech. It has also been possible to identify the design features of ‘natural languages’ themselves, and then to explain why pedagogical signing systems are not natural languages. This paper provides an overview of these issues.
Published online: 25 April 2007
https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.9.1.04wil
Share via FacebookShare via TwitterShare via LinkedInShare via WhatsApp
About us | Disclaimer | Privacy policy | | | | Antiquariathttps://benjamins.com