Chapter 12
Language variation and standardization
The following variants of the sign dog occur in HKSL. They are used at two different schools for the deaf. What does this tell us about the factors influencing variation in sign languages?
< NOTE: video clips are available on the website >
These are examples of lexical variation. Differences in the lexicon can emerge in different situations where the signers are not or barely in contact with one another. Education still creates such a situation in many countries.
Extra: look at the variants for india in BSL: http://bslsignbank.ucl.ac.uk/dictionary/words/India.html
We observe lexical variation and phonological variation (e.g. clips 1, 2 and 6) here. Variant 3 is the variant that is now preferred by younger signers (political correctness), based on the religious associations of many signs with Hinduism. Sign 3 does not reflect this.