Contents Introduction: Phonetics, Phonology, Iconicity and Innateness; Part I. Observation; Marked Hand Configurations in Asian Sign Languages; The phonetics and phonology of the TID (Turkish Sign Language) bimanual alphabet; Child-directed signing as a linguistic register; Part II. Experiment; Sign language comprehension: Insights from misperceptions of different phonological parameters; Lexical and Articulatory Influences on Phonological Processing in Taiwan Sign Language; When does a system become phonological? Potential sources of handshape contrast in sign languages
A phonological awareness test for deaf children using Brazilian Sign LanguagePhonological category resolution in a new Sign Language: A comparative study of handshapes; American Sign Language Tone and Intonation: A Phonetic Analysis of Eyebrow Properties; Part III. Theory; Are dynamic features required in signs?; A constraint-based account of distributional differences in handshapes; ASL Movement Phonemes and Allophones; Movement types, Repetition, and Feature Organization in Hong Kong Sign Language; Language index; Subject index
Abstract Sign languages and spoken languages have many fascinating differences, caused primarily by the reaction of the human mind to different modalities, but also by some important social differences. This book examines the effects of these and other differences on sign language phonology and phonetics using observation, experimentation and theory. Languages examined include Asian, Middle Eastern, European and American sign languages, and language situations include home signers and small village signers, children, gesturers, adult signers and non-native signers.