City Research Online

The first signs of language: Phonological development in British sign language

Morgan, G., Barrett-Jones, S. & Stoneham, H. (2007). The first signs of language: Phonological development in British sign language. Applied Psycholinguistics, 28(1), pp. 3-22. doi: 10.1017/s0142716407070014

Abstract

A total of 1018 signs in one deaf child’s naturalistic interaction with her deaf mother, between the ages 19-24 months were analysed. This study summarises regular modification processes in the phonology of the child sign’s handshape, location, movement and prosody. Firstly changes to signs were explained by the notion of phonological markedness. Secondly, the child managed her production of first signs through two universal processes: structural change and substitution. Constraints unique to the visual modality also caused sign language specific acquisition patterns, namely: more errors for handshape articulation in locations in peripheral vision, a high frequency of whole sign repetitions and feature group rather than one-to-one phoneme substitutions as in spoken language development.

Publication Type: Article
Publisher Keywords: CHILDRENS ACQUISITION, WORD
Subjects: P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Departments: School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Language & Communication Science
SWORD Depositor:
[thumbnail of The_first_signs_of_language.pdf]
Preview
PDF
Download (222kB) | Preview

Export

Add to AnyAdd to TwitterAdd to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to PinterestAdd to Email

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

Actions (login required)

Admin Login Admin Login