Simultaneity as a unique property of visual-spatial language: the simultaneous structure of two-handed classifier predicates in bimodal ASL/English narrative ebooks for Deaf children*
Date
2017
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Producer
Director
Performer
Choreographer
Costume Designer
Music
Videographer
Lighting Designer
Set Designer
Crew Member
Funder
Rehearsal Director
Concert Coordinator
Advisor
Moderator
Panelist
Alternative Title
Department
Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics
Type
Thesis (B.A.)
Original Format
Running Time
File Format
Place of Publication
Date Span
Copyright Date
Award
Language
en_US
Note
Table of Contents
Terms of Use
Full copyright to this work is retained by the student author. It may only be used for non-commercial, research, and educational purposes. All other uses are restricted.
Rights Holder
Access Restrictions
Terms of Use
Tripod URL
Identifier
Abstract
Simultaneity, or the co-occurrence of linguistic material at any level, is widely recognized as a
fundamental property of the grammar of signed languages, a natural consequence of their
visual-spatial modality. Enabled by multiple separate articulation tracts, including both hands,
the upper torso and face (the non-manual articulators), signers across a broad variety of unrelated
signed languages exploit both sequentiality and simultaneity to transmit a linguistic message
(Vermeerbergen et aI2007). In American Sign Language (ASL), simultaneity is particularly
relevant to what many sign language linguists term 'classifier predicates', where the handshape
parameter serves to specify an argument by indicating a noun class, while physio-spatial
properties of the hand including location, orientation, and movement serve to predicate the
argument (Supalla 1986). Often described as a means of 'saying by showing', classifier
predicates inventively and efficiently exploit the related properties of simultaneity and iconicity
to a much higher degree than frozen lexical signs. While research has begun to illuminate the
complex form and function of simultaneity in classifier predicates in regular conversation, my
thesis contextualizes this evidence in a new and increasingly important register: bimodal
narratives directed toward children who use sign language. Using a small corpus of ASLIEnglish
ebooks from a collaborative project between students of Swarthmore College and Gallaudet
University, my thesis describes the structure of two-handed classifier predicates in this dataset,
concluding that the morphological constraints on simultaneity appear to be upheld in this
register.