Gestures and Sign Language Outline PDF

Gestures and sign language outline (Yule 2006: 172-180) Sign=sign language language acquisition ASL=American Sign Language , Ameslan Although both Sign and gestures involve the use of hands, they are rather different. Sign is like speech and is used instead...

Gestures and sign language outline (Yule 2006: 172-180) Sign=sign language language acquisition ASL=American Sign Language , Ameslan Although both Sign and gestures involve the use of hands, they are rather different. Sign is like speech and is used instead of speaking, whereas gestures are mostly used while speaking. Non verbal behaviour: emblems and gestures. Emblems are the signals such as "thumbs up" or "shush" that function like fixed phrases and do not depend on speech. Emblems are conventional and depend on social knowledge (cultural context). Types of gestures Within the set of gestures that accompany speech, we can distinguish between those that echo, in some way, the content of the spoken message and those that indicate something being referred to. Iconics are gestures that seem to be a reflection of meaning of what is said, as when we trace a square in air with a finger while saying “I am looking for a small box”. They add meaning to what is verbalised (“It was that big”). Deictics: The term 'deictic' means 'pointing' and we often use gestures to point to things or people while talking. We can use deictics in the current context, as when we use a hand to indicate a table (with a cake on it) and ask someone “Would you like some cake?” We can also use the same gesture and the same table (with cake no longer on it) when we later say “That cake was delicious”. In this case, the gesture and the speech combine to accomplish successful reference to something that only exists in joint memory rather than in the current physical space. Beats are short quick movements of the hand or fingers. These gestures accompany the rhythm of talk and are often used to emphasize parts of what is being said or to mark a change from describing events in a story to commenting on those events. As with other gestures, these hand movements accompany speech, but are not typically used as a way of speaking. When hand movements are used in order to 'speak', we can describe them as part of a sign language. https://youtu.be/FD3Crvn7lsM Sign languages Alternate sign language: a system of hand signals developed by speakers for limited communication in a specific context where speech cannot be used. Primary sign language: the first language of a group of people who do not use a spoken language with each other, e.g. British Sign Language, French Sign Language, American Sign Language. American Sign Language: https://youtu.be/7LUjXkrYsnE (Basic ASL Conversation) -visual mode -articulatory parameters: shape (configuration of the hand in forming a sign), orientation (palm up, palm down, flat hand, etc.), location (in relation to the head and upper body of the signer), movement (faster, slower). Primes: sets of features in terms of shape/orientation, etc. → like phonological features of spoken lg Finger-spelling: hand configurations used to represent letters https://youtu.be/umqk-930OrE (Finger- spelling // Alphabet // BSL) -Recognising familiar linguistic forms that have arbitrary status. -ASL dialects in different regions, historical changes