Grammatical Subjects in home sign: Abstract linguistic structure in adult primary gesture systems without linguistic input
Grammatical Subjects in home sign: Abstract linguistic structure in adult primary gesture systems without linguistic input
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.0509306102
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发表时间：
2005-12-27
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Newport, EL
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Coppola, M;Newport, EL
幼儿的语言通常是语言经验（例如，接触口语或手语）和先天能力（例如，获得某些类型的语言模式的能力）的结果。辨别语言习得的哪些方面受经验控制，哪些方面源于先天因素的一种方法是去除或操纵语言输入。然而，涉及剥夺儿童语言输入的实验操作是不可能的。本研究考察了语言剥夺的自然情况下产生的沟通系统，从而探讨了人类在没有任何传统语言输入的情况下建立特定类型沟通系统的内在趋势。我们研究了手势系统，三个孤立的失聪尼加拉瓜人（年龄14-23岁）已经开发出与他们的听力家庭使用。这些聋人没有接触过任何传统语言，无论是口语还是手语。为了与家人沟通，他们各自在家中开发了一种名为“家庭标志”的手势沟通系统。“我们的分析集中在这些系统是否显示出主语语法范畴的证据。主题被广泛认为是人类语言的通用主题。使用专门设计的启发式任务，我们表明，家庭签名者也表现出普遍的特点，主题在他们的手势制作，尽管他们的沟通系统的发展没有接触到传统的语言。这些发现表明，抽象的语言结构，特别是主语的语法范畴，可以在没有语言输入的情况下出现在手势模态中。
Language ordinarily emerges in young children as a consequence of both linguistic experience (for example, exposure to a spoken or signed language) and innate abilities (for example, the ability to acquire certain types of language patterns). One way to discern which aspects of language acquisition are controlled by experience and which arise from innate factors is to remove or manipulate linguistic input. However, experimental manipulations that involve depriving a child of language input are impossible. The present work examines the communication systems resulting from natural situations of language deprivation and thus explores the inherent tendency of humans to build communication systems of particular kinds, without any conventional linguistic input. We examined the gesture systems that three isolated deaf Nicaraguans (ages 14-23 years) have developed for use with their hearing families. These deaf individuals have had no contact with any conventional language, spoken or signed. To communicate with their families, they have each developed a gestural communication system within the home called "home sign." Our analysis focused on whether these systems show evidence of the grammatical category of Subject. Subjects are widely considered to be universal to human languages. Using specially designed elicitation tasks, we show that home signers also demonstrate the universal characteristics of Subjects in their gesture productions, despite the fact that their communicative systems have developed without exposure to a conventional language. These findings indicate that abstract linguistic structure, particularly the grammatical category of Subject, can emerge in the gestural modality without linguistic input.