The scope of signed phonological generalizations

每种语言都有一个语音系统，将单词表达为无意义元素的模式。此外，人们很容易将这些模式概括为他们以前从未听说过的新形式。例如，当人们听到“bagogo”和“Malulu”这两种形式时，就会迅速提取ABB模式，并将其推广到“wufii”。这些来自口语的结果意义重大，因为它们表明人类大脑通过抽象规则编码语言音系模式。然而，音系模式并不局限于口语。与口语语言一样，每一种手语都表现出(手动)语音模式，手语者将这些模式扩展到新的形式。因此，人们可以问，规则是构成所有语言的一部分，还是仅构成口语系统的一部分。手语和口语在设计上的相似之处(和不同之处)是重要的，因为它们允许我们确定自然语言的某些特征是否是人类语言生物能力的核心，而不管它是以何种特定的方式(语音或手动手势)传递的。这项拟议的研究旨在评估规则在手语音系学中的作用。为此，这项研究将考察手语音系学提供的概括的范围，以确定这些概括是由代数机制还是非代数(统计和视觉/语音)机制最好地捕捉到的。作为一个案例研究，贝伦特博士将研究美国手语中的重叠规则。需要解决的问题包括：签字人是否自由地在所有领域推广重叠模式--无论新的项目与熟悉的签名元素有多相似；重叠是否依赖于语言知识或视觉重复。例如，实验将考察重叠是否取决于各种与语言相关的变量，如手势的词汇状态；以及是否取决于参与者对ASL的语言经验。该项目还包括一组近红外光谱(NIRS)研究，以探索新生儿对重复序列的敏感性。结果将揭示人类语言能力的基础。通过探索典型语音系统的结构，这个项目的发现与我们对与语音有关的临床疾病的宿主的理解有关，从特定的语言障碍到阅读困难。这项对符号音素系统的调查还可能通过为基于研究的教育实践提供信息，帮助促进聋人的阅读习得。

Every language includes a phonological system that expresses words as patterns of meaningless elements. Moreover, people readily generalize these patterns to novel forms that they have never heard before. For example, upon hearing the forms "bagogo" and "malulu", people rapidly extract the ABB pattern and they extend it to "wufifi". These results from spoken languages are significant because they suggest that human brains encode linguistic phonological patterns by means of abstract rules. Phonological patterns however, are not limited to spoken languages. Like their spoken counterparts, every sign language exhibits (manual) phonological patterns, and signers extend those patterns to novel forms. Accordingly, one can ask whether rules form part of all languages, or of spoken systems alone. Similarities (and differences) in the design of signed and spoken languages are significant because they allow us to determine whether some features of natural language are core to the human biological capacity for language, irrespective of the specific modality (speech vs. manual gestures) in which it is transmitted. The proposed research seeks to gauge the role of rules in sign language phonology. To this end, this investigation will examine the scope of generalizations afforded by sign language phonology to determine whether these generalizations are best captured by algebraic or non-algebraic (statistical and visual/phonetic) mechanisms. As a case study, Dr. Berent will investigate the reduplication rule in American Sign Language. Among the issues to be addressed are: whether signers freely generalize the reduplication pattern across the board--irrespective of the similarity of novel items to familiar signed elements; and whether reduplication relies on linguistic knowledge or visual repetition. For example, experiments will examine whether reduplication depends on various linguistically-relevant variables such as the lexical status of the signs; and whether it is dependant on participants' linguistic experience with ASL. The project also includes a set of Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) studies to explore sensitivity to reduplication in neonates. Results will shed light on the basis of the human capacity for language. By exploring the structure of typical phonological systems, the findings from this project are relevant to our understanding of the host of clinical disorders linked to phonology, ranging from specific language impairment to dyslexia. This investigation of signed phonological systems may also help promote reading gains among deaf individuals by informing research-based educational practices.