Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Emergence of Linguistic Structure in a Family Homesign Language

完全从零开始创建的语言会是什么样子？这个问题不能通过研究口语来回答，口语的起源可以追溯到史前。然而，手语在今天仍在继续创造，只要有大量的聋哑人存在。因此，新兴的手语为研究者提供了直接观察语言创造过程的机会。这个研究项目的重点是一种这样的手语，由三个失聪的兄弟姐妹和他们的四个听力正常的家庭成员创造。这种家庭手语最初是由家庭中出生的第一个聋人发展起来的一种特殊的手势系统，后来被后来出生的聋人和听力正常的家庭成员发展成一种共同的手势系统。本研究项目旨在记录语言的语法结构，重点关注长子失聪个体的手语系统与后生失聪个体的手语系统的不同之处。这种方法有可能揭示语法结构在语言创造的最初阶段是如何出现和发展的。本研究项目的重点是迄今为止几乎所有研究过的手语中都有记录的两种语法结构：(i)分类结构和（ii）方向动词。分类器结构表示物体在空间中的运动和位置，并涉及一个有意义的手形单位，用于识别物体的类别。分类器手型的清单对于每种手语都是独一无二的。该项目使用现有的手语评估工具来确定签字人是否已经制定了使用分类手型的惯例。和分类结构一样，指示动词也利用了空间。然而，指向动词不是标记位置关系，而是用空间来表示主语和宾语的语法关系——谁对谁做了什么。在其他新兴的手语中，方向动词随着语言的代代相传而逐渐发展。这个研究项目的问题是，语言在家庭成员之间的传播是否支持了方向动词的出现。分类结构和方向动词被认为是语法结构与非语言手势的界面。为了确定手势对语言突现结构的贡献，该研究项目还研究了来自更大群体的听觉、非手语个体所产生的手势。总而言之，该项目旨在梳理语言出现过程中各种因素的贡献，包括：个人创造语言的能力，个体之间符号系统的传播，以及环境语言社区的手势实践的作用。这项研究有助于我们对人类语言能力的理解，并提高了对手语的认识。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

What would a language created completely from scratch look like? This question cannot be answered by studying spoken languages, whose origins extend back into prehistory. However, sign languages continue to be created in the present day wherever a critical mass of deaf individuals forms. Thus, newly emerging sign languages provide researchers the opportunity to observe the process of language creation directly. This research project focuses on one such sign language, created by three deaf siblings and four of their hearing family members. This homesign language began as an idiosyncratic gesture system developed by the first deaf individual born into the family and was later elaborated into a shared sign system by later-born deaf and hearing family members. This research project sets out to document the grammatical structure of the language, focusing on the ways in the which the sign system of the first-born deaf individual differs from those of the later-born signers. This approach has the potential to shed light on how grammatical structure emerges and develops at the earliest stages of language creation.This research project focuses on two grammatical structures that have been documented in nearly all sign languages studied to date: (i) classifier constructions and (ii) directional verbs. Classifier constructions represent the motion and location of objects in space and involve a meaningful handshape unit that identifies the category of the object. The inventory of classifier handshapes is unique to each signed language. This project uses existing sign language assessment tools to determine whether the signers have developed conventions for the use of classifier handshapes. Like classifier constructions, directional verbs also make use of space. However, rather than marking locative relations, directional verbs use space to represent the grammatical relations of subject and object—who does what to whom. In other emerging sign languages, directional verbs have been shown to develop gradually as the language is passed down from generation to generation. This research project asks whether the transmission of the language among members of the family has supported the emergence of directional verbs. Classifier constructions and directional verbs have been argued to represent the interface of grammatical structure with non-linguistic gesture. To determine the contribution of gesture to the emergent structure of the language, this research project also examines the gestures produced by hearing, non-signing individuals from the larger community. Altogether, this project aims to tease apart the contributions of a variety of factors to the process of language emergence, including: an individual's capacity to create language, transmission of a sign system from individual to individual, and the role of the gestural practices of the ambient speech community. This research contributes to our understanding of the human language capacity and raises awareness about sign languages.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.