Emergence of grammar in a new sign language

新手语语法的出现

• 批准号: 7337096
• 负责人: CAROL PADDEN
• 金额: $ 24.01万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-01-27 至 2008-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/7337096
• 关键词: Age; Agreement; Bedouin; Beginning of Life; Body of uterus; Cartoons; Categories; Chronology; Class; Clip; Communication; Communities; Complex; Development; Dictionary; Elements; Evolution; Face; Facial Expression; Facility Construction Funding Category; Family; Generations; Goals; Hearing; Hearing Impaired Persons; Heating; Human; Individual; Investigation; Israel; Japan; Language; Language Development; Life; Linguistics; Literature; Location; Measures; Modality; Motion; Nature; Nicaragua; Nicaraguan; Numbers; Pattern; Persons; Plant Roots; Population; Property; Range; Recording of previous events; Relative (related person); Research; Role; Services; Sign Language; Staging; Structure; System; Visual; Work; Youth; autistic children; combinatorial; design; grasp; infancy; interest; member; middle age; phonology; programs; social; syntax

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project grasps a rare opportunity to study the emergence of grammar in a new and isolated sign language born less than 70 years ago among Abu Shara Bedouins in Israel. Because of the family and social patterns in this 3,500-member community, there are now 80 deaf people (2+% of the population), ranging from middle age through infancy. The language is fully integrated into the community, with mixed deaf and hearing families, and heating people using the language proficiently. The historical stages of development of the language are observable synchronically through the study of signers of different ages. The project will focus primarily on known sign language universal properties; in established sign languages, these properties are manifested by a verb agreement system with particular properties, and by a grammatical subsystem of classifier constructions. Preliminary investigation reveals that even these iconically motivated and sign language universal systems begin life as an unsystematic amalgam, developing gradually rather than abruptly. We will document the diachronic evolution of grammatical properties through the generations and study their relation to universal properties of natural language grammar as well as to the grammars of other sign languages. We will also chart the emergence of a prosodic system by investigating the use of rhythm and facial expression. As the constituents of prosody are known to reflect syntactic constituency, we aim to use the more salient prosodic patterning as a point of entry for analyzing the syntactic structure of Abu Sham Sign Language. Using a specially designed battery of elicitation materials -- video clips of staged vignettes, animated cartoons, and individual pictures - we wilt study the language through the generations. A dictionary will be produced for the community, which will double as a synchronic means of eliciting individual words over a diachronic corpus. As the language to be studied is new, isolated, and transmitted normally in family settings, it is expected to highlight those properties that are essential to any natural human language. The results of the project will be useful for enterprises that must mimic such a system: designing symbol systems for augmentative communication, devising basic natural communication systems for autistic children, and others.

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目抓住了一个难得的机会，研究语法的出现在一个新的和孤立的手语出生不到70年前在以色列的阿布沙拉贝都因人。由于这个有3,500名成员的社区的家庭和社会模式，现在有80名聋人（占人口的2%以上），从中年到婴儿期不等。语言完全融入社区，聋哑人和听力正常的家庭混合在一起，人们熟练地使用语言。语言发展的历史阶段可以通过对不同年龄的符号的研究进行共时观察。该项目将主要侧重于已知的手语普遍属性;在既定的手语中，这些属性表现为具有特定属性的动词一致系统，以及分类结构的语法子系统。初步调查显示，即使这些以图像为动机的通用系统和手语系统开始也是作为一种非系统的混合物，逐渐发展而不是突然发展。我们将通过几代人的语法属性的历时演变文件，并研究它们与自然语言语法的普遍属性以及其他手语的语法的关系。我们还将通过研究节奏和面部表情的使用来描绘韵律系统的出现。由于韵律的成分是已知的，以反映句法选区，我们的目标是使用更显着的韵律模式作为切入点，分析阿布沙姆手语的句法结构。使用一组特别设计的启发材料--舞台小插曲的视频剪辑、动画片和个人图片--我们将通过几代人来学习这种语言。将为社区编写一本词典，这将同时作为在历时语料库中引出单个单词的共时手段。由于要研究的语言是新的，孤立的，并在家庭环境中正常传输，它预计将突出这些属性是必不可少的任何自然人类语言。该项目的结果将对必须模仿这种系统的企业有用：为增强沟通设计符号系统，为自闭症儿童设计基本的自然沟通系统等。