Argues that WH-Movement in American Sign Language (ASL) is a leftward specifier of CP. Also argues that the occurrence of rightward WH-elements derives from independently motivated syntactic and discourse factors leading to the appearance of WH-elements in a sentence- or discourse-final positions--not by rightward WH-movement. This analysis…

Conventional sign language used by a community of signers over generations was compared with gestures invented by a deaf child over a period of years and with gestures invented by nonsigning hearing individuals on the spot. Findings suggest that an individual can introduce standards of well-formedness, but construction of standards requires…

This paper examines historical processes in American Sign Language (ASL) and shows that there is a tendency for signs to change in the direction of arbitrariness, rather than maintaining a level of iconicity. Changes at the formational level are seen as contributing to language-internal consistency, at the expense of transparency. (Author/CLK)