Discusses Providence Island Sign Language (PSL), an autochthonous and relatively immature language of about 20 speakers. It is a nascent and evolving language whose description can produce rich results for linguistic theory. Such a description will also be an explanation of the phylogeny of a linguistic system. (Author/PJM)

Two experiments examined whether Deaf signers or hearing nonsigners exhibit categorical perception (CP) for hand configuration or for place of articulation in American Sign Language. Findings that signers and nonsigners performed similarly suggests that these categories in American Sign Language have a perceptual as well as a linguistic basis.…

Discusses the Brazilian Sign language digital encyclopedia, which contains a databank of 5,600 signs glossed in Portuguese and English, along with descriptions and illustrations of their signed form. (Author/VWL)

Explores the outcome of a publicly-funded research project titled "Redesign of the British Sign Language (BSL) Notation System with a New Font for Use in ICT." The aim of the project was to redesign the British Sign Language variant of Stokoe notation for practical use in information technology systems and software, such as lexical…

Investigates deaf and hearing subjects' ratings of American Sign Language (ASL) signs to assess whether linguistic experience shapes judgments of sign similarity. Findings are consistent with linguistic theories that posit movement and location as core structural elements of syllable structure in ASL. (Author/VWL)

"Patterns of the Mind," by Ray Jackendoff, and "The Language Instinct," by Steven Pinker, are reviewed. Each are written to support the theory that language is predetermined by genetically endowed brain structure but also include discussions of studies that use sign language to confirm the standard model of linguistic theory. (Contains seven…

Thirty-eight hearing adults' ability to comprehend English homonyms was evaluated from their transcriptions of two versions of a videotaped story, signed in either a literal sign model (Seeing Essential English 2) or a conceptual sign model (Pidgin Sign English). Participants' transcriptions were more successful after watching the literal version.…

Visual language mediation by hearing offspring was studied in deaf-parented families as part of a larger program of cross-sectional descriptive research into aspects of deaf parents' child-rearing performance. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 profoundly deaf adults and the oldest hearing school-aged offspring in the home. (12…

Explores the active role of the sign language interpreter in resolving simultaneous and overlapping speech, guided by social and linguistic knowledge of the entire communicative situation in making linguistic choices about what to interpret. (29 references) (Author/CB)

Offers a preliminary examination of several sign language varieties in use in Costa Rica and attempts to explain the relationship among these varieties. Based on comparative lexical data, it is postulated that at least four distinct sign languages exist in Costa Rica. Implications for future research are also discussed. (eight references) (JL)

Examines the status and methods of bilingual education for deaf children, involving the teaching of a signed language, and compares such education to bilingual education involving two spoken languages. (Author/CB)

Examines attempts to teach primates how to communicate using sign language. Much of the debate over whether it is possible to teach primates to communicate centers on the definition of language. (Author/VWL)

Provides an overview of the nature of different types of signed languages and offers a detailed discussion of the research currently available with respect to South African Sign Language. (Author/VWL)

Outlines basic functions of passive constructions in language in general, and describes in more detail what form this takes in a proposal of American Sign Language (ASL). Compares discourse examples of active and passive constructions in ASL, addresses the role of topicalization in passive constructions, and discusses passives and reference…

Examines the course of young children's acquisition of the sign language formational aspects of location, handshape, and movement. Nine children and their sign-using parents participated in the study. One child was deaf; the other children were reported as having normal hearing. In seven families, both parents were deaf, and in the other two…