LINGUIST 1A03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: French Sign Language, American Sign Language, Deaf School
18 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
A method of communication used in the exchange of information, that is: symbolic, creative, systematic constraint. Early views of sign language: sign language was argues as not being a natural language. Tues jan 17: driven by fear of language extinction, in 1910 the national association of the deaf recorded eight videos in order to preserve examples of the masters of our sign language for future generations. This variation is bound by systematic constraints about the contexts that they occur. 5 principles of language: generality: all languages have a grammar, parity: all grammars are equal, universality: all grammars are alike in basic ways, mutability: all grammars change over time, inaccessibility: grammatical knowledge is subconscious. Generality: a grammar represents the possibilities and constraints that govern how a language is and can be used, any language system used productively amongst a speech community inherently must have grammar, grammars can vary between speech communities. Parity: standard vs non-standard varieties, associated with value judgements.
