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 5:9
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
A World of Language Diversity
Variation in American Sign Language
Across the United States
Just as hearing people have a
variety of ways for saying the same thing, Deaf people have
may ways of signing the same thing. In spoken
English, for example, some people say
“sofa,” while
others say
“couch” or
“davenport”;
some people say
“bubbler”
whereas others say
“water
fountain.” In American Sign Language (ASL), Deaf people use different signs for
know,
yesterday, and deaf.
What’s Your Sign for
Pizza? An Introduction to
Variation in American Sign Language by Ceil Lucas, Robert Bayley,
and Clayton Valli explores the different kinds of variation in ASL in the United States
Deaf community. This introductory text is based on a comprehensive research project that
lasted seven years and includes signs from more than 200 Deaf ASL users
representing different ages, genders and ethnic groups from seven different
regions across the country. Read chapter four,
Phonological Variation, for a closer look at alternative ways of
signing the same thing and
order What’s Your Sign for Pizza? at a special savings
of 20% off.
Discover a global perspective on variation in signed languages among Deaf communities in
Many Ways to
Be Deaf: International Variation in Deaf Communities edited by Leila
Monaghan, Constanze Schmaling, Karen Nakamura, and Graham H. Turner.
In Many Ways to
Be Deaf, twenty-four international scholars write about signed languages used in
countries all around the world, including Austria, Japan, Brazil, Viet Nam,
Sweden, Nigeria, Ireland, Nicaragua, and many more. The Midwest Book Review
singles out this volume in a recent issue stating, “An exhaustively researched
and critically insightful resource, Many Ways to Be Deaf is an impressive
work of scholarship and a ground breaking contribution to Deaf Studies reference
collections and supplemental reading lists.” Read the
full
review along with chapter twelve, The Chiying School of Taiwan: A Foreigner’s
Perspective, and
order Many Ways to Be Deaf.
 Language in Society
published a glowing review of
Sociolinguistic Variation in American Sign
Language, the
seventh volume in the
Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities series exclaiming,
“It has been a pleasure to review a book so clear in purpose
and successful in execution. This book demonstrates the advantages of carefully
planned collaborative teamwork, drawing upon a vast range of expertise and
experience, all the while modeling explicit methodology and theory for
sociolinguistic analysis and exploration.”
The reviewer goes on to say “...I strongly recommend
this book for graduate and upper-division courses in sociolinguistic variation,
especially courses in which the study of sign languages is included. I also
recommend it to anyone interested in sociolinguistic variation, or the interplay
between linguistic theory and pedagogy.”
You can read the complete
review here. Also, read
chapter one,
Sociolinguistic Variation and Sign Languages: A Framework for Research, and
order
your copy.
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