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The puzzle of negation: How children move from communicative to grammatical negation in ASL

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Diane E. Anderson  and
Judy S. Reilly
Diane E. Anderson*
Affiliation:
SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology
Judy S. Reilly
Affiliation:
SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology
*
Diane E. Anderson, Department of Psychology, 6363 Alvarado Court, #221, San Diego, CA 92120
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Abstract

In American Sign Language (ASL), in addition to manual signs, specific nonmanual behaviors play a crucial role in the grammar of the language. For example, conditionals and relative clauses are signaled by obligatory nonmanual markers. This study focuses on the acquisition of negation in ASL, which is signaled by manual signs as well as an obligatory headshake. In particular, we address the developmental relationship between the communicative and grammatical (or linguistic) headshakes for negation. Study 1 includes naturalistic data from a cross-sectional sample of 51 deaf children, ranging in age from 1: 0 to 4: 11, who are acquiring ASL as their primary language. Study 2 includes longitudinal data from 16 of these children.

Type
Articles
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 18 , Issue 4 , October 1997 , pp. 411 - 429
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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