Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T09:26:52.478Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Phonological variation and change in Australian and New Zealand Sign Languages: The location variable

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2009

Adam Schembri ,
David McKee ,
Rachel McKee ,
Sara Pivac ,
Trevor Johnston  and
Della Goswell
Adam Schembri
Affiliation:
University College London
David McKee
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington
Rachel McKee
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington
Sara Pivac
Affiliation:
Victoria University of Wellington
Trevor Johnston
Affiliation:
Macquarie University
Della Goswell
Affiliation:
Macquarie University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this study, we consider variation in a class of signs in Australian and New Zealand Sign Languages that includes the signs think, name, and clever. In their citation form, these signs are specified for a place of articulation at or near the signer's forehead or above, but are sometimes produced at lower locations. An analysis of 2667 tokens collected from 205 deaf signers in five sites across Australia and of 2096 tokens collected from 138 deaf signers from three regions in New Zealand indicates that location variation in these signs reflects both linguistic and social factors, as also reported for American Sign Language (Lucas, Bayley, & Valli, 2001). Despite similarities, however, we find that some of the particular factors at work, and the kinds of influence they have, appear to differ in these three signed languages. Moreover, our results suggest that lexical frequency may also play a role.

Type
Research Article
Information
Language Variation and Change , Volume 21 , Issue 2 , July 2009 , pp. 193 - 231
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alexander, Sara. P. (2008). Sociolinguistic variation in fingerspelling in New Zealand Sign Language. M.A. dissertation, Victoria University of Wellington.Google Scholar
Ash, Sharon. (2002). Social class. In Chambers, J. K., Trudgill, P., & Schilling-Estes, N. (eds.), The handbook of language variation and change. Oxford: Blackwell. 402–422.Google Scholar
Bailey, Guy. (2002). Real and apparent time. In Chambers, J. K., Trudgill, P., & Schilling-Estes, N. (eds.), The handbook of language variation and change. Oxford: Blackwell. 312–322.Google Scholar
Bayley, Robert. (2002). The quantitative paradigm. In Chambers, J. K., Trudgill, P., & Schilling-Estes, N. (eds.), The handbook of language variation and change. Oxford: Blackwell. 117–141.Google Scholar
Bell, Alan, Gregory, Michelle L., Brenier, Jason M., Jurafsky, Daniel, Ikeno, Ayako, & Girand, Cynthia. (2002). Which predictability measures affect content word durations? In Proceedings of the Pronunciation Modeling and Lexicon Adaptation for Spoken Language Technology Workshop, September 14–15, 2002. Estes Park, CO. 1–5.Google Scholar
Bernal, Brian, & Wilson, Lyn. (eds.) (2004). Dictionary of Auslan: English to Auslan (with regional sign variations). Melbourne: Deaf Children Australia.Google Scholar
Boyes-Braem, Penny, & Sutton-Spence, Rachel. (2001). The hands are the head of the mouth: The mouth as articulator in sign languages. Hamburg: Signum Press.Google Scholar
Branson, Jan, Bernal, Brian, Toms, Jennifer, Adam, Robert, & Miller, Don. (1995). Introduction to Auslan, level 2: Student workbook. Melbourne: La Trobe University.Google Scholar
Branson, Jan, Peters, Graham, Bernal, Jennifer, & Bernal, Brian. (1992). Introduction to Auslan: Level 1. Melbourne: National Institute for Deaf Studies and Sign Language Research & La Trobe University Language Centre.Google Scholar
Brien, David. (ed.) (1992). Dictionary of British Sign Language/English. London: Faber & Faber.Google Scholar
Bybee, Joan L. (2002). Word frequency and context of use in the lexical diffusion of phonetically conditioned sound change. Language Variation and Change 14:261–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bybee, Joan L. (2007). Frequency of use and the organization of language. New York: Oxford.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carty, Breda M. (2004). Managing their own affairs: The Australian deaf community during the 1920s and 1930s. Ph.D. dissertation, Griffith University.Google Scholar
Chambers, J. K. (1995). Sociolinguistic theory: Linguistic variation and its social significance. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Chambers, J. K., Trudgill, Peter, & Schilling-Estes, Natalie. (2002). The handbook of language variation and change. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Cheshire, Jenny. (2002). Sex and gender in variationist research. In Chambers, J. K., Trudgill, P., & Schilling-Estes, N. (eds.), The handbook of language variation and change. Oxford: Blackwell. 423–443.Google Scholar
Collins-Ahlgren, Marianne. (1989). Aspects of New Zealand Sign Language. Ph.D. dissertation, Victoria University of Wellington.Google Scholar
Dinkin, Aaron. (2007). The real effect of word frequency on phonetic variation. Paper presented at the 31st Penn Linguistics Colloquium, Philadelphia, PA.Google Scholar
Emmorey, Karen. (2002). Language, cognition, and the brain: Insights from sign language research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Forman, Wayne. (2003). The ABCs of New Zealand Sign Language: Aerial spelling. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 8(1):92–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fought, Carmen. (2002). Ethnicity. In Chambers, J. K., Trudgill, P., & Schilling-Estes, N. (eds.), The handbook of language variation and change. Oxford: Blackwell. 444–472.Google Scholar
Frishberg, Nancy. (1975). Arbitrariness and iconicity: Historical change in American Sign Language. Language 51:696–719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horvath, Barbara, & Horvath, Ronald. (2002). The geolinguistics of /l/ vocalization in Australia and New Zealand. Journal of Sociolinguistics 6(3):319–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyde, Merv, & Power, Desmond J. (1991). The use of Australian Sign Language by Deaf people. Brisbane: Centre for Deafness Studies and Research, Griffith University.Google Scholar
Johnston, Trevor. (1987). A curriculum outline for teaching Australian Sign Language (Auslan) as a second language. Adelaide: TAFE National Centre for Research and Development.Google Scholar
Johnston, Trevor. (1989). Auslan: The sign language of the Australian deaf community. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Sydney.Google Scholar
Johnston, Trevor. (ed.) (1997). Signs of Australia on CD-ROM: A dictionary of Auslan (Version 1.0 for Windows). North Rocks, NSW: North Rocks Press.Google Scholar
Johnston, Trevor. (ed.) (1998). Signs of Australia: A new dictionary of Auslan. North Rocks, NSW: North Rocks Press.Google Scholar
Johnston, Trevor. (2003). BSL, Auslan and NZSL: Three signed languages or one? In Baker, A., van den Bogaerde, B., & Crasborn, O. (eds.), Cross-linguistic perspectives in sign language research: Selected papers from TISLR 2000. Hamburg: Signum Verlag. 47–69.Google Scholar
Johnston, Trevor, & Schembri, Adam. (1999). On defining lexeme in a sign language. Sign Language & Linguistics 2(1):115–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnston, Trevor, & Schembri, Adam. (2007). Australian Sign Language: An introduction to the linguistics of sign languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnston, Trevor, & Schembri, Adam. (eds.) (2003). The survival guide to Auslan: A beginner's pocket dictionary of Australian Sign Language. Sydney: North Rocks Press.Google Scholar
Kennedy, Graeme, Arnold, Richard, Dugdale, Pat, Fahey, Shaun, & Moskovitz, David. (1997). A Dictionary of New Zealand Sign Language. Auckland: Auckland University Press with Bridget Williams Books.Google Scholar
Kyle, Jim, & Woll, Bencie. (1985). Sign language: The study of deaf people and their language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Labov, William. (1994). Principles of linguistic change: Internal factors. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Labov, William. (2001). Principles of linguistic change: Social factors. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Labov, William. (2006). A sociolinguistic perspective on sociophonetic research. Journal of Phonetics 34:500–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leigh, Gregory R. (1995). Teacher's use of the Australasian Signed English system for simultaneous communication with their hearing-impaired students. Ph.D. dissertation, Monash University.Google Scholar
Leuninger, Helen, Hohenberger, Annette, Waleschkowski, Eva, Menges, Elke, & Happ, Daneila. (2004). The impact of modality on language production: Evidence from slips of the tongue and hand. In Pechman, T. & Habel, C. (eds.), Multidisciplinary approaches to language production. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 219–277.Google Scholar
Levitt, Dan. (1986). Introduction to New Zealand Sign Language. Auckland: Deaf Association and National Foundation for the Deaf.Google Scholar
Liddell, Scott K., & Johnson, Robert E. (1989). American Sign Language: The phonological base. Sign Language Studies 64:195–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindblom, Bjorn. (1990). Explaining phonetic variation: A sketch of the H&H theory. In Hardcastle, W. J. & Marchal, A. (eds.), Speech production and speech modelling. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. 403–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, Ceil, & Valli, Clayton. (1992). Language contact in the American deaf community. San Diego: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, Ceil, Bayley, Robert, & Valli, Clayton. (2001). Sociolinguistic variation in American Sign Language. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, Ceil, Bayley, Robert, Rose, Mary, & Wulf, Alyssa. (2002). Location variation in American Sign Language. Sign Language Studies 2(4):407–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marentette, Paula, & Mayberry, Rachel I. (2000). Principles for an emerging phonological system: A case study of early ASL acquisition. In Chamberlain, C., Morford, J., & Mayberry, R. I. (eds.), Language acquisition by eye. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 71–90.Google Scholar
Mauk, Claude E., & Tyrone, Martha E. (2007). Motion capture in the study of sign phonetics. Paper presented at the Western Conference on Linguistics, San Diego, November 2007.Google Scholar
McKee, David, & Kennedy, Graeme. (1999). A list of 1,000 frequently used signs in New Zealand Sign Language. In Kennedy, G. (ed.), New Zealand Sign Language: Distribution, origins, reference (Occasional Publication 2). Wellington: Deaf Studies Research Unit, Victoria University. 17–25.Google Scholar
McKee, David, & Kennedy, Graeme. (2000). Lexical comparison of signs from American, Australian, British and New Zealand Sign Languages. In Emmorey, K. D. & Lane, H. (eds.), The signs of language revisited: An anthology to honor Ursula Bellugi and Edward Klima. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 49–76.Google Scholar
McKee, David, & Kennedy, Graeme. (2006). The distribution of signs in New Zealand Sign Language. Sign Language Studies 6(4):372–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKee, David, McKee, Rachel, & Major, Georgina. (2006). Sociolinguistic variation in New Zealand Sign Language numerals. Paper presented at Ninth International Conference on Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research, Florianopolis, Brazil.Google Scholar
McKee, Rachel, & McKee, David. (2007). New Zealand Sign Language Grammar: A guide for learners (Revised version). Wellington: Deaf Studies Research Unit, Occasional Paper Publication No. 3, Victoria University of Wellington.Google Scholar
McKee, Rachel, McKee, David, Smiler, Kirsten, & Pointon, Karen. (2007). “Maori Signs”: The construction of indigenous Deaf identity in New Zealand Sign Language. In Quinto-Pozos, D. (ed.), Signed Languages in Contact. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press. 31–84.Google Scholar
McKee, Rachel. (2007). Hand to mouth: The role of mouthing in NZSL. Across the Board: Australian Association of Sign Language Interpreters (Victoria) 2(4):3–12.Google Scholar
Morford, Jill, & MacFarlane, James. (2003). Frequency characteristics of American Sign Language. Sign Language Studies 3(2):213–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newkirk, Don, Klima, Edward S., Pedersen, Candy C., & Bellugi, Ursula. (1980). Linguistic evidence from slips of the hand. In Fromkin, V. (ed.), Errors in linguistic performance: Slips of the tongue, ear, pen and hands. New York: Academic Press. 165–198.Google Scholar
Phillips, Betty. (1984). Word frequency and the actuation of sound change. Language 60:320–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rand, David, & Sankoff, David. (1991). GoldVarb 2.1: A variable rule application for the Macintosh. Montréal: Centre de recherches mathématiques, Université de Montréal.Google Scholar
Sandler, Wendy, & Lillo-Martin, Diane. (2006). Sign language and linguistic universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schembri, Adam, & Johnston, Trevor. (2004). Sociolinguistic variation in Auslan (Australian Sign Language): A research project in progress. Deaf Worlds: International Journal of Deaf Studies 20(1):78–90.Google Scholar
Schembri, Adam, & Johnston, Trevor. (2007). Sociolinguistic variation in the use of fingerspelling in Australian Sign Language (Auslan): A pilot study. Sign Language Studies 7(3):319–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schembri, Adam, Johnston, Trevor, & Goswell, Della. (2006). name dropping: Location variation in Australian Sign Language. In Lucas, C. (ed.), Multilingualism and sign languages: From the Great Plains to Australia. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press. 121–156.Google Scholar
Smiler, Kirsten. (2004). Maori Deaf: Perceptions of cultural and linguistic identity of Maori members of the New Zealand Deaf community. Masters thesis, Victoria University of Wellington.Google Scholar
Statistics New Zealand. (2001). National Maori Population Projections (2001–2021). Wellington: Statistics New Zealand.Google Scholar
Stokoe, William C. (1960). Sign language structure: An outline of the visual communication systems of the American deaf. Silver Spring, MD: Linstok Press.Google Scholar
Sutton-Spence, Rachel, Woll, Bencie, & Allsop, Lorna. (1990). Variation and recent change in fingerspelling in British Sign Language. Language Variation and Change 2:313–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tagliamonte, Sali A. (2006). Analyzing sociolinguistic variation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, Erik R. (2002). Instrumental phonetics. In Chambers, J. K., Trudgill, P., & Schilling-Estes, N. (eds.), The handbook of language variation and change. Oxford: Blackwell. 168–200.Google Scholar
Wilbur, Ronnie B. (1990). An experimental investigation of stressed sign production. International Journal of Sign Linguistics 1(1):41–60.Google Scholar
Wilbur, Ronnie B., & Schick, Brenda. (1987). The effects of linguistic stress on ASL signs. Language and Speech 30(4):301–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Young, Richard, & Bayley, Robert. (1996). VARBRUL analysis for second language acquisition. In Bayley, R. & Preston, D. R. (eds.), Second language acquisition and linguistic variation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 253–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar