Negation in San Juan Quiahije Chatino Sign Language : The Integration and Adaptation of Conventional Gestures
(2018) In Gesture 17(3). p.330-374- Abstract
- Sign languages do not arise from thin air: rather, they emerge in communities where conventions are already in place for using gesture. Little research has considered how these conventions are retained and/or adapted as gestures are integrated into emerging sign language lexicons. Here we describe a set of five gestures that are used to convey negative meanings by both speakers and signers in a single community: the San Juan Quiahije municipality in Oaxaca, Mexico. We show that all of the form-meaning mappings present for non-signers are retained by signers as they integrate the gestures into their lexicon. Interestingly, additional meanings are mapped to the gesture forms by signers – a phenomenon that appears to originate with deaf... (More)
- Sign languages do not arise from thin air: rather, they emerge in communities where conventions are already in place for using gesture. Little research has considered how these conventions are retained and/or adapted as gestures are integrated into emerging sign language lexicons. Here we describe a set of five gestures that are used to convey negative meanings by both speakers and signers in a single community: the San Juan Quiahije municipality in Oaxaca, Mexico. We show that all of the form-meaning mappings present for non-signers are retained by signers as they integrate the gestures into their lexicon. Interestingly, additional meanings are mapped to the gesture forms by signers – a phenomenon that appears to originate with deaf signers in particular. In light of this evidence, we argue that accounts of ‘wholesale borrowing’ of gestures into emerging sign languages is overly simplistic: signers evidently adapt gestures as they integrate them into their emerging lexicons. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/7c06dc50-41a9-482b-9c19-961483afed8b
- author
- Mesh, Kate LU and Hou, Lynn
- organization
- publishing date
- 2018
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- gesture, emblems, recurrent gestures, conventional gestures, sign language, language emergence, lexicon, conventionalization, Mesoamerica, indigenous, Mexico
- in
- Gesture
- volume
- 17
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 330 - 374
- publisher
- John Benjamins Publishing Company
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85084610799
- ISSN
- 1568-1475
- DOI
- 10.1075/gest.18017.mes
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 7c06dc50-41a9-482b-9c19-961483afed8b
- date added to LUP
- 2020-03-10 10:28:07
- date last changed
- 2022-04-18 21:13:44
@article{7c06dc50-41a9-482b-9c19-961483afed8b, abstract = {{Sign languages do not arise from thin air: rather, they emerge in communities where conventions are already in place for using gesture. Little research has considered how these conventions are retained and/or adapted as gestures are integrated into emerging sign language lexicons. Here we describe a set of five gestures that are used to convey negative meanings by both speakers and signers in a single community: the San Juan Quiahije municipality in Oaxaca, Mexico. We show that all of the form-meaning mappings present for non-signers are retained by signers as they integrate the gestures into their lexicon. Interestingly, additional meanings are mapped to the gesture forms by signers – a phenomenon that appears to originate with deaf signers in particular. In light of this evidence, we argue that accounts of ‘wholesale borrowing’ of gestures into emerging sign languages is overly simplistic: signers evidently adapt gestures as they integrate them into their emerging lexicons.}}, author = {{Mesh, Kate and Hou, Lynn}}, issn = {{1568-1475}}, keywords = {{gesture; emblems; recurrent gestures; conventional gestures; sign language; language emergence; lexicon; conventionalization; Mesoamerica; indigenous; Mexico}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{3}}, pages = {{330--374}}, publisher = {{John Benjamins Publishing Company}}, series = {{Gesture}}, title = {{Negation in San Juan Quiahije Chatino Sign Language : The Integration and Adaptation of Conventional Gestures}}, url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/77042879/20191125_Mesh_Hou_Negation_SJQCSL.pdf}}, doi = {{10.1075/gest.18017.mes}}, volume = {{17}}, year = {{2018}}, }