Sign Language: An International Handbook (Handbcher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft / Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science [HSK], 37)

Sign language linguists show here that all questions relevant to the linguistic investigation of spoken languages can be asked about sign languages. Conversely, questions that sign language linguists consider - even if spoken language researchers have not asked them yet - should also be asked of spoken languages. The HSK handbook __Sign Language__ aims to provide a concise and comprehensive overview of the state of the art in sign language linguistics. It includes 44 chapters, written by leading researchers in the field, that address issues in language typology, sign language grammar, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, and language documentation and transcription. Crucially, all topics are presented in a way that makes them accessible to linguists who are not familiar with sign language linguistics. * the first encyclopaedic reference book in the field of sign language research * over 40 chapters covering all aspects of the linguistic study of sign languages * extensively illustrated with examples from over 30 sign languages Sign language linguists show here that all questions relevant to the linguistic investigation of spoken languages can be asked about sign languages. Conversely, questions that sign language linguists consider - even if spoken language researchers have not asked them yet - should also be asked of spoken languages. The HSK handbook Sign Language aims to provide a concise and comprehensive overview of the state of the art in sign language linguistics. It includes 44 chapters, written by leading researchers in the field, that address issues in language typology, sign language grammar, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, and language documentation and transcription. Crucially, all topics are presented in a way that makes them accessible to linguists who are not familiar with sign language linguistics. This series of HANDBOOKS OF LINGUISTICS AND COMMUNICATION SCIENCE is designed to illuminate a field which not only includes general linguistics and the study of linguistics as applied to specific languages, but also covers those more recent areas which have developed from the increasing body of research into the manifold forms of communicative action and interaction. For "classic" linguistics there appears to be a need for a review of the state of the art which will provide a reference base for the rapid advances in research undertaken from a variety of theoretical standpoints, while in the more recent branches of communication science the handbooks will give researchers both an overview and orientation. To attain these objectives, the series aims for a standard comparable to that of the leading handbooks in other disciplines, and to this end strives for comprehensiveness, theoretical explicitness, reliable documentation of data and findings, and up-to-date methodology. The editors, both of the series and of the individual volumes, and the individual contributors, are committed to this aim. The language of publication is English. The main aim of the series is to provide an appropriate account of the state of the art in the various areas of linguistics and communication science covered by each of the various handbooks; however no inflexible pre-set limits will is imposed on the scope of each volume. The series is open-ended, and can thus take account of further developments in the field. This conception, coupled with the necessity of allowing adequate time for each volume to be prepared with the necessary care, means that there is no set time-table for the publication of the whole series. Each volume is a self-contained work, complete in itself. The order in which the handbooks are published does not imply any rank ordering, but is determined by the way in which the series is organized; the editors of the whole series enlist a competent editor for each individual volume. Once the principal editor for a volume has been found, he or she then has a completely free hand in the choice of co-editors and contributors. The editors plan each volume independently of the others, being governed only by general formal principles. The series editors only intervene where questions of delineation between individual volumes are concerned. It is felt that this (modus operandi) is best suited to achieving the objectives of the series, namely to give a competent account of the present state of knowledge and of the perception of the problems in the area covered by each volume. To discuss your handbook idea or submit a proposal, please contact

Die Reihe HANDBÜCHER ZUR SPRACH- UND KOMMUNIKATIONSWISSENSCHAFT erschließt einen Wissensbereich, der sowohl die allgemeine Linguistik und die speziellen, philologisch orientierten Sprachwissenschaften als auch diejenigen Wissenschaftsgebiete umfasst, die sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten aus der immer umfangreicher werdenden Forschung über die vielfältigen Erscheinungen des kommunikativen Handelns entwickelt haben.

In der klassischen Disziplin der Sprachwissenschaft erscheint eine Zusammenfassung des Wissensstandes notwendig, um der im Wechsel der Theorien rasch voranschreitenden Forschung eine Bezugsbasis zu geben; in den neuen Wissenschaften können die Handbücher dem Forscher Übersicht geben und Orientierung verschaffen.

Um diese Ziele zu erreichen, wird in der Handbuchreihe, was

• die Vollständigkeit in der Darstellung,
• die Explizitheit in der Begründung,
• die Verlässlichkeit in der Dokumentation von Daten und Ergebnissen und
• die Aktualität im Methodischen

angeht, eine Stufe der Verwirklichung angestrebt, die mit den besten Handbuchkonzeptionen anderer Wissenschaftszweige vergleichbar ist. Alle Herausgeber, die der Reihe und diejenigen der einzelnen Bände, wie auch alle Autoren, die in den Handbüchern ein Thema bearbeiten, tragen dazu bei, dieses Ziel zu verwirklichen. Veröffentlichungssprache ist Englisch.

Wenngleich als Hauptzweck der Handbuchreihe die angemessene Darstellung des derzeitigen Wissensstandes in den durch die jeweiligen Handbuchbände abgedeckten Ausschnitten der Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft zu gelten hat, so wird doch bei der Abgrenzung der wissenschaftlichen Bereiche, die jeweils in einem Handbuchband erschlossen werden sollen, keine starre Systematik vorausgesetzt. Die Reihe ist offen; die geschichtliche Entwicklung kann berücksichtigt werden. Diese Konzeption sowie die Notwendigkeit, dass zur gründlichen Vorbereitung jedes Bandes genügend Zeit zur Verfügung steht, führen dazu, dass die ganze Reihe in loser Erscheinungsfolge ihrer Bände vervollständigt werden kann. Jeder Band ist ein in sich abgeschlossenes Werk.

Die Reihenfolge der Handbuchbände stellt keine Gewichtung der Bereiche dar, sondern hat sich durch die Art der Organisation ergeben: die Herausgeber der Reihe bemühen sich, eine Kollegin oder einen Kollegen für die Herausgabe eines Handbuchbandes zu gewinnen. Hat diese/r zugesagt, so ist sie/er in der Wahl der Mitherausgeber und bei der Einladung der Autoren vollkommen frei. Die Herausgeber eines Bandes planen einen Band inhaltlich unabhängig und werden dabei lediglich an bestimmte Prinzipien für den Aufbau und die Abfassung gebunden; nur wo es um die Abgrenzung zu anderen Bänden geht, sind die Reihenherausgeber inhaltlich beteiligt. Dabei wird davon ausgegangen, dass mit dieser Organisationsform der Hauptzweck dieser Handbuchreihe, nämlich die angemessene Darstellung des derzeitigen Problem- und Wissensstandes in den durch die jeweiligen Handbuchbände abgedeckten Teilbereichen, am besten verwirklicht werden kann.

This series of HANDBOOKS OF LINGUISTICS AND COMMUNICATION SCIENCE is designed to illuminate a field which not only includes general linguistics and the study of linguistics as applied to specific languages, but also covers those more recent areas which have developed from the increasing body of research into the manifold forms of communicative action and interaction. For "classic" linguistics there appears to be a need for a review of the state of the art which will provide a reference base for the rapid advances in research undertaken from a variety of theoretical standpoints, while in the more recent branches of communication science the handbooks will give researchers both an overview and orientation. To attain these objectives, the series aims for a standard comparable to that of the leading handbooks in other disciplines, and to this end strives for comprehensiveness, theoretical explicitness, reliable documentation of data and findings, and up-to-date methodology. The editors, both of the series and of the individual volumes, and the individual contributors, are committed to this aim. The language of publication is English. The main aim of the series is to provide an appropriate account of the state of the art in the various areas of linguistics and communication science covered by each of the various handbooks; however no inflexible pre-set limits will is imposed on the scope of each volume. The series is open-ended, and can thus take account of further developments in the field. This conception, coupled with the necessity of allowing adequate time for each volume to be prepared with the necessary care, means that there is no set time-table for the publication of the whole series. Each volume is a self-contained work, complete in itself. The order in which the handbooks are published does not imply any rank ordering, but is determined by the way in which the series is organized; the editors of the whole series enlist a competent editor for each individual volume. Once the principal editor for a volume has been found, he or she then has a completely free hand in the choice of co-editors and contributors. The editors plan each volume independently of the others, being governed only by general formal principles. The series editors only intervene where questions of delineation between individual volumes are concerned. It is felt that this (modus operandi) is best suited to achieving the objectives of the series, namely to give a competent account of the present state of knowledge and of the perception of the problems in the area covered by each volume. To discuss your handbook idea or submit a proposal, please contact Birgit Sievert. Preface Notational conventions Sign language acronyms 1. Introduction I. Phonetics, phonology, and prosody 2. Phonetics 3. Phonology 4. Visual prosody II. Morphology 5. Word classes and word formation 6. Plurality 7. Verb agreement 8. Classifiers 9. Tense, aspect, and modality 10. Agreement auxiliaries 11. Pronouns III. Syntax 12. Word order 13. The noun phrase 14. Sentence types 15. Negation 16. Coordination and subordination 17. Utterance reports and constructed action IV. Semantics and pragmatics 18. Iconicity and metaphors 19. Use of sign space 20. Lexical semantics: Semantic fields and lexical aspect 21. Information structure 22. Communicative interaction V. Communication in the visual modality 23. Manual communication systems: evolution and variation 24. Shared sign languages 25. Language and modality 26. Homesign: gesture to language 27. Gesture VI. Psycholinguistics and neurolinguistics 28. Acquisition 29. Processing 30. Production 31. Neurolinguistics 32. Atypical signing VII. Variation and change 33. Sociolinguistic aspects of variation and change 34. Lexicalization and grammaticalization 35. Language contact and borrowing 36. Language emergence and creolisation 37. Language planning VIII. Applied issues 38. History of sign languages and sign language linguistics 39. Deaf education and bilingualism 40. Interpreting 41. Poetry IX. Handling sign language data 42. Data collection 43. Transcription 44. Computer modelling Indexes Index of subjects Index of sign languages Index of spoken languages Sign Language Linguists Show Here That All Questions Relevant To The Linguistic Investigation Of Spoken Languages Can Be Asked About Sign Languages. Conversely, Questions That Sign Language Linguists Consider - Even If Spoken Language Researchers Have Not Asked Them Yet - Should Also Be Asked Of Spoken Languages. The Hsk Handbook Sign Language Aims To Provide A Concise And Comprehensive Overview Of The State Of The Art In Sign Language Linguistics. It Includes 44 Chapters, Written By Leading Researchers In The Field, That Address Issues In Language Typology, Sign Language Grammar, Psycholinguistics, Neurolinguistics, Sociolinguistics, And Language Documentation And Transcription. Crucially, All Topics Are Presented In A Way That Makes Them Accessible To Linguists Who Are Not Familiar With Sign Language Linguistics. Phonetics, Phonology, And Prosody -- Morphology -- Syntax -- Semantics And Pragmatics -- Communication In The Visual Modality -- Psycholinguistics And Neurolinguistics -- Variation And Change -- Applied Issues -- Handing Sign Language Data. Edited By Roland Pfau ... [et Al.]. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Biographical note: Markus Steinbach, University of Goettingen, Germany; Roland Pfau, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Bencie Woll, University College London, Great Britain