Discourse in Signed Languages
Publication Year: 2011
Published by: Gallaudet University Press
Cover
Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
Contents
Editorial Advisory Board
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pp. ix-
Contributors
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pp. xi-
Acknowledgments
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pp. xiii-
No volume is complete without acknowledging those who made it possible. I thank Ceil Lucas and Kristin Mulrooney for the opportunity to be a guest editor for this volume, 17th in a series of outstanding volumes about the sociolinguistics of Deaf communities...
Introduction
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pp. xv-xix
What is discourse? In The Handbook of Discourse Analysis, editors Schiffrin, Tannen, and Hamilton (2001) answer that question by reminding readers of two examples presented by Charles Fillmore. The examples were from signs at a local swimming pool. One sign said:...
Part I. Depiction in Discourse
The Body in Scene Depictions
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pp. 3-66
Signed language discourse exhibits depictions of virtually any entity. Some of these depictions arise via the use of the body, as in the depiction of human physical actions. Others also make use of space, as in the depiction of a spatial relation between two entities within a setting. That the body and space are the material with which...
Identifying Depiction: Constructed Action and Constructed Dialogue
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pp. 46-66
Languages can utilize two major types of communicative acts: real or literal behaviors that are actually happening at the time they are observed, and nonliteral behaviors that are not actually happening but are in fact a representation of something (Goffman, 1974). These...
Part II. Cohesion in Discourse
The Discourse and Politeness Functions of Hey and Well in American Sign Language
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pp. 69-95
The signs that are commonly glossed as HEY and WELL in the literature often appear in American Sign Language (ASL) conversations. The sign HEY is generally understood to function as an attention-getter in order to open a conversation (Baker-Shenk & Cokely, 1980), and WELL is commonly used when hesitating,...
Referring Expressions in ASL Discourse
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pp. 96-118
Referring expressions are an integral part of language, whether the language is spoken, written, or signed. Although forms in English such as it, she, that, that frog can refer to many different things, competent native speakers are able to understand these referring expressions correctly. How interlocutors use and comprehend various...
Part III. Coherence in Discourse
Register, Discourse, and Genrein British Sign Language (BSL)
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pp. 121-154
Register is a linguistic outcome of a particular social situation; in different social situations people alter the way they use language. There are many different theories that look at the idea of register and genre. Halliday, as early as 1978, discusses three parameters that we...
Revisiting the Conduit Metaphor in American Sign Language
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pp. 155-175
In the opening sentence in his recent book on metaphor identification, Gerard Steen states, “Metaphor is booming business” (Steen et al., 2010, p. 1). Many attribute the beginning of this boom to the publication of Metaphors We Live By, by George Lakoff...
Part IV. Discourse in Native American Sign Language
Discourse Features of American Indian Sign Language (AISL)
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pp. 179-217
Historically, the vast geographic expanse and extreme linguistic and cultural diversity of North America contributed to Native American groups speaking numerous mutually unintelligible languages. In order to mediate this contact and language divide, the Indians often either adopted or developed an intermediary third...
Index
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pp. 219-227
E-ISBN-13: 9781563685125
E-ISBN-10: 1563685124
Print-ISBN-13: 9781563685118
Print-ISBN-10: 1563685116
Page Count: 232
Illustrations: 29 tables, 51 figures
Publication Year: 2011
Series Title: Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities Series
Series Editor Byline: Ceil Lucas
