Are There Really Signs of Diglossia?: Re-Examining the Situation

Recent sign language research has been done with the assumption of the existence of diglossia, as described by Stokoe in 1969. This paper reevaluates the nine characteristics of diglossia with the current sign language situation in the United States. Currently there are some sign communities that do not fully represent these characteristics. There is indeed variation within these communities, but as is more typical in the linguistic communities of the world, code-switching and style-shifting rather than diglossia appear to be the norm.