Using Early ASL Word Order to Shed Light on Word Order Variability in Sign Language

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics book series (SITP, volume 39)

Abstract

This study examines the early multi-sign utterances of four deaf children between the ages of 20 and 30 months acquiring American Sign Language (ASL) as their first language from deaf, signing parents. Results show that during this early stage, children are very inconsistent in their adherence to canonical VO word order, producing a high proportion of utterances with noncanonical OV order. Although such a pattern could indicate failure to set the Head Parameter, this chapter argues the contrary: that these children have not only set the Head Parameter, they have already begun to employ word order variation licensed by specific types of ASL verbal morphology. In addition to this early development of morpho-syntactically motivated OV, one of the children in this study also produces what appears to be early topicalisation structures, exhibiting a developing awareness that noncanonical OV word order has pragmatic as well a syntactic sources in ASL.

Keywords

Sign language Acquisition Word order Topicalisation Variability 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NIH grant #NIDCD DC-00183 to Diane Lillo-Martin. Many thanks to her, and to our Deaf families and consultants, who make the study of their language possible! Thanks also to the many research assistants at the University of Connecticut and Gallaudet University for their invaluable help in filming and transcription. All errors in the present work are entirely my own.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Gallaudet UniversityWashingtonUSA

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