内容简介
Whataretheuniquecharacteristicsofsignlanguagesthatmakethemsofascinating?Whathaverecentresearchersdiscoveredaboutthem,andwhatdothesefindingstellusabouthumanlanguagemoregenerally?Thisthematicandgeographicoverviewexaminesmorethanfortysignlanguagesfromaroundtheworld.Itbeginsbyinvestigatinghowsignlanguageshavesurvivedandbeentransmittedforgenerations,andthengoesontoanalysethecommoncharacteristicssharedbymostsignlanguages:forexample,howtheuseofthevisualsystemaffectsgrammaticalstructures.Thefinalsectiondescribesthephenomenaoflanguagevariationandchange.Drawingonawiderangeofexamples,thebookexploressignlanguagesbotholdandyoung,fromBritish,Italian,AsianandAmericantoIsraeli,Al-SayyidBedouin,AfricanandNicaraguan.Writteninaclear,readablestyle,itistheessentialreferenceforstudentsandscholarsworkinginsignlanguagestudiesanddeafstudies.