A language in space : the story of Israeli sign language / Irit Meir and Wendy Sandler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Meir, Irit.

Contributor:

Sandler, Wendy, 1949-

Standardized Title:

Śafah ba-merḥav : eshnav la-śafat ha-simanim ha-Yiśreʾelit

Language:

English

Hebrew

Subjects (All):

Israeli Sign Language.

Physical Description:

xix, 332 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, [2008]

Summary:

A Language in Space: The Story of Israeli Sign Language is an appealing and accessible introduction to sign language linguistics using Israeli Sign Language (ISL) as the model. The book, which assumes no prior knowledge of linguistics or sign language, offers a detailed description of this young, relatively unknown sign language, accompanied by 250 lively illustrations. Alongside the linguistic analysis, Meir and Sandler present the human side of the story: The development of the Deaf community in Israel, from its earliest days in the 1930s to the present, including illuminating and moving personal narratives by three of its members. The authors also show how research on sign languages in general and on Israeli Sign Language in particular can help to answer one of the most compelling questions in modern linguistics: What are the basic properties that characterize all human language?

The book is for linguists, psychologists, educators, sociologists of all stripes, and for anyone interested in finding out more about the essence of human language. A Language in Space: The Story of Israeli Sign Language is the English adaptation of the Hebrew book published by The University of Haifa Press, which was awarded the prestigious Bahat Award for most outstanding book for a general audience.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction: Language and the People Who Use It 1

Languages of Signs 2

Part I The Linguistic Structure of Israeli Sign Language 11

Chapter 2 The Basic Components of the Word in Sign Language 19

The Meaningless Building Blocks of Words 19

The Meaningless Building Blocks of Signs 22

Additional Formational Characteristics of Signs 26

Signing It Right 30

The Phonology of Sign Language as a System 32

Sequentiality and Simultaneity in Phonology of Signed and Spoken Languages 35

Chapter 3 Vocabulary: Simple and Complex Words 37

Difficulties in Finding and Recording the Words: The Lexicographer's Lament 39

The Expressiveness of the ISL Lexicon: Words of Communication 43

Adding New Words and Building Complex Words 46

Novel Word Formation in Poetry 55

Chapter 4 Grammar in Space: The Pronominal System 59

Points of Reference: The Basis of the Pronoun System in Sign Language 60

The Pronominal System in Sign Languages 61

Reference Points as a Means of Avoiding Ambiguity 63

Other Pronouns in ISL 66

Marking Number in the Pronominal System 68

Indicating Reference with the Body: Role Shift 69

Pronouns in Other Sign Languages 71

Chapter 5 Grammar in Space: Verb Agreement 75

What Is Verb Agreement? 76

Verb Agreement in Sign Languages 78

The Form and Meaning of Sign Language Verb Agreement 81

Verb Agreement: Signed versus Spoken Languages 85

Marking Number with Agreement Morphemes 86

Chapter 6 Tenses and Aspects 89

Tense versus Aspect 90

The Aspectual System of ISL 91

The Expression of Time 100

Chapter 7 Shapes, Locations, and Motion in Space: Classifier Constructions 107

What Are Classifiers? 108

When Do You Use Classifiers? 112

Classifiers in Different Sign Languages 117

Classifiers in Spoken Languages 118

Chapter 8 Word Order 121

Topics First, and Then Comment 123

How Is the Topic Determined? 126

Word Order in Possessive Constructions 127

Topic-Comment in Other Languages 129

Chapter 9 Negative and Interrogative Sentences 133

Negative Sentences 134

Interrogative Sentences 147

Chapter 10 Beyond the Hands: Facial Expression in ISL 159

How We Say What We Say: The Prosodic Structure of Language 160

Prosodic Structure in ISL and Intonation on the Face 163

Facial Expression as Part of a Word 171

Facial Expression as a Modifying Morpheme 173

Mouthing 176

Nonlinguistic Facial Expression: The Intonation of Emotions 179

Part II The Language and Its Community 183

Chapter 11 The History of the Deaf Community in Israel 185

The Origins of the Community: A Few Friends and a School 185

The Educational System and its Changing Attitudes toward Sign Language 197

Deaf Society and Culture Today 210

Snapshot of the Community 213

Chapter 12 The Emergence and Development of ISL 217

The Impact of Other Sign Languages on Israeli Sign Language 218

Stages in Vocabulary Development 224

Chapter 13 Voices from the Community 239

Story 1 A Student's Journal 240

Story 2 From Bad Girl in Class to Honored Teacher 244

Story 3 The Awakening 248

Part III The Big Picture: ISL and Linguistic Theory 253

Chapter 14 Similarities and Differences Across Sign Languages 255

The View that Sign Language is Universal 256

Comparative Studies of Sign Languages 259

Differences Across Sign Languages 270

Communication among Deaf Signers of Different Languages 271

Chapter 15 The Contribution of Sign Languages to Linguistic Research 277

The Goal of Modern Linguistics: Characterizing Human Linguistic Ability 278

How Sign Languages Help to Identify Universal Characteristics of Language 284

Language out of Nothing: Communication Systems that have Developed Without a Language Model 292

The Contribution of Research on Israeli Sign Language 298

Appendix A List of Handshapes of Israeli Sign Language 307

Appendix B Main Places of Articulation of Israeli Sign Language 309.

Notes:

"The English adaptation of the Hebrew book published by the University of Haifa Press."--P. 4 of cover.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 313-321) and indexes.

ISBN:

9780805862652

080586265X

9780805855708

080585570X

OCLC:

144216578