Mouth Actions in Sign Languages: An Empirical Study of Irish Sign Language

✍ Scribed by Susanne Mohr

• Publisher: De Gruyter Mouton
• Year: 2014
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 249
• Series: Sign Languages and Deaf Communities [SLDC]; 3
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Mouth actions in sign languages have been controversially discussed but the sociolinguistic factors determining their form and functions remain uncertain. This first empirical analysis of mouth actions in Irish Sign Language focuses on correlations with gender, age, and word class. It contributes to the linguistic description of ISL, research into non-manuals in sign languages, and is relevant for the cross-modal study of word classes.

✦ Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Contents
List of figures
List of tables
Abbreviations
Notational Conventions
1. Introduction
2. The Linguistic Setup of Sign Languages – The Case of Irish Sign Language (ISL)
2.1. The Sociolinguistics of ISL
2.2. The Educational System and Oralism
2.3. Structural Issues: The Use of Space
2.4. Structural Issues: Iconicity
2.5. Structural Issues: Simultaneity
2.6. Structural issues: Non-manual Features
3. Non-manuals in Sign Languages – Theoretical Background
3.1. Non-Mouth Related Non-Manuals
3.1.1. Eye Gaze
3.1.2. Facial Expression
3.1.2.1. Facial Expression and the Lexicon
3.1.2.2. Facial Expression and Syntax
3.1.2.3. Facial Expression and Prosody
3.1.3. Head Movements
3.2. Mouth Actions
3.2.1. Mouth Gestures
3.2.2. Echo Phonology
3.2.3. Mouthings
3.2.4. Spreading of Mouth Actions
4. Mouth Actions in ISL – A Typology of Mouthings and Mouth Gestures
4.1. Data Sources and Methodology
4.2. Categorization of Mouth Actions in the SOI Data
4.2.1. Mouthings
4.2.2. Mouth Gestures
4.2.3. Mouth Actions in the SOI at a Glance
5. Mouth Actions in ISL – Sociolinguistic Factors
5.1. Research Questions and Hypotheses
5.2. Mouth Actions and Gender
5.2.1. Mouth Actions in Women
5.2.2. Mouth Actions in Men
5.2.3. Comparison of Mouth Actions in Men and Women
5.3. Combining Two Sociolinguistic Factors – Gender and Age
6. Mouth Actions in ISL – Linguistic Factors
6.1. Word Classes – Historical and Theoretical Background
6.1.1. Semantic Approaches to Word Class Distinction
6.1.2. Syntactic Approaches to Word Class Distinction
6.1.3. Morphosyntactic Approaches to Word Class Distinction
6.1.4. Word Class Distinction in Sign Languages
6.1.5. Discussion
6.2. Mouth Actions and Word Classes in ISL
6.2.1. Syntactic Categories of ISL
6.2.2. Lexical Classes of ISL
6.2.3. Correlations of Word Classes and Mouth Actions
6.2.4. Mouth Gestures as a Category in Its Own Right?
6.2.5. Discussion of the Results within a Functional Linguistic Model
7. Conclusion
Appendix A. Complete list of lexical signs and fingerspellings with mouthings
Appendix B. Contexts for examples (glossed with mouthings)
Notes
Reference
Index