Exploring British Sign Language via Systemic Functional Linguistics

Reviews / Votes

A truly impressive contribution to an unfortunately neglected field of study, this volume provides insight into British Sign Language (BSL) from the perspective of functional linguistics. It represents the first major publication to offer a functional description of BSL within Systemic Functional Linguistics. Not only does it provide an important foundation for future work on BSL but also an opening on broader linguistic typological issues and extensions to existing linguistic theory. This is a very important volume for all interested in sign languages and perhaps even more so for anyone working with modes of expression very broadly, including embodied communication. -- Lise Fontaine, Reader in the School of English, Communication and Philosophy, University of Cardiff, UK An important and timely analysis of signed languages, especially with respect to multi-channel simultaneity. The systemic functional grammar framework used in this volume offers a coherent alternative to formal approaches in sign linguistics and complements recent neo-Peircean approaches to the semiotics of multi-modality in all languages, signed or spoken. -- Trevor Johnston, Honorary Professor in the Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia