Linguistics of American Sign Language

Linguistics of American Sign Language: An Introduction has been revised and expanded to incorporate recent significant findings in this discipline. These include: discoveries on the creation of iconic signs in ASL, why ASL signs are distinct from gestures used in spoken languages, and the relationship between metaphor and iconicity in signed languages. The authors have also added to the new edition the state-of-the-art results of Lucas's five-year study of variation in ASL, along with new supplemental readings on theoretical and methodological issues in analyzing variation in signed languages. Linguistics of American Sign Language also introduces a new area of study, the artistic forms of ASL, including storytelling, percussion signing, drama, comedy, and poetry. References in the new Linguistics of American Sign Language have been completely updated, but the authoritative readings on linguistic concepts remain intact. These readings thoroughly address the fundamentals of phonology, morphology, syntax, semanties, and the use of language.
Individual units on these basic linguistic categories have been designed to stimulate discussion about the ongoing development of ASL linguistic theory.