Gesture as the substrate in the process of ASL grammaticization
Temas
Detalles
Proposes that the development of American Sign Language (ASL) modals such as FUTURE, CAN, and MUST take as their ultimate source several generalized prelinguistic gestures. For the ASL grammaticization pathways explored here, gesture plays the important role of providing the substrate from which grammar ultimately emerges. The evidence suggests that the precursors of these modern-day ASL grammatical devices are gestural in nature, whether or not a lexical stage is intervening. Thus, the study of ASL provides new perspectives in grammaticization, in exploring both the sources of grams, and the role (or lack of role) of lexicon in the developing gram.
En Meier, R. et al. (eds.): Modality and Structure in Signed and Spoken Languages, pp. 199-223.