OLAC Record oai:scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu:10125/74736

Metadata
Title:		Same, similar, or different: Lexical overlap across Australian Indigenous signed languages
Bibliographic Citation:		2023-07; Article; Kaipuleohone University of Hawai'i Digital Language Archive;https://hdl.handle.net/10125/74736.
Date (W3CDTF):		2023-07
Description:		To date, studies that investigate lexical overlap in signed languages have mainly considered the relationships between deaf community signed languages. The alternate sign languages of Indigenous Australia provide an opportunity to take another perspective – they are perhaps amongst the oldest known sign languages in the world, their main users are hearing, and senior people are the acknowledged experts, at least in some domains of sign knowledge and use. We developed a comparative list of signs as one tool in an investigation of dimensions of similarity and difference in nine language communities from Central and Northern Australia. We coded the data for the articulatory parameters of handshape, place of articulation, and movement, and developed a comparison matrix that captured similarity by using alphanumerical labels for unique sign forms. In doing so, we accommodated the existence of both inter- and intra-signer variation within single communities, a factor that has been overlooked in some previous studies. Our results support earlier observations that correlate sign diversity with geographical distance. We identify two distinct clusters of communities within which are higher percentages of lexical overlap. The first of these includes the Warlpiri, Anmatyerr, Alyawarr, and Arrernte language groups, while the second cluster includes Gurindji, Mudburra, and Kukatja. We note a general stability in lexical overlap (i.e., shared lexicon) in comparison to earlier records, but also an increase in similarity, suggesting some convergence might be taking place. Finally, we point to the need to unpack the complex sociocultural and linguistic factors that interact to drive similarity and difference in these signing practices. The list of commonly known signs, and the methods we have developed, is a useful resource that can inform future comparative studies.
		National Foreign Language Resource Center
Format:		Article
		33
Identifier:		Green, Jennifer, Eleanor Jorgensen. 2023. Same, similar, or different: Lexical overlap across Australian Indigenous signed languages. Language Documentation & Conservation 17: 221-253.
		1934-5275
Identifier (URI):		https://hdl.handle.net/10125/74736
Language:		English
Language (ISO639):		eng
Publisher:		University of Hawaii Press
Table Of Contents:		GreenJorgensen.pdf
OLAC Info
Archive:		Language Documentation and Conservation
Description:		http://www.language-archives.org/archive/ldc.scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for OLAC format
GetRecord:		Pre-generated XML file
OAI Info
OaiIdentifier:		oai:scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu:10125/74736
DateStamp:		2023-07-04
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for simple DC format
Search Info
Citation:		n.a. 2023. University of Hawaii Press.
Terms:		area_Europe country_GB iso639_eng