Crosslinguistic Variation in Sign Language Syntax

Posted: 27 Jan 2017

See all articles by Susan Fischer

Susan Fischer

City University of New York (CUNY)

Date Written: January 2017

Abstract

This review introduces and compares syntactic structures in a variety of sign languages. I first examine ways in which sign languages function like spoken languages, and ways in which they differ. I then briefly discuss what sign languages have in common in the syntactic realm; the rest of the article focuses on how they can differ. Because the level of the simple sentence has been documented extensively, this review emphasizes complex sentences, such as sentential complementation, relative clauses, adverbial clauses, embedded questions, and conditionals.

Suggested Citation

Fischer, Susan, Crosslinguistic Variation in Sign Language Syntax (January 2017). Annual Review of Linguistics, Vol. 3, Issue 1, pp. 125-147, 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2905697 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-linguistics-011516-034150

Susan Fischer (Contact Author)

City University of New York (CUNY) ( email )

695 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
549
PlumX Metrics