Original Signs: Gesture, Sign, and the Sources of Language - Softcover

Armstrong, David F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1563681331 ISBN 13: 9781563681332

Publisher: Gallaudet University Press, 2002

Synopsis

Armstrong's cogent, highly readable book explains the basic linguistic concepts and academic controversies in a way that makes for an excellent introduction to the study of language. But this is an introduction with an important difference. Unlike most authors, Armstrong includes gesture and signed language at every step, rather than teating the visual channel of language as an afterthought. He makes a strong case for the Whorfian, comparative, and relativist approach to languages as a necessary complement to the Chomskyan universalist perspective that has dominated the field in recent decades, and Armstrong's historical analysis illustrates how the politics of social attitude has influenced scientific views about such questions as whether or not a signed language can be a real language in its own right. His argument starts with the premise that both forms, signed and vocal, are kinds of language, and he examines the important differences as well as the similarities between them, providing insight into basic questions about the nature and evolution of language as a multimodal phenomenon--audio and visual in its essence.

About this title

About the Author:

David F. Armstrong is an associate professor in the School of Management and University Budget Director at Gallaudet University.

From Library Journal:

In this groundbreaking book, anthropologist Armstrong (Gesture and the Nature of Language, Cambridge Univ., 1995), a professor at Gallaudet, brings his background in sign language to his work. He holds the conviction "that language has always been a `multichannel' phenomenon. This is to say that for most people, most of the time, linguistic communication involves visible as well as vocal signs." Taking a Darwinian perspective that the origin of abstract thought and language is "fundamentally undirected," Armstong proceeds to lead his reader through a rich array of information, including insights into the development of language from the perspective of linguistics, anthropology, biology, and philosophy. He focuses on the pioneering work of William C. Stokoe in the scientific study of signed language and suggests that manual gestures rather than vocalization may be the precursor of human language. Clearly written in a voice that is humane as well as scholarly, this book belongs in public as well as academic libraries.AJoan W. Gartland, Detroit P.L.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Gallaudet University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1563681331
• ISBN 13: 9781563681332
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200