LINGUIST List 2.390

Tuesday, 6 August 1991

Disc: Babbling in Sign

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1. mark l louden, Re: Queries
2. David Stampe, Re: deaf babies' babbling in sign language
3. , Re: Queries
4. stan kulikowski ii, deaf babbling

In response to Jane Chandler's query on deaf infant babbling: the reference
to the article I have is:
Petitto, Laura Ann and Paula F. Marentette. 22 March 1991. "Babbling in the
Manual Mode: Evidence for the Ontogeny of Lg." *Science* vol. 251,
pp. 1493-1496.
Best Wishes,
Mark Louden

Jane Chandler <CHANDLERJcsovax.portsmouth.ac.uk> asks for more
information on a newspaper report that Petitto and Marentette of McGill
observed deaf babies babbling in sign language. I have no information
on that, but isn't the phrase "babbling in X" (where X is any language,
vocal or signed) self-contradictory? Once, at least, the technical term
babbling was confined to vocal play which had no apparent intention of
communicating or of imitating utterances in the language(s) of the
child's environment. An argument for this was that vocal babbling
occurs for while even in deaf children, who can hear nothing to imitate.
This may or may not be a fact -- I don't know of published observations
-- but it was once "common knowledge", cited at least in conversation by
Roman Jakobson, Werner Leopold, Eric Lenneberg, and others knowledgeable
about language development. Have usage or facts changed so that it now
makes sense to speak of "babbling in X"?
David Stampe <stampeuhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu>, <stampeuhunix.bitnet>
Dept. of Linguistics, Univ. of Hawaii/Manoa, Honolulu HI 96822

For Jane Chandler on deaf babies' babbling:
	Petitto, Laura Ann and Paula F. Marentette, 'Babbling in the
	Manual Mode: Evidence for the Ontogeny of Language', in
	Science, Vol. 251, 22 March 1991.
Carol Georgopoulos

jane chandler,
 yes, i read the article about deaf children babbling. it was in SCIENCE,
probably within the last 2 months. the cover shows a hand superimposed
in three positions-- an 'f' shape nodding forward, i believe.
 the point of the article was the documentation that deaf babbling includes
hand shapes which do not have adult sign-equivalents. the kids are sampling a
wider range of possible expressions which eventually get tuned into those which
the matrix society uses. hence the argument that developing language skills
are generic brain functions, not tied to developing vocal musculature nor
auditory input nor imitating adult communication.
 let me know if you have trouble finding the exact issue, i can dig through
my back issues at home and give you more exact reference.
 stan
 . stankuliUWF.bitnet
 ===
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 --- -- old venusian lullaby