Books: Sign Languages in Village Communities: Zeshan, de Vos (Eds)
Editor for this issue: Danniella Hornby
<daniellalinguistlist.org>
Date: 25-Oct-2012 From: Julia Ulrich <julia.ulrichdegruyter.com> Subject: Sign Languages in Village Communities: Zeshan, de Vos (Eds) E-mail this message to a friend
Title: Sign Languages in Village Communities Subtitle: Anthropological and Linguistic Insights Series Title: Sign Language Typology 4
Electronic: ISBN: 9781614511496 Pages: 413 Price: Europe EURO 99.95 Hardback: ISBN: 9781614512035 Pages: 413 Price: Europe EURO 99.95
Abstract:
The book is a unique collection of research on sign languages that have emerged in rural communities with a high incidence of, often hereditary, deafness. These sign languages represent the latest addition to the comparative investigation of languages in the gestural modality, and the book is the first compilation of a substantial number of different "village sign languages". Written by leading experts in the field, the volume uniquely combines anthropological and linguistic insights, looking at both the social dynamics and the linguistic structures in these village communities. The book includes primary data from eleven different signing communities across the world, including results from Jamaica, India, Turkey, Thailand, and Bali.
All known village sign languages are endangered, usually because of pressure from larger urban sign languages, and some have died out already. Ironically, it is often the success of the larger sign language communities in urban centres, their recognition and subsequent spread, which leads to the endangerment of these small minority sign languages. The book addresses this specific type of language endangerment, documentation strategies, and other ethical issues pertaining to these sign languages on the basis of first-hand experiences by Deaf fieldworkers.
Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics Language Documentation Typology
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