Lecture
History and change in Sign Language Phonology
- Date
- Wednesday 15 April 2026
- Time
- Address
-
Lipsius
Cleveringaplaats 1
2311 BD Leiden - Room
- 1.47
Abstract
In this talk I will first discuss the goal of my current project which is to write a book that explains why we say that sign languages are real and full-fledged human languages. My current focus is on one chapter in this book which deals with evolutionary questions concerning the origin of human language, both spoken and signed (which will actually be developed into a separate book that is in progress). While the origin of human language is hidden in the prehistoric past, which means that direct evidence for its emergence is in principle not available, for some time researchers from many different disciplines have shown that there is potential ‘circumstantial’ evidence based on the study of attested languages (their grammars and use), their documented history, archeology, ethology (the study of animal behavior), stages in child language acquisition, among others, that can serve as ‘windows’ on early (and undocumented) stages of human language. In this endeavor, sign languages that have recently come into existence provide a particularly interesting window given that various stages in their development have been documented by sign linguists. I will evaluate what the emergence of phonology in emerging sign languages can tell us about the emergence of phonology in human language.