LANGUAGE CONTACT PHENOMENA IN DEAF COMMUNITIES

CEIL LUCAS
Gallaudet University (Washington, USA)

Sociolinguistic research in deaf communities has, to date, been shaped by at least four interrelated considerations:
1) the relationship between the spoken language of the majority community and the sign language of the community, particularly in educational settings;
2) limited knowledge of the linguistic structure of the sign language;
3) doubts as to the status of the sign language as a "real language"; and
4) application of spoken language sociolinguistic models to sign language situations.

This presentation will focus specifically on language contact phenomena in deaf communities.
Firstly, the general effect of each of these four considerations will be discussed, and a model of language contact phenomena will be presented which makes the distinction between the outcomes of contact between two sign languages and the outcomes of contact between a sign language and a spoken language. Examples of all outcomes will be provided.
Secondly, the findings of an investigation of language contact in the American Deaf community will be presented and discussed as they pertain to these four considerations. Specifically, the project began as an investigation of a kind of signing that results from the contact between English and American Sign Language (ASL) and that has been characterized as PSE (Pidgin Sign English). Our preliminary conclusion was that this contact signing was English-based. However, further analysis of our data has led us to the conclusion that this is a third system that combines key features of English and ASL structure and that the characterization of it as a pidgin is not adequate. In addition to discussing specific findings, the presentation will provide an overview of the project and examples of contact signing.
Thirdly, the presentation will suggest directions for future research on the sociolinguistics of Deaf communities.