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The emergence of complexity in prosody and syntax
Wendy Sandler1, Irit Meir, Svetlana Dachkovsky
1Department of English Language and Literature, University of Haifa, 31905 Haifa, Israel.
Lingua. International Review of General Linguistics. Revue Internationale De Linguistique Generale
|October 23, 2012
Summary
Prosody, or speech rhythm and intonation, signals grammatical complexity in Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language. Younger signers use prosody to link clauses, showing language evolution and gradual grammatical development.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Language Acquisition
- Sociolinguistics
Background:
- The relationship between prosody and syntax is crucial for understanding language structure and evolution.
- Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL) provides a unique case study for observing the emergence of grammatical features.
- Previous research has not extensively explored the role of prosody in the grammatical development of sign languages.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interplay between prosody and syntax in the developing Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language.
- To analyze how prosodic cues signal grammatical complexity and dependency in ABSL.
- To trace the emergence of a grammatical system in younger signers compared to older signers.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of narrative structures from four signers of ABSL (two older, two younger).
- Examination of prosodic features, including rhythm and facial intonation, at constituent boundaries.
- Identification of syntactic structures, such as pronoun usage and predicate-argument combinations.
Main Results:
- Younger signers exhibit greater prosodic complexity, using rhythmic and intonational cues to mark clause dependency.
- Prosody serves as the primary indicator of clause relations in ABSL, with limited use of overt syntactic markers.
- Syntactic complexity within propositions, including pronoun use and predicate-argument integration, is higher in younger signers.
- Emergence of prosodic means for signaling constituent types and dependencies correlates with increased constituent complexity.
Conclusions:
- Prosody plays a vital role in the grammaticalization of Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language, particularly in marking clause relations.
- The study demonstrates a gradual emergence of grammatical complexity, driven by the development of prosodic and syntactic features.
- Findings highlight the dynamic nature of sign language evolution and the intricate relationship between sound (or in this case, non-manual signals) and structure.
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