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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Apr 23, 2026

Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language

Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language

Published on: October 13, 2018

Language Emergence.

Diane Brentari¹, Susan Goldin-Meadow²

¹Department of Linguistics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637.

Annual Review of Linguistics

|October 17, 2017

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Homesign, a gestural system developed by deaf individuals, demonstrates that the manual modality can acquire linguistic properties independently. However, full language development requires community transmission across generations.

Keywords:

gesture homesign sign languages

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Area of Science:

Linguistics
Cognitive Science
Developmental Psychology

Background:

Language emergence is a key area of study, with the manual modality offering unique insights.
Homesign, developed by deaf individuals without language input, serves as a model for studying language genesis.
Comparing homesign to cospeech gestures and established sign languages illuminates linguistic development.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how the manual modality develops linguistic properties.
To understand the role of community and intergenerational transmission in language emergence.
To explore the potential of homesign to evolve into a full language.

Main Methods:

Analysis of homesign systems created by deaf children.
Comparison of homesign with cospeech gestures produced by hearing individuals.
Comparison of homesign with established sign languages.

Main Results:

The manual modality can spontaneously develop linguistic properties, even in children without language models.
Homesign systems show potential for linguistic structure.
Community support and intergenerational transmission are crucial for developing full-blown language.

Conclusions:

The manual modality is capable of forming linguistic systems independently.
Language emergence is facilitated by social interaction and transmission.
Homesign provides a window into the fundamental processes of language creation.