Home sign
Encyclopedia
Home sign is the gestural communication
system developed by a deaf child who lacks input from a language model in the family. This is a common experience for deaf children with hearing parents who are isolated from a sign language
community.
While not developing into a complete language
(as linguists
understand the term), home sign systems show some of the same characteristics of signed and spoken languages, and are quite distinguishable from the gesture
s that accompany speech. Words and simple sentences are formed, often in similar patterns despite different home sign systems being developed in isolation from each other. Comparisons are often made between home sign and pidgin
s.
Linguists have been interested in home sign for the insights it offers into our capacity to generate, acquire and process language in general — particularly exploring such questions as the origins of language; notions of linguistic universal
s; a critical period
for language acquisition; children's natural tendency to invent language (language acquisition device
), and the relationship between gesture
and language
. The experience of home signers is contrasted with that of feral children
who, with no human social interaction, develop no language at all.
However, home sign is often the starting point for new deaf sign languages that emerge when deaf people come together. For example, following the establishment of the first deaf schools in Nicaragua
in the 1970s, the previously isolated deaf children quickly developed their own sign language, now known as Nicaraguan Sign Language
, from the building blocks of their own diverse home sign systems.
Home sign also played a part in the formation of American Sign Language
, which is a blend of home sign, Old French Sign Language
, Martha's Vineyard Sign Language
and Plains Indian Sign Language
.
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
system developed by a deaf child who lacks input from a language model in the family. This is a common experience for deaf children with hearing parents who are isolated from a sign language
Sign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
community.
While not developing into a complete language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
(as linguists
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
understand the term), home sign systems show some of the same characteristics of signed and spoken languages, and are quite distinguishable from the gesture
Gesture
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body...
s that accompany speech. Words and simple sentences are formed, often in similar patterns despite different home sign systems being developed in isolation from each other. Comparisons are often made between home sign and pidgin
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the...
s.
Linguists have been interested in home sign for the insights it offers into our capacity to generate, acquire and process language in general — particularly exploring such questions as the origins of language; notions of linguistic universal
Linguistic universal
A linguistic universal is a pattern that occurs systematically across natural languages, potentially true for all of them. For example, All languages have nouns and verbs, or If a language is spoken, it has consonants and vowels. Research in this area of linguistics is closely tied to the study of...
s; a critical period
Critical period
This article is about a critical period in an organism's or person's development. See also America's Critical Period.In general, a critical period is a limited time in which an event can occur, usually to result in some kind of transformation...
for language acquisition; children's natural tendency to invent language (language acquisition device
Language acquisition device
The Language Acquisition Device is a postulated "organ" of the brain that is supposed to function as a congenital device for learning symbolic language . First proposed by Noam Chomsky, the LAD concept is an instinctive mental capacity which enables an infant to acquire and produce language. It is...
), and the relationship between gesture
Gesture
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body...
and language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
. The experience of home signers is contrasted with that of feral children
Feral child
A feral child is a human child who has lived isolated from human contact from a very young age, and has no experience of human care, loving or social behavior, and, crucially, of human language...
who, with no human social interaction, develop no language at all.
Home sign and sign languages
Nancy Frishberg set out a framework for identifying and describing home-based sign systems in 1987. She states that home signs differ from sign languages in that they:- do not have a consistent meaning-symbol relationship,
- do not pass on from generation to generation,
- are not shared by one large group,
- and are not considered the same over a community of signers.
However, home sign is often the starting point for new deaf sign languages that emerge when deaf people come together. For example, following the establishment of the first deaf schools in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
in the 1970s, the previously isolated deaf children quickly developed their own sign language, now known as Nicaraguan Sign Language
Nicaraguan Sign Language
Nicaraguan Sign Language is a signed language spontaneously developed by deaf children in a number of schools in western Nicaragua in the 1970s and 1980s...
, from the building blocks of their own diverse home sign systems.
Home sign also played a part in the formation of American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
, which is a blend of home sign, Old French Sign Language
Old French Sign Language
Old French Sign Language is a term that loosely describes the language of the deaf community in 18th century Paris at the time of the establishment of the first deaf schools...
, Martha's Vineyard Sign Language
Martha's Vineyard Sign Language
Martha's Vineyard Sign Language is a sign language once widely used on the island of Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts, U.S., from the early 18th century to the year 1952. It was remarkable for its use by both deaf and hearing people in the community; consequently, deafness did not...
and Plains Indian Sign Language
Plains Indian Sign Language
The Plains Indian sign languages are various manually coded languages used, or formerly used, by various Native Americans of the Great Plains of the United States of America and Canada...
.
Prominent studies of home sign
- Susan Goldin-MeadowSusan Goldin-MeadowSusan Goldin-Meadow is Beardsley Ruml Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago. She is a pioneer and internationally renowned expert on the cognitive bases of gesture and sign language, and she is also interested in the educational applications of this research. ...
has published a number of articles on home sign systems. She found that the home sign gestures of American deaf children are not acquired from modelling the gestures of their hearing parents — they more closely resemble the gestures of the Chinese deaf children halfway across the globe. They are structured communication systems that include gestures that function as words, which are combined to form sentences, and are used to describe situations beyond the here-and-now. - Adam KendonAdam KendonAdam Kendon is one of the world's foremost authorities on the topic of gesture. He initially focused on sign systems in Papua New Guinea and Australian Aboriginal sign languages, before developing a general framework for understanding gestures with the same kind of rigorous semiotic analysis as...
published a celebrated study of the homesign system of a deaf EngaEngaEnga may refer to:*Enga Province, Papua New Guinea*Enga language, language spoken by Enga people*Enga people, ethnic group located in the highlands of Papua New Guinea*Vålerenga I.F. Fotball*EngA bacterial GTPase...
woman from the Papua New GuineaPapua New GuineaPapua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
highlands, in which he investigated the notion of iconicityIconicityIn functional-cognitive linguistics, as well as in semiotics, iconicity is the conceived similarity or analogy between the form of a sign and its meaning, as opposed to arbitrariness.Iconic principles:...
in language and gesture.