The Subsystem of Numerals in Catalan Sign Language: Description and Examples from a Psycholinguistic Study.

Linguistic descriptions of sign languages are essential to support their linguistic status and to preserve the cultural background of the Deaf communities that use and recreate them. We describe the subsystem of cardinal numbers in Catalan Sign Language (LSC) in the variety used in Barcelona. The de...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Sign Language Studies Vol. 5; no. 1; pp. 94 - 118
Autores principales: Fuentes, Mariana, Tolschinsky, Liliana
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Gallaudet University Press for Sign Language Studies Fall2004
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Linguistic descriptions of sign languages are essential to support their linguistic status and to preserve the cultural background of the Deaf communities that use and recreate them. We describe the subsystem of cardinal numbers in Catalan Sign Language (LSC) in the variety used in Barcelona. The description includes the parameters of hand-shape, orientation, location, direction, and movement. We also illustrate, with some results from a psycholinguistic study, how LSC's number features influence the transcoding behavior of deaf children learning the language. Most of the errors the students commit can be explained by overgeneralization of LSC's number-system features.