Lexical variation and change in british sign language

PLoS One. 2014 Apr 23;9(4):e94053. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094053. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

This paper presents results from a corpus-based study investigating lexical variation in BSL. An earlier study investigating variation in BSL numeral signs found that younger signers were using a decreasing variety of regionally distinct variants, suggesting that levelling may be taking place. Here, we report findings from a larger investigation looking at regional lexical variants for colours, countries, numbers and UK placenames elicited as part of the BSL Corpus Project. Age, school location and language background were significant predictors of lexical variation, with younger signers using a more levelled variety. This change appears to be happening faster in particular sub-groups of the deaf community (e.g., signers from hearing families). Also, we find that for the names of some UK cities, signers from outside the region use a different sign than those who live in the region.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Semantics
  • Sign Language*
  • United Kingdom
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

The data for this study were collected as part of the British Sign Language Corpus Project, supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (Grant RES- 062-23-0825 and postgraduate award, Stamp, 2013). Additional work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council of Great Britain grants RES-620- 28-6001 and RES-620-28-0002: Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.