Languages are constantly formed and changed by the opposing
forces of variation and conventionalization. Yet it is not clear whether one
of the two forces is prior to the other in language emergence, nor do we
know how the two interact early in the life of a language. By comparing two
young sign languages, Israeli Sign Language (ISL) and Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign
Language (ABSL), both about 90 years old, we argue that the initial stages
of a language are characterized by great variation. Conventionalization
ensues, but it does not proceed in a unified manner in all linguistic
domains of a language or in all languages equally; some domains and
structures conventionalize before others, and in some languages the drive
towards conventionalization is stronger than in others. We provide evidence
for the claim that the drive towards conventionalization is the result of
various socio-linguistic factors, such as time, the expansion of the
community, the expansion of language use to new communicative domains, and
the need to signal social identity.
Article outline
1.Introduction: Conventionalization and variation in language
2.ABSL and ISL: Two types of sign language
3.The lexicon: Basic vocabulary
4.The lexicon: Compounding
4.1Lexical variation in compounds
4.2Increased structural regularity in compounds
4.3Variation and conventionalization in ABSL compounds
5.Phonology: Sublexical variation
5.1A comparative study of sublexical variation in three sign
languages
5.2Sublexical variation and characteristics of the community
6.Signaling community identity: A signature accent in ABSL
7.Discussion and conclusions: From variation towards conventionalization
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