<html>
<head>
<style>
.hmmessage P
{
margin:0px;
padding:0px
}
body.hmmessage
{
font-size: 10pt;
font-family:Verdana
}
</style>
</head>
<body class='hmmessage'>
> OK, {Susan}, if what you said is true, why don't they compare spoken<BR>> languages to sign languages rather than vice versa?<BR> <BR>Because most linguists who study spoken languages have not studied sign language linguistics. <BR> <BR>It makes sense to compare signed languages to spoken languages because we already have a history of spoken language linguistics. We do not need to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. <BR> <BR>On the other hand, it is also important to study signed languages within their own modality, both to know the ways that signed languages are unique, with their modality-specific articulations, and to learn about universals that cross modalities, something that cannot be shown by studying only spoken languages or only signed languages.<BR> <BR>Kathy H. <BR>
<BR><br /><hr />Windows Live™ SkyDrive: Get 25 GB of free online storage. <a href='http://windowslive.com/online/skydrive?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_skydrive_032009' target='_new'>Check it out.</a></body>
</html>