ABSL: no sublexical structure?

[Adam C Schembri]

I have just finished teaching introductory classes on sign language  
phonology here at UCL, and my students and I are intrigued by the  
claim by Aronoff (2007) that Al Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language lacks  
examples of minimal pairs contrasting in hand configuration, location  
and movement. He claims that, as a result, ABSL appears to show no  
evidence of phonological structure.

Unfortunately, Aronoff (2007) does not provide sufficient information  
(how large was the database of signs drawn on when looking for minimal  
pairs?) to evaluate this claim, and hints that individual families  
within this village sign language community show more patterned use of  
sublexical elements (do we thus have a collection of home sign systems  
rather than a shared community-wide sign language?).

If anyone can assist with more information (Carol Padden? Wendy  
Sandler?), I'd love to know more.

Reference:
Aronoff, M. (2007). In the beginning was the word. Language 83 (4),  
pp. 803-830.

Thanks,
Adam

--
Adam C Schembri, PhD
Project Director, British Sign Language Corpus Project
Deafness, Cognition and Language (DCAL) Research Centre
University College London
49 Gordon Square
London WC1H 0PD
United Kingdom
http://www.dcal.ucl.ac.uk/team/adam_schembri.html
www.bslcorpusproject.org







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