Form, Meaning, and Focus in American Sign Language
eBook - PDF

Form, Meaning, and Focus in American Sign Language

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Form, Meaning, and Focus in American Sign Language

About this book

The meaning of any linguistic expression resides not only in the words, but also in the ways that those words are conveyed. In her new study, Miako N. P. Rankin highlights the crucial interrelatedness of form and meaning at all levels in order to consider specific types of American Sign Language (ASL) expression. In particular, Form, Meaning, and Focus in American Sign Language considers how ASL expresses non-agent focus, similar to the meaning of passive voice in English.

       Rankin's analyses of the form-meaning correspondences of ASL expressions of non-agent focus reveals an underlying pattern that can be traced across sentence and verb types. This pattern produces meanings with various levels of focus on the agent. Rankin has determined in her meticulous study that the pattern of form-meaning characteristic of non-agent focus in ASL is used prolifically in day-to-day language. The recognition of the frequency of this pattern holds implications regarding the acquisition of ASL, the development of curricula for teaching ASL, and the analysis of ASL discourse in effective interpretation.

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Yes, you can access Form, Meaning, and Focus in American Sign Language by Miako N. P. Rankin in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Languages & Linguistics & Linguistics. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Book Title: Form, Meaning, and Focus in American Sign Language
  2. Contents
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. Editor’s Note
  5. Chapter 1: Introduction
  6. Chapter 2: Foundational Concepts
  7. Chapter 3: Features Relevant to Agent Focus in ASL
  8. Chapter 4: Defocused Agents in ASL Utterances
  9. Chapter 5: ASL Structures Used to Express Reduced Agent Focus
  10. Chapter 6: Agent Focus in ASL Texts
  11. Chapter 7 : Agent Focus in ASL-to-English Translation
  12. Chapter 8: Conclusion
  13. References
  14. Index