Signed languages and cognitive linguistics

SHERMAN WILCOX; MARTÍNEZ, ROCÍO ANABEL

The Routledge Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics

Routledge

Año: 2021; p. 500 - 511

Signed languages are natural human language used by deaf people around the world as their nativeor primary language. ?Sign language? is a broad category which includes signed languages such asAmerican Sign Language (ASL), Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), Catalan Sign Language (LSC), and many others which are used by a relatively large community often across multiple continents,and village sign languages which arise when a number of deaf children are born into an insularindigenous community.Signed languages are not universal; each signed language is a distinct language. Signedlanguages are related in language families. The French Sign Language family, for example, includesFrench Sign Language, American Sign Language, Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), TunisianSign Language, Russian Sign Language, and others. The British Sign Language family includesAustralian Sign Language (Auslan), New Zealand Sign Language, Sri Lankan Sign Language, andothers. Linguists have documented more than 140 signed languages. This number is likely underrepresentative,as new signed languages are discovered every year.The present contribution discusses historical perspectives on signed languages. It also addresses different topics within the field of cognitive linguistics, such as: iconicity and signed languages, metaphor and metonymy in signed languages, mental spaces and blending in signed languages, evidentiality and modality, pointing in signed languages, and signed language and gesture.