Introduction PART I: The Two Faces of Sign 1. Iconicity in Signs and Signing 2. Properties of Symbols in a Silent Language 3. Historical Change: From Iconic to Arbitrary PART II: The Structure of the Sign 4. Remembering without Words: Manual Memory 5. Slips of the Hands 6. A Comparison of Chinese and American Signs 7. A Feature Analysis of Handshapes 8. The Rate of Speaking and Signing PART III: Grammatical Processes 9. On the Creation of New Lexical Items by Compounding 10. Linguistic Expression of Category Levels 11. Aspectual Modulations on Adjectival Predicates 12. The Structured Use of Space and Movement: Morphological Processes PART IV: The Heightened Use of Language 13. Wit and Plays on Signs 14. Poetry and Song in a Language without Sound Appendix A: Notation Appendix B: Conventions Employed in Illustrations Notes References Index
Edward Klima was Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the University of California, San Diego, and Associate Director of the Laboratory for Cognitive Neuroscience at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Ursula Bellugi is Director of the Laboratory for Language Studies at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
A most evocative book… [It] is no guide to the learning of the sign
language itself, but it is one to understanding it as an
independent flowering of the capacity we call language. That is a
treasure richer than speech, sign or ideograph, the springs of both
art and science. It is worth mention that for the many sequential
drawings and diagrams needed to make the flow of sign
understandable on the static page the authors have themselves
evolved a small visual language of symbol: an entire set of
spiraling, swelling and dwindling arrows bridging their scenes. The
two hemispheres of the brain are plainly cooperating in this
study!
*Scientific American*
An excellent book… It can be recommended not only to the
specialist, but to readers with no previous knowledge of sign
language.
*Journal of Communication*
A major contribution to our understanding of signs; of particular
interest is the chapter dealing with puns or plays on signs… The
illustrations are outstanding.
*Choice*
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