- Title
- A perfect end: a study of syllable codas in South African Sign Language
- Creator
- Köhlo, Mikhaela Demitria Katebe
- ThesisAdvisor
- Siebörger, Ian
- ThesisAdvisor
- Bennett, William G
- Subject
- South African Sign Language
- Subject
- South African Sign Language Phonology
- Subject
- Linguistics
- Subject
- Grammar, Comparative and general Syllable
- Date
- 2017
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MA
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36127
- Identifier
- vital:24492
- Description
- Coda constraints are common in spoken languages. German, for example, can only have voiceless obstruents in the coda position (Lombardi 1999). Most sign language research has been on other sign languages, most notably American Sign Language (ASL). This research serves to contribute to syllable theory and has a methodology that allows for cross-linguistic research, strengthening the understanding of sign languages in general, and enhancing the description of SASL in particular. It is well known that syllables in spoken languages require a vowel nucleus to be well-formed. Sandler and Lillo-Martin (2006) provide evidence of sign languages requiring movement to be considered well-formed: even seemingly stationary signs such as WHO, which occurs at the chin, will have finger wiggling as some form of movement. It is thus natural to assume that movement is akin to vowels in syllable theory (Brentari 1998). Thus, locations are similar to consonants. However, the visual nature of sign allows for simultaneity - holds do not occur by themselves. Next to location, handshapes are phonetically complex features that may impact the constraints at coda position. To my knowledge, there is no formal research on the coda constraints of sign language syllables. The data examined here comes from a video dictionary of approximately 175 words. From this dictionary, a database of coded locations and handshapes are recorded for both the onset and the coda. From this, a consonant inventory is made and patterns are identified. Each source of data is analysed individually based on Brentari’s (1998) Prosodic Model. Patterns that are noticed are then looked at using Brentari’s (1998) framework to account for what phonological rules are dictating constraints. However, as a hearing researcher cannot claim native knowledge of a sign language, the conclusions drawn from the data will be tested using native SASL signers for negative judgement. The preliminary findings of the research suggest that there are constraints on the coda location and handshape of a sign and that this may be a result of the natural classes of handshape and location prohibiting certain onset-coda combinations. The onset and coda on monosyllabic signs mirror each other’s location, while the handshape cannot change in repeated and many monosyllabic signs. These constraints provide more understanding into the rich phonological nature of sign languages.
- Format
- 177 pages, pdf
- Publisher
- Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, English Language and Linguistics
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Köhlo, Mikhaela Demitria Katebe
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