A perfect end: a study of syllable codas in South African Sign Language
- Köhlo, Mikhaela Demitria Katebe
- Authors: Köhlo, Mikhaela Demitria Katebe
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: South African Sign Language , South African Sign Language Phonology , Linguistics , Grammar, Comparative and general Syllable
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36127 , 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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Köhlo, Mikhaela Demitria Katebe
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: South African Sign Language , South African Sign Language Phonology , Linguistics , Grammar, Comparative and general Syllable
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36127 , 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.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Multilingual repertoires and strategic rapport management: a comparative study of South African and Dutch small business discourse.
- Authors: Lauriks, Sanne
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Discourse analysis , Business communication -- South Africa , Business communication -- Netherlands , Multilingual communication -- South Africa , Multilingual communication -- Netherlands , Communication in management -- South Africa , Communication in management -- Netherlands , Sociolinguistics -- South Africa , Sociolinguistics -- Netherlands , Language and culture -- South Africa , Language and culture -- Netherlands
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2382 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013162
- Description: In this era of globalisation and the consequent increase in social, economic and physical mobility, small businesses are transforming into sites of increasing language contact (Harris and Bargiela-Chiappini 2003). This study explores situated language practices within two small multilingual businesses. The first is a bicycle rental and repair shop located in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), which is a city with a dynamic multilingual society. The second is a tyre fitment centre in Grahamstown (South Africa), which is a city characterised by a stable triglossia of English, Xhosa and Afrikaans. Using Linguistic Ethnography (Rampton 2007) as my data collection method, I spent a total of eight weeks in these businesses. For the analysis I draw on Spencer-Oatey’s (2000b; 2011) Rapport Management Framework and sociolinguistics of globalisation (Blommaert 2010). This combination allowed me to explore situated language practices in relation to a contemporary context of increased globalisation. The analysis is structured using Spencer-Oatey’s (2000b) concept of rapport orientations. The orientations are presented as one of the key factors that influence the choice for a certain strategy. The orientations thus seemed a constructive way of showing how the observed strategies were employed by the participants of this study and what function they fulfilled in a certain context. However, difficulties emerged during the analysis with applying this concept to some of the more elaborate and complex data. As a result my argument developed into two different strands. The first demonstrates how individuals turn to their multilingual repertoires to negotiate agency and power relationships in small business discourse. The analysis reveals that people at times deliberately promote and maintains discordant relations, which can be understood as a rational response to the individual’s social and economic context. The second discusses the problems that emerged during my analysis with applying rapport management orientations to my data. I propose theoretical developments, warranted by my data, to create an Enhanced Rapport Management Framework suitable for the analysis of complex small business discourse.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Lauriks, Sanne
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Discourse analysis , Business communication -- South Africa , Business communication -- Netherlands , Multilingual communication -- South Africa , Multilingual communication -- Netherlands , Communication in management -- South Africa , Communication in management -- Netherlands , Sociolinguistics -- South Africa , Sociolinguistics -- Netherlands , Language and culture -- South Africa , Language and culture -- Netherlands
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2382 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013162
- Description: In this era of globalisation and the consequent increase in social, economic and physical mobility, small businesses are transforming into sites of increasing language contact (Harris and Bargiela-Chiappini 2003). This study explores situated language practices within two small multilingual businesses. The first is a bicycle rental and repair shop located in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), which is a city with a dynamic multilingual society. The second is a tyre fitment centre in Grahamstown (South Africa), which is a city characterised by a stable triglossia of English, Xhosa and Afrikaans. Using Linguistic Ethnography (Rampton 2007) as my data collection method, I spent a total of eight weeks in these businesses. For the analysis I draw on Spencer-Oatey’s (2000b; 2011) Rapport Management Framework and sociolinguistics of globalisation (Blommaert 2010). This combination allowed me to explore situated language practices in relation to a contemporary context of increased globalisation. The analysis is structured using Spencer-Oatey’s (2000b) concept of rapport orientations. The orientations are presented as one of the key factors that influence the choice for a certain strategy. The orientations thus seemed a constructive way of showing how the observed strategies were employed by the participants of this study and what function they fulfilled in a certain context. However, difficulties emerged during the analysis with applying this concept to some of the more elaborate and complex data. As a result my argument developed into two different strands. The first demonstrates how individuals turn to their multilingual repertoires to negotiate agency and power relationships in small business discourse. The analysis reveals that people at times deliberately promote and maintains discordant relations, which can be understood as a rational response to the individual’s social and economic context. The second discusses the problems that emerged during my analysis with applying rapport management orientations to my data. I propose theoretical developments, warranted by my data, to create an Enhanced Rapport Management Framework suitable for the analysis of complex small business discourse.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
Wh-question formation in South African sign language: a case study
- Authors: De Barros, Courtney Leigh
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: South African sign language , South African sign language -- Syntax , Sign language -- Grammar
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/42800 , vital:25237
- Description: This thesis is a case study investigating wh-question formation in South African Sign Language (SASL). It provides the first descriptive and syntactic analysis of wh-question formation in this language, based on a collected sample. The evidence gathered for this study shows that SASL makes use of non-manual features to mark wh-question formation and possesses a full question word paradigm including WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHO and HOW. In the methodology, I critically engage with two issues: informant selection and data elicitation. These can greatly impact data validity – specifically with respect to sign language research. Ultimately, I adopt a novel, multi-layered data collection approach to ensure a valid sample. The data reveals SASL’s almost exclusive placement of wh-question words in the right periphery. The absence of moved sentence-initial wh-elements in SASL poses problems for syntactic analysis using only leftward movement. It seems typologically unusual that a language predominantly selecting the right periphery as a position for wh-words would allow a complex syntactic derivation involving some null wh-element in a leftward Spec, CP and then allow for another ‘copy’ to appear in the right periphery. On the other hand, having Spec, CP on the right allows for far less complex derivations of wh-movement. In SASL, as in spoken language, the wh-word moves to Spec, CP to check the [WH] feature in C. The difference is that this movement is rightward. Further support for a rightward analysis comes from SASL’s distribution of non-manual features, and its hierarchy of negative elements and adverbials. This research represents a first step towards filling a gap in the SASL literature concerning wh-question formation, as well as a contribution to the growing body of research surrounding sign languages. Furthermore, at a higher level, this study evaluates current linguistic theory on sign languages, challenging the current cross-linguistic generalisation that wh-movement is leftward.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: De Barros, Courtney Leigh
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: South African sign language , South African sign language -- Syntax , Sign language -- Grammar
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/42800 , vital:25237
- Description: This thesis is a case study investigating wh-question formation in South African Sign Language (SASL). It provides the first descriptive and syntactic analysis of wh-question formation in this language, based on a collected sample. The evidence gathered for this study shows that SASL makes use of non-manual features to mark wh-question formation and possesses a full question word paradigm including WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHO and HOW. In the methodology, I critically engage with two issues: informant selection and data elicitation. These can greatly impact data validity – specifically with respect to sign language research. Ultimately, I adopt a novel, multi-layered data collection approach to ensure a valid sample. The data reveals SASL’s almost exclusive placement of wh-question words in the right periphery. The absence of moved sentence-initial wh-elements in SASL poses problems for syntactic analysis using only leftward movement. It seems typologically unusual that a language predominantly selecting the right periphery as a position for wh-words would allow a complex syntactic derivation involving some null wh-element in a leftward Spec, CP and then allow for another ‘copy’ to appear in the right periphery. On the other hand, having Spec, CP on the right allows for far less complex derivations of wh-movement. In SASL, as in spoken language, the wh-word moves to Spec, CP to check the [WH] feature in C. The difference is that this movement is rightward. Further support for a rightward analysis comes from SASL’s distribution of non-manual features, and its hierarchy of negative elements and adverbials. This research represents a first step towards filling a gap in the SASL literature concerning wh-question formation, as well as a contribution to the growing body of research surrounding sign languages. Furthermore, at a higher level, this study evaluates current linguistic theory on sign languages, challenging the current cross-linguistic generalisation that wh-movement is leftward.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
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