Research Groups: Friday, February 12

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM: Language Variation and Change Group
Guest speaker: Mary Edward (University of Brighton): "Lexical variation in sign language: A cross-linguistic comparison of two Ghanaian sign languages."

The existence of linguistic variation has been identified as an intrinsic part of all languages irrespective of the modality (spoken or signed). Lexical variation in different signed languages have been documented by researchers working on signed languages (Schermer, 2004; Stamp, et al., 2014; Bickford, 1991; Lucas, et al., 2001). Research has demonstrated that different factors may contribute to variation in sign languages and these factors include gender, ethnicity, social class, and region. These social variables are distinctive to different signing communities and their manifestations vary. In this talk, I explore lexical variation in Ghanaian Sign Language (GSL) and Adamorobe Sign Language (AdaSL). These two sign languages are used in Ghana by different Deaf communities. I explore variation in two semantic categories; Handheld tools and Appliances and considers the differences and similarities between GSL and AdaSL. Specifically, I consider if iconicity (form-meaning resemblance mappings) contributes to lexical variation in each sign language.

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM: Fieldwork Group
Christopher Legerme (MA): "Contact, identity, and change in the Haitian Diaspora: A sociolinguistic study of a creole language."

This presentation reports on my progress investigating the role of language contact and social identity in the development of variable linguistic phenomena in Haitian Creole (HC). I also discuss methods in sociolinguistic fieldwork and the pros and cons of remote language work. The Haitian disapora is the community in focus for my research and I reflect on aspects of HC sociophonology and if that factors into the transmission of the language from Haiti born homeland speakers of the diaspora to heritage speakers raised outside of Haiti. The linguistic feature I explore is the nasalization of HC postnominal determiners following syllables with non nasal nuclei (Valdman, 1991; Tezil, 2019). I discuss the extent that this process continues to be a variable rule in the grammar of heritage speakers of HC and what factors might be conditioning this variable given new linguistic landscapes away from the homeland, and why? The broader goal of my work is to contribute to our understanding of how Creole communities and their languages might inform our knowledge of contact-induced language change and to provide some rich vernacular data of HC for future research.