Séminaire SLS

Conférence de Onno Crasborn, Radboud University, Nimègue. 

Title: Some recent insights into international sign

Abstract:

Common experience tells us that sign languages are not mutually intelligible, although studies on this topic are limited. Typological studies on sign languages have shown subtle yet diverse typological differences between sign languages. How can it be then, that we also have the common experience that fluent signers can fairly easily communicate across language boundaries? How, in other words, can the paradox of international sign be explained.

In this talk, I will discuss a variety of new studies on the topic of international sign, both in the sense of cross-signing and in the sense of conference interpreting from speech to sign and from sign to sign. These studies address the role of the source language in sign to sign interpreting, the role of the lexicon in communication and the history of ‘international sign lexicon’, and the role of spoken languages in cross-signing. Together, these studies aim to give us more insight in the patterns of international communication but also in the variability of language production across signers and situations.