Multilingual and multimodal aspects of “cross-signing” –

A study of emerging communication in the domain of numerals

Ulrike Zeshan, Keiko Sagara and Anastasia Bradford

iSLanDS Institute, University of Central Lancashire

The study

is part of a

larger project

investigating

several types

of language

contact

(underlined).

The participants

Partici-

pant

Gen-

der

Sign

languages

Written

language

CP F British SL, IS English

MH M Japanese SL Japanese

MS M Jordanian SL Arabic

MI M Indonesian

SL

Bahasa

Indonesia

Acknowledgements Participants Masaomi Hayashi, Claire Perdomo, Muhammad Isnaini, Mohammed Salha

Communication mediators Paul Scott and Nicholas Palfreyman; and all iSLanDS staff

European Research Council funding “Multilingual behaviours in sign language users”

grant no. 263647.

The data

References McKee, R. & Napier, J. (2002). Interpreting into International Sign Pidgin: An Analysis. Sign Language & Linguistics 5, 1: 27-54.

Sidnell & Stivers (2013). The Handbook of Conversation Analysis. Wiley-Blackwell.

Szmrecsanyi, B. (2006). Morphosyntactic persistence in spoken English: A corpus study at the intersection of variationist sociolinguis-

tics, psycholinguistics, and discourse analysis. De Gruyter Mouton.

Zeshan, U. (2013): Skilled hands—local and global perspectives on sign languages in unusual settings. ICLC12, University of Alberta,

Edmonton, Canada, 23-28 June 2013.

University of Central Lancashire

“Cross-signing” is communication between sign language users with divergent

linguistic backgrounds who have no language in common and minimal experi-

ence of international contact. Unlike the semi-conventionalised International

Sign (McKee & Napier 2002), cross-signing involves the incipient stages of ad

hoc communication starting out with a minimal level of conventionalisation.

Communication between four partici-

pants was filmed on the first day they

met, after one week, and after five

weeks. We collected free conversations,

experimental data, and post-hoc inter-

views where participants commented on

the interactions.

15 hours of free conversation (6 pairs x 3 sessions x 45 minutes) show LINGUISTIC RESOURCES (LR) and INTERACTIONAL SEQUENCES (IS)

characterising this unique situation. The example below is from the initial meeting between signers from Japan and Indonesia. The analysis of initial

free conversations focuses on the expression of numerals. It is evident that signers operate in a MULTILINGUAL-MULTIMODAL SPACE where

they make maximum use of available communicative resources. Approaches from Conversation Analysis (e.g. Sidnell & Stivers 2013) have been co-

opted and adapted with new conceptual categories in order to track how communicative interactions proceed between signers.

Conclusions

These data can be seen as a window into the past, demonstrating how International Sign may have developed from similar

multiple ad hoc interactions. Data from the initial meetings reveal the wide range of strategies and resources for

negotiating interactions, communication breakdowns and repairs. Signers act in their partially shared multilingual-

multimodal space between three conflicting motivations:

INNOVATION - inventing and trying out options

ACCOMMODATION - adopting the interlocutor’s options

PERSISTENCE - maintaining use of the same option

Sequences of INNOVATION - ACCOMMODATION - PERSISTENCE and variations thereof are typical.

FIVE TWO NINE BEFORE // TWO NINE DASH FIVE // TWO NINE SLASH FIVE

‘(I came) earlier, on May 29th.’ ‘29th May.’ ‘Yes, 29th May.’

LR month-day date (from Japanese) iconic numerals day-month date with dash (from Indonesian) date with slash (from Japanese)

IS invention accommodation with modification accommodation with modification/persistence

MH states date in Japanese order. MI repeats reversing the sequence to Indonesian order with own 9 handshape. MH repeats same sequence but with slash.

ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO BAR ONE // ONE BAR ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO // J A W A (SASS) THERE

‘There are one in one thousand (deaf people in Japan).’ ’One in one thousand.’ ‘Java, a long narrow island (on the map) there.’

LR iconic numerals writing in the air fingerspelling (Indonesian SL) pointing

IS invention accommodation with modification

MH signs a fraction “bottom-up” as written in Japan. MI repeats the same numerals but “top-down” as written in Indonesia. MI identifies “Java” in three

ways, with fingerspelling, SASS and exophoric pointing to a map of Indonesia hanging on the opposite wall. The pointing is mirrored by MH.

writing in the air

gesture

fingerspelling

ACCOMMODATION