The Linguistics of British S ign Language

A n I ntroducti on
T hi si sthe rst detai led explanati on of the way Bri ti sh Si gn L anguage works
and i sthe product of many years experi ence of research and teachi ng of si gn
li ngui sti cs. I t assumesno previ ousknowledge of li ngui sti csor si gn language,
and i t i snot structured around tradi ti onal headi ngssuch asphonology, mor-
phology, and syntax. I nstead i t i sset out i n such a way asto help learnersand
thei r teachersunderstand the li ngui sti c pri nci plesbehi nd the language.
T here are secti onson BSL and also on the use of BSL , i ncludi ng vari ati on,
soci al acceptabi li ty i n si gni ng, and poetry and humour i n BSL . T echni cal
termsand li ngui sti c j argon are kept to a mi ni mum, and the text contai nsmany
examplesfrom Engli sh, BSL , and other spoken and si gn languages. T he book
i s amply i llustrated and contai ns exerci ses to encourage further thought on
many of the topi cscovered, aswell asa readi ng li st for further study.
i~cnri si11oN-sirNcr i sL ecturer i n D eaf Studi esat the U ni versi ty of
Bri stol. nrNcI r voii i sProfessor and C hai r of Si gn L anguage and D eaf
Studi esat C i ty U ni versi ty, L ondon.
A 90-mi nute vi deo hasbeen produced contai ni ng speci ally desi gned exerci se
materi al to accompany the book. T he vi deo i s avai lable from C AC D P,
D urham U ni versi ty Sci ence Park, Block 4, M ountj oy R esearch C entre,
Stockton R oad, D urham D H 1 3U Z .
The Linguistics of
British S ign Language
An Introduction
i~cnri si11oN-sirNcr ~No nrNcIr voii
iiniI snro n. 1nr iirss s.NoI c~1r oi 1nr iNI vrisI 1. oi c~:niI oor
T he Pi tt Bui ldi ng, T rumpi ngton Street, C ambri dge C B2 1R P, U ni ted K i ngdom
c~:niI oor iNI vrisI 1. iirss
T he Edi nburgh Bui ldi ng, C ambri dge C B2 2RU, U K http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk
40 West 20th Street, N ew York, N Y 100114211, U SA http://www.cup.org
10 Stamford R oad, O aklei gh, M elbourne 3166, A ustrali a
R achel Sutton-Spence and Benci e Woll 1998
T hi sbook i si n copyri ght. Subj ect to statutory excepti on and to the provi si ons
of relevant collecti ve li censi ng agreements, no reproducti on of any part may take
place wi thout the wri tten permi ssi on of C ambri dge U ni versi ty Press.
Fi rst publi shed 1999
Pri nted i n the U ni ted K i ngdom at the U ni versi ty Press, C ambri dge
T ypeset i n Planti n L i ght 10/12 pt usi ng Q uarkX Press [ sr]
A cataloguerecord for this book is availablefromtheBritish Library
Library of Congress cataloguingin publication data
Sutton-Spence, R achel.
T he li ngui sti csof Bri ti sh Si gn L anguage: an i ntroducti on /
R achel Sutton-Spence and Benci e Woll.
p. cm.
I ncludesbi bli ographi cal referencesand i ndex.
I SBN 0 521 63142 4 ( hardback) . I SBN 0 521 63718 X ( paperback)
1. Bri ti sh Si gn L anguage H andbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Si gn
language Study and teachi ng. 3. D eaf M eansof communi cati on
G reat Bri tai n. I . Woll, B. ( Benci e) I I . T i tle.
H V 2474.S97 1998
419dc21 9820588 C I P
I SBN 0 521 63142 4 hardback
I SBN 0 521 63718 X paperback
For Kerry Sutton-Spenceand Harry Sieratzki
C ontents
Acknowledgements pagei x
Conventions used xi
1 L i ngui sti csand si gn li ngui sti cs 1
2 BSL i n i tssoci al context 22
3 C onstructi ng si gn sentences 41
4 Q uesti onsand negati on 65
5 M outh patternsand other non-manual featuresi n BSL 81
6 M orphology and morphemesi n BSL 99
7 A spect, manner, and mood 115
8 Space typesand verb typesi n BSL 129
9 T he structure of gesturesand si gns 154
10 V i sual moti vati on and metaphor 174
11 T he establi shed and producti ve lexi cons 197
12 Borrowi ng and name si gns 216
13 Soci ally unacceptable si gns 241
14 Extended use of language i n BSL 254
Bibliography 277
Subject index 282
Index of signs in thetext 288
A cknowledgements
We would li ke to thank the followi ng people: M i ke G eorge for the pho-
tographs of handshapes i n the C onventi ons secti on; Bri dget Peace for the
drawi ng of the manual alphabet; T asni m A hmed, T i na C hri stou, M arti n
H ughes, Paul Scott, Shai nal Vasant, A dam Walker, and Fi ona Wood, students
at the C entre for D eaf Studi es, who modelled the si gn i llustrati ons; Frank
Blades, Joseph C olli ns, and D avi d Jackson for thei r assi stance wi th the prepa-
rati on and computeri sati on of the i llustrati ons; D avi d Bri en for hi ski nd per-
mi ssi on to use the i llustrati on conventi onsfrom the BSL/English Dictionary;
L i ttle, Brown for thei r ki nd permi ssi on to reproduce the extract from Body of
Evidence, by Patri ci a C ornwell on pp. 1267; Bryn Brooksand the BBC See
Hear programme for provi di ng the vi deos of D orothy M i less poems; D on
R eed, for hi s permi ssi on to quote D orothy M i less poems; D ani el Jones for
hi s assi stance wi th the preparati on of the manuscri pt; our colleagues at the
C entre for D eaf Studi es at the U ni versi ty of Bri stol and C li ni cal
C ommuni cati on Studi es at C i ty U ni versi ty, i n parti cular Frances Elton, for
her commentson an earli er draft, and H al D raper and Paddy L add, for thei r
assi stance wi th chapter 14. Fi nally, we would li ke to thank all the studentswe
have taught si gn li ngui sti csto over the yearsfor thei r i nput, suggesti ons, and
comments.
O ur apologi es to anyone whom we have i nadvertently omi tted from thi s
li st.
ix
C onventi ons used
T hroughout thi sbook we wi ll frequently refer to BSL si gns. Because of vari -
ati on i n BSL , a si gn we descri be may be di erent from one you know. T here
i sno currently accepted, wi dely used wri ti ng system for BSL and we need to
adopt a system for representi ng si gns on paper. T here are several sophi sti -
cated, accurate systems for representi ng si gns from any language on paper
( notati on systems) . H owever, these systems are complex and take ti me to
learn. I n thi sbook we wi ll not use these notati on systems.
G L O SSI N G
We wi ll use glossi ng asthe mai n method of descri bi ng BSL si gns. When we
gloss a si gn, we wri te i ts meani ng usi ng an Engli sh word or words, but i t
should be remembered that we are referri ng to the BSL si gn and not to the
Engli sh word used to wri te i t down.
T here are several conventi onsthat are observed i n the glossi ng used i n thi s
book:
( 1) When we wri te the meani ng of a si gn usi ng an Engli sh word, we wri te i t
i n capi tal letters. For example, to wri te the si gn that means cat , we wri te
C AT .
( 2) M any si gnscannot be glossed by a si ngle Engli sh word, because there i s
no exact Engli sh translati on. I n such cases, we wri te several Engli sh
words to gi ve the meani ng of the si gn, but each word i s j oi ned by a
hyphen to show that we are referri ng to a si ngle si gn. For example, i f we
want to si gn don t li ke there i sa si ngle si gn for thi sthat may be wri tten
asD O N T-L I K E. T he BSL verb that means I ask you i sa si ngle si gn i n
BSL that i sglossed asI -A SK -Y O U.
( 3) I f a verb si gn i srepeated, thi si sglossed to gi ve i tsmeani ng, so that a si gn
that would be translated i n Engli sh as knock on the door for ages , mi ght
be glossed K N O C K -FO R -AG ES. H owever, we mi ght also want to show
xi
that the si gn K N O C K wasrepeatedly made, and thi scan be shown by
the symbol + + + , to gi ve K N O C K + + + .
( 4) T here are other ti mes when an Engli sh gloss i s not so easy to provi de,
but the basi c meani ng of the si gn sti ll needsto be wri tten. For example,
when a si gner poi ntsto a parti cular locati on, we wri te I ndex to show that
the si gner haspoi nted to a speci ed locati on. I f we need to know what
grammati cal i nformati on i si ncluded by the poi nti ng, we may add 1, 2,
or 3, where 1 would mean I i n Engli sh, 2 would mean you , and 3 would
mean he , she , or i t . I ndex
2
L O V E I ndex
3
would be another way of
wri ti ng Y O U L O V E H ER or, i n Engli sh you love her .
( 5) I f we are wri ti ng a ngerspelled word, we wri te i t i n small letters, wi th a
- i n between each letter. T o wri te that someone has ngerspelled the
Engli sh word cat , we would wri te -c-a-t-. Where letters from one-
handed manual alphabets are referred to ( e.g. i n those from A meri ca,
I reland, and France) , we wri te them i n small letters, wi th a . between
each letter. T he two-handed Bri ti sh manual letter correspondi ng to the
wri tten letter f i swri tten -f-, and any manual letter from a one-handed
alphabet i swri tten .f.
( 6) A great deal of i nformati on i n BSL i sshown bythefaceor byhead move-
ment.T hemeani ngof thi si nformati oni snot easi lytranslatedi ntoEngli sh
but i soften needed i n agloss, especi allyto gi vegrammati cal i nformati on.
I nformati on gi ven by the face and head i sshown by addi ng a li ne along
thetop of thewordsof thegloss, and wri ti ng conventi onal abbrevi ati ons
to descri be the i nformati on. T he li ne extends over the glosses that are
accompani ed by a parti cular faci al expressi on or head movement.
C onventi onal abbrevi ati onswri tten along thi supper li nei nclude:
q thi smeansthat the faci al expressi on and head movementsare those
normally seen duri ng a questi on i n BSL ( see chapter 4)
neg thi smeansthat the faci al expressi on and head movementsare those
normally seen duri ng negati on i n BSL ( see chapter 4)
t thi smeansthat the faci al expressi on and head movementsare those
normally seen duri ng the marki ng of the grammati cal topi c ( see chapters
3 and 4)
hn thi srefersto a head nod
br thi srefersto a brow-rai se
bf thi srefersto furrowed brows, often wi th a frowni ng expressi on.
T here are ti meswhen a si gn i sdi f cult to glossi n Engli sh because the si gn
i smade up very di fferently from an Engli sh word or phrase. Where the hand-
xii Conventions used
shape of a verb contai nsi nformati on about what classa noun belongsto ( a
classi er ) , the glossi ncludesthi si nformati on. T hus, i f the handshape tells
usthat an ani mal i si nvolved i n the acti on, the glosswi ll be wri tten asani mal-
C L . I f the handshape tellsusthat a vehi cle i si nvolved, the glosswi ll be wri tten
asveh-C L . I f i t i sa person, the glossi sperson-C L .
Proformsstand i n the place of somethi ng previ ously i denti ed, and i nclude
i nformati on about an obj ectsshape. For example, i f we want to say I looked
at a pi cture , we represent the pi cture wi th a at hand, i ndi cati ng i ts two-
di mensi onali ty, whi le si gni ng L O O K wi th the other. T he glossfor the pi cture
i swri tten aspro-2D .
Pronounsi n BSL are arti culated by poi nti ng to a locati on associ ated wi th
the noun. T he form of the poi nt i sthe same i n all pronouns, but the locati on
of the poi nt vari esdependi ng on the locati on assi gned to the noun. Poi nti ng
has many other functi ons i n BSL so we use the term i ndex to refer to
pronoun poi nti ng. T hi s i s glossed as I ndex wi th a subscri pt to i ndi cate the
locati on i n space. I f an I ndex hasthe meani ngs I , you , etc., i t i sglossed as
I ndex
1
or I ndex
2
. O therwi se I ndexeshave subscri pts
L
and
R
to i ndi cate left
or ri ght si desof si gni ng space; or
A
,
B
, etc.
D ESC R I P T I O N O F H A N D SH A P ES
G lossi ng i svery useful for di scussi on of si gn li ngui sti cs, but i t hasone maj or
drawback: i t only tellsusthe meani ng of the si gn, not about i tsform. O n many
occasi onsi n thi sbook, we wi ll need to descri be the form of the si gn, aswell
asi tsmeani ng.
T o descri be a si gn completely, we need to say what handshape wasused,
what locati on the si gn wasmade at, exactly how the handsmoved, what the
ori entati on of the hands was, and what faci al expressi on and other move-
mentsof the head and body were made. T hi scan be qui te a lengthy descri p-
ti on, but there i sa very qui ck way of noti ng the handshape of a si gn. O ften i n
thi s book we wi ll use a descri pti on of the handshape i n conj uncti on wi th a
gloss, but we wi ll not alwaysspeci fy the other partsof the si gn, i f thi si nfor-
mati on i snot requi red i n the di scussi on.
T here are many waysof representi ng si gn handshapeson paper. T hey may
be drawn, or allocated a symbol. I n thi s book we wi ll use symbols. R eaders
new to thi ssystem may need some ti me to get used to the conventi ons, but i t
i sa very si mple system, once the basi c rulesare understood, and i t allowsvery
qui ck and easy descri pti on of handshapes.
Si ngle letter labelsare assi gned to di fferent handshapesto descri be them.
M any of the label namescome from the A meri can manual alphabet ( whi ch
i sdi fferent from the Bri ti sh manual alphabet, and usesonly one hand) . When
Conventions used xiii
a si gnshandshape i sthe same asa letter i n the A meri can manual alphabet,
we gi ve i t that letter name. For example, a closed st i ssi mi lar to the A meri can
manual letter A , so i nstead of wri ti ng st , we can say A hand. T he at hand
wi th all the ngerstogether i ssi mi lar to the A meri can letter B , so we label
thi sa B hand. Someti mes, a numeral i sused i nstead, so that an open hand
wi th all the ngersspread out i scalled a 5 hand because i t i sthe same asthe
A meri can numeral 5. Some of the handshape namesuse addi ti onal symbols
to descri be a handshape fully. M ost commonly, we mi ght need to say a hand-
shape i s bent or clawed .
T he followi ng symbolswi ll be used i n thi sbook: A , , , B,

B, C , E, F, G ,
H , I , K , L , O , , bO , R , V, V

, Y, 4, 5, 5

, 8. You may want to refer to the i llus-

trati onshere asyou read the book unti l you become more fami li ar wi th the
system.
xiv Conventions used
A Fi st Fi st wi th thumb extended
Fi st wi th hat B Flat hand, ngersextended and
together
Conventions used xv
B

C urved hand, thumb at si de C C shaped hand

E Fi st wi th thumb alongsi de F T humb and i ndex nger form
ngerti ps F ci rcle, other ngersstrai ght
G I ndex nger extended from st H I ndex and mi ddle ngersextended
together
xvi Conventions used
I L i ttle nger extended from st K
bO X wi th i ndex nger and thumb R Fi st wi th i ndex and mi ddle ngers
bO touchi ng to form baby O V extended and crossed
L I ndex and thumb extended O C i rcle wi th thumb and ngerti ps
at ri ght angles O touchi ng
Conventions used xvii
4 A ll ngersexcept thumb extended 5 A ll ngersextended and spread
and spread
5

A ll ngersextended, spread and 8 I ndex, ri ng and li ttle ngers

5

loosely curved 8 extended and spread, thumb and

8 mi ddle nger form ci rcle
V

V hand wi th i ndex and mi ddle

ngersbent
V Fi st wi th i ndex and mi ddle ngers
extended and spread
D O M I N A N T A N D N O N -D O M I N A N T H A N D S
M any si gnsi n BSL are made only usi ng one hand. H owever, there are also
si gnsmade usi ng two hands. When we descri be a si gn, we wi ll also want to
descri be the acti onsof the two hands. R eference to the two handsi scompli -
cated by the fact that left-handed and ri ght-handed si gnerswi ll use opposi te
handsfor the same si gn. For thi sreason, we wi ll not refer to left and ri ght
hands. I nstead, we wi ll refer to the domi nant( d) and non-domi nant( nd)
hands. For the ri ght-handed si gner, the domi nant hand i sthe ri ght hand. T hi s
i s the si gners stronger, more easi ly controlled hand and i f a si gn i s one
handed, the domi nant hand wi ll usually be used to arti culate the si gn. T he
non-domi nant hand i sthe weaker, lesseasi ly mani pulated hand. I n many uses
of two-handed si gns, the domi nant hand wi ll move, whi le the non-domi nant
hand remai nsstati onary.
A C C EP T A BI L I T Y
O n some occasi onswe wi ll descri be a si gn constructi on that i sli ngui sti cally
unacceptable or ungrammati cal i n BSL . When such a constructi on i sglossed,
i t wi ll have a * i n front, to show thi s.
T here are also ti mes i n thi s book when i t i s necessary to refer to soci ally
unacceptable language. When a si gn i sdescri bed that i ssoci ally unacceptable,
i t wi ll have a
X
i n front to show that many si gnersconsi der i t soci ally unac-
ceptable.
O T H ER C O N V EN T I O N S
When we refer to a si gn gloss, we wi ll use capi tal letters. When we refer to an
Engli sh word or phrase, we wi ll use i tali cs. When we refer to an i dea that may
be expressed i n any language, we wi ll use around the words.
Where i t i snecessary to refer to the soundsof a spoken language, we wi ll
use / / around the lettersto show that they represent the phonemesof a lan-
guage. Where we use [ ] , we refer to the physi cal sounds( see chapter 6) .
I L L U ST R A T I O N S
T he photographsi n the book have been taken from vi deo recordi ngs. We have
tri ed to select vi deo frameswhi ch contai n the most i mportant featuresof the
example. H owever, si nce sti ll i mages cannot show movement, symbols for
movement have been added where necessary. T hese symbolsare the same as
those used i n the BSL/English Dictionary.
A rrows and li nes show di recti on and path of movement. T he arrowhead
i ndi catesthe mai n di recti on of movement.
xviii Conventions used
Direction symbols
O pen arrowheadsi ndi cate movement towardsor away from the si gner; closed
arrowheads i ndi cate movement to the left or ri ght; or up or down. D ouble
arrowheads i ndi cate repeated movement i n the di recti on of the arrowhead;
pai rsof doubled arrowheadsi ndi cate repeated movement i n two di recti ons:
up and down, si de to si de, or towardsand away from the si gner.
movement towards or away from thesigner
movement to theleft or right or up or down
repeated movement towards or away from thesigner
repeated movement to theleft or right or up or down
repeated movement towards and away from thesigner
repeated movement from sideto sideor up and down
Path symbols
A li ne i s used to i ndi cate path of movement of the hand. When the symbol
appearsi n a curved arrow around the wri st, i t i ndi catesa twi sti ng movement.
I t may also be used to show wri st or nger bendi ng. A n i nterrupted li ne i ndi -
catesslow movement; a doubled li ne, fast movement; a li ne wi th a bar at the
end i ndi cates rm movement or abrupt endi ng of the movement.
hand or part of a hand moving in a line
slow movement
fast movement
rm movement
Circular movement
C i rclesi ndi cati ng movement have di recti on symbolsi n li ne wi th the path of
movement. Each ci rcle showsthe movement of one hand, unlessboth hands
move along the same path. T he arrowheadsi ndi cate whether the movement
i s si ngle or repeated, and the di recti on of movement. A rrowhead posi ti on
i ndi cateswhether the handsmove i n parallel or alternati ng movement. C i rcles
are also used to i ndi cate si gnswhere the handsmai ntai n contact throughout
the movement ( see i nteracti ng movement symbolsbelow) .
Conventions used xix
Internal movement symbols
Several symbols are used to i ndi cate movements of the nger( s) . T hese
i nclude tappi ng movements of the ngers, crumbli ng movements, and
wi ggli ng movements.
tapping movement in which thehand touches another part of thebody
several times quickly
crumbling movement in which thepad of thethumb rubs thepads of
thengers
wiggling movement of thengers
opening or closing of part of thehand
closed hand opening or open hand closing
movements occurring in sequence
Interacting movements
A ci rcle wi th a crossi n i t placed over one hand i ndi catesthat the hand does
not move; a large ci rcle over both hands i ndi cates that the hands mai ntai n
contact throughout the movement of the si gn. D i recti on and path symbols
attached to a ci rcle i ndi cate that the hands are held together and move
together.
stationary hand no movement
hands maintain contact throughout themovement
Examples of symbols in combination
thehand moves in an arc
thehand moves slowly downwards
thehand moves sharply upwards
thehand moves rmly towards thesigner
thehands moveapart whiletheextended ngers close
thehand moves away from thesigner whileopening from a st
xx Conventions used
thehands maketwo parallel upwards movements
thehand moves in a clockwisehorizontal circle
thehands moveat thesametimein circles parallel to thesigners
body; theleft hand moves anticlockwise, theright hand moves clock-
wise
thehands moverightwards together, maintaining contact throughout
EX ER C I SES
T hese secti onsare desi gned for studentsof BSL who wi sh to apply some of
the conceptsi ntroduced i n the book to BSL data. Exerci sesare found at the
end of each chapter. Suggested further readi ng for each chapter followseach
set of exerci ses.
Where an exerci se i nvolves collecti ng, i denti fyi ng or analysi ng samples,
studentsmay wi sh to use the C AC D P Si gn L i ngui sti csvi deo, whi ch hasbeen
speci ally made to accompany thi s book, and whi ch provi des vi deo materi al
speci cally desi gned to be sui table for the exerci ses. A lternati vely, source
materi al such as the BSL/English Dictionary
1
, the BSL C D -RO M
2
seri es,
vi deo recordi ngsof such programmesasSeeHear, or materi alsprovi ded by
tutorswi ll also be useful. Studentswi ll bene t most from the exerci sesi f they
di scussthei r ndi ngswi th thei r BSL tutor.
1
BSL/English Dictionary, D . Bri en ( ed.) . Faber & Faber ( 1993) .
2
BSL C D -RO M . M i crobooks( 1997) .
Conventions used xxi