Practice question · Multiple choice
Why did Stokoe's analysis of ASL settle the question of whether signed languages are real languages?
Hints
- Ask what property of a system the decomposition demonstrates.
- Meaningless units combining into meaningful ones is duality.
Show the answer
C. It showed signs decompose into contrastive meaningless parameters, establishing duality of patterning
Why
Because decomposition into contrastive, meaningless parameters is duality of patterning, the feature that distinguishes a language from a stock of signals. Two signs differing only in handshape are a minimal pair in the same sense as pat and bat, which is what made the demonstration decisive rather than suggestive.
Practise Signed Languages
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