Publication Date:
2004-09-18
Description:
A new sign language has been created by deaf Nicaraguans over the past 25 years, providing an opportunity to observe the inception of universal hallmarks of language. We found that in their initial creation of the language, children analyzed complex events into basic elements and sequenced these elements into hierarchically structured expressions according to principles not observed in gestures accompanying speech in the surrounding language. Successive cohorts of learners extended this procedure, transforming Nicaraguan signing from its early gestural form into a linguistic system. We propose that this early segmentation and recombination reflect mechanisms with which children learn, and thereby perpetuate, language. Thus, children naturally possess learning abilities capable of giving language its fundamental structure.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Senghas, Ann -- Kita, Sotaro -- Ozyurek, Asli -- R01 DC00491/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- R01 DC005407/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- R01 DC05407/DC/NIDCD NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2004 Sep 17;305(5691):1779-82.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Psychology, Barnard College of Columbia University, 3009 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, USA. annie@alum.mit.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15375269" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Adolescent
;
Adult
;
Child
;
Cohort Studies
;
Deafness
;
Gestures
;
Humans
;
*Learning
;
Linguistics
;
Movement
;
Nicaragua
;
*Sign Language
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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