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Once signed languages are recognized as natural human languages, a world of exploration opens up. Signed languages provide a powerful tool for investigating the nature of human language and language processing, the relation between cognition and language, and the neural organization of language. The value of sign languages lies in their modality. Specifically, for perception, signed languages depend upon high-level vision and motion processing systems, and for production, they require the integration of motor systems involving the hands and face. These facts raise many questions: What impact does this different biological base have for grammatical systems? For online language processing? For the acquisition of language? How does it affect nonlinguistic cognitive structures and processing? Are the same neural systems involved?

These are some of the questions that this book aims at addressing. The answers provide insight into what constrains grammatical form, language processing, linguistic working memory, and hemispheric specialization for language. The study of signed languages allows researchers to address questions about the nature of linguistic and cognitive systems that otherwise could not be easily addressed.

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• Preface(p. xi)
• Notation Conventions(p. xv)
• 1 Introduction(p. 1)
• Documenting the Birth of a Language: The Nicaraguan Sign Language Project(p. 4)
• The American Deaf Community and Sociolinguistic Context(p. 7)
• Suggestions for Further Reading(p. 11)
• 2 The Structure of American Sign Language: Linguistic Universals and Modality Effects(p. 13)
• The Structure of Signs: Morphology and the Lexicon(p. 14)
• The Phonology of a Soundless Language(p. 23)
• Syntax: The Structure of Sentences(p. 43)
• Discourse and Language Use(p. 63)
• Conclusions and Implications(p. 69)
• Suggestions for Further Reading(p. 70)
• 3 The Confluence of Language and Space(p. 73)
• Classifier Constructions(p. 73)
• Talking About Space With Space(p. 91)
• Nonlocative Functions of Signing Space(p. 104)
• Conclusion(p. 114)
• Suggestions for Further Reading(p. 115)
• 4 Psycholinguistic Studies of Sign Perception, Online Processing, and Production(p. 117)
• Sign Perception and Visual Processing(p. 117)
• Lexical Access and Sign Recognition(p. 125)
• Lexical Representations and Organization(p. 129)
• Online Comprehension of Signed Utterances: Psycholinguistic Studies of Coreference(p. 136)
• Some Issues in Sign Language Production(p. 146)
• Suggestions for Further Reading(p. 168)
• 5 Sign Language Acquisition(p. 169)
• Early Development(p. 170)
• What Does That "Mistake" Mean? Acquisition of Syntax and Morphology(p. 181)
• Later Development(p. 190)
• Conclusions and Implications(p. 203)
• Suggestions for Further Reading(p. 204)
• 6 The Critical Period Hypothesis and the Effects of Late Language Acquisition(p. 205)
• When Language Input Is Absent or Inconsistent: The Contribution of the Child(p. 206)
• The Effects of Age of Acquisition on Grammatical Knowledge and Language Processing(p. 211)
• Delayed First Language Acquisition Differs From Second Language Acquisition(p. 216)
• The Cognitive Effects of Delayed First Language Acquisition(p. 219)
• The Effects of Late Acquisition on the Neural Organization of Language(p. 222)
• Suggestions for Further Reading(p. 225)
• 7 Memory for Sign Language: Implications for the Structure of Working Memory(p. 227)
• Early Evidence for Sign-Based Working Memory(p. 228)
• Evidence for a Visuospatial Phonological Loop(p. 230)
• Working Memory Capacity: Effects on Memory Span for Sign and Speech(p. 233)
• Effects of the Visuospatial Modality on Sign-Based Working Memory(p. 234)
• A Modality Effect for Sign Language? Implications for Models of Working Memory(p. 238)
• The Architecture of Working Memory for Sign Language: Summary and Conclusions(p. 240)
• Suggestions for Further Reading(p. 241)
• 8 The Impact of Sign Language Use on Visuospatial Cognition(p. 243)
• Motion Processing(p. 244)
• Face Processing(p. 251)
• Mental Imagery(p. 258)
• Domains Unaffected by Sign Language Use(p. 267)
• Implications: Does Language Affect Cognition?(p. 268)
• Suggestions for Further Reading(p. 270)
• 9 Sign Language and the Brain(p. 271)
• What Determines the Left-Hemispheric Specialization for Language?(p. 271)
• Within Hemisphere Organization of Sign Language(p. 286)
• The Role of the Right Hemisphere in Language Processes(p. 296)
• The Role of Subcortical Structures in Sign Language(p. 309)
• Conclusions and Implications(p. 312)
• Suggestions for Further Reading(p. 314)
• Epilogue(p. 315)
• Appendix A Handshapes in American Sign Language(p. 319)
• Appendix B Linguistic Distinctions Among Communication Forms in Nicaragua(p. 321)
• References(p. 323)
• Author Index(p. 363)
• Subject Index(p. 375)