This work is designed to extend our knowledge of the development of phonological organization in American Sign Language (ASL) through work in two areas.
The first aim i s to trace the development of the syllable in early sign phonology in order to improve our understanding of phonological structure in a visual language.
The second aim i s to trace the emergence of independent features analogous to phonemes in spoken languages. Data will come from longitudinal and cross-sectional samples of deaf children who are learning ASL as a native language as they begin to produce their first signs. Research on visual language will establish universals across language that differ in modality and should lead to a better understanding of how natural visual languages is acquired and the nature of universal phonology without modality biases.
