The Signs of Language [Hardcover]

Edward Klima (Author), Ursula Bellugi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 1979 | ISBN-10: 0674807952 | ISBN-13: 978-0674807952 | Edition: illustrated edition

In a book with far-reaching implications, Edward S. Klima and Ursula Bellugi present a full exploration of a language in another mode--a language of the hands and of the eyes. They discuss the origin and development of American Sign Language, the internal structure of its basic units, the grammatical processes it employs, and its heightened use in poetry and wit. The authors draw on research, much of it by and with deaf people, to answer the crucial question of what is fundamental to language as language and what is determined by the mode (vocal or gestural) in which a language is produced.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An excellent book...It can be recommended not only to the specialist, but to readers with no previous knowledge of sign language. (Peyton Todd Journal of Communication )

A most evocative book...[It] is no guide to the learning of the sign language itself, but it is one to understanding it as an independent flowering of the capacity we call language. That is a treasure richer than speech, sign or ideograph, the springs of both art and science. It is worth mention that for the many sequential drawings and diagrams needed to make the flow of sign understandable on the static page the authors have themselves evolved a small visual language of symbol: an entire set of spiraling, swelling and dwindling arrows bridging their scenes. The two hemispheres of the brain are plainly cooperating in this study! (Philip Morrison Scientific American )

About the Author

Edward S. Klima is Professor of Linguistics, University of California at San Diego.

Ursula Bellugi is the Director of the Laboratory for Language Studies at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press; illustrated edition edition (May 28, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674807952
• ISBN-13: 978-0674807952
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,717,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book but not for the causul reader!, February 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Signs of Language (Paperback)

One of the few books the discuss the language, the culture, and society of the American Deaf. A real goldmine of treasure will be found in this book. The book is not intended to teach the language (i.e. American Sign Language), but presents how research proves that it is indeed a language in its own right--apart from English. Recomended reading for any serious student of the language.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intensive study of American Sign Language as a language., June 21, 2000

By 

K. L Sadler "Dr. Karen L. Sadler" (Freedom, Pa. USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Signs of Language (Paperback)

This book is and was intended for use by linguists, educators, and others such as anthropologists who were in the 1970's and the 1980's beginning to realize that ASL was not a manual gesture system mimicing English, but rather a language in its own right. Dr. Bellugi and Dr. Klima have been working on exploring this language for the past 30 years, both in studying native signers (the prelingually deafened of deaf parents) and also in studying aphasics in the deaf community in comparison to aphasics in the hearing community. This particular book sticks mostly with elucidating the grammar, the lexicon, the syntax, and all the other components which make up ASL.

As a Deaf person whose first language was English, and who was required in college to take a foreign language I had to, of course, learn ASL. I started using ASL when I totally lost my hearing to get information in my classes which I couldn't get through lipreading. As I progressed in Neuroscience and Science education for my Ph.D. I found that I needed to know more about ASL and the grammar and syntax of it. This particular book was required for one of my classes studying English versus ASL grammar. Because the book is so heavy duty, I did not read enough for the book or language to make sense. It wasn't until I read the book over summer vacation, very slowly, that I gleaned the vital information which I needed as both an educator and a neuroscientist.

This is not an easy book to read. Many of the best books never are. This is not to say that the authors did not try to make the information accessible. They did, but the topic is very confounding. I recommend this book for anyone sincerely interested in learning accurately about ASL, no matter what their field, but with the warning to give yourself time to assimulate the information, and read the book. I personally would not require reading the book partially for a class, because it is only in starting from the beginning and going to the end that you can view the language as a whole. This is a book that should be used and read over a period of two semesters, with a lot of discussion. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The basic starting point for studying linguistics of ASL, January 2, 2005

By 

Benjamin N. Cipollini - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Signs of Language (Paperback)

Title says it all. This is THE book. The book is very instructive for anyone interested in linguistics, as every issue in linguistics is covered (but via an analysis of a visual, multi-dimensional language). Many insights can be gained from this book, no question.