{"id":18,"date":"2020-06-06T10:40:12","date_gmt":"2020-06-06T09:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sign.wocal.net\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2026-04-04T10:50:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T09:50:34","slug":"research-on-sign-languages-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/research-on-sign-languages-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Research on sign languages in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Considering the number of deaf signers across Africa, the varieties of sign languages, and the complex contexts of language use, there are surprisingly few PhD theses that have been written about sign languages and deaf people in Africa. The WOCAL Committee for African Sign Languages encourages new scholars to present research in this field at our <a href=\"http:\/\/2021.wocal.net\/african-sign-languages-workshop\/\">workshop<\/a>, especially African deaf researchers studying their own languages. To date, only <strong>three<\/strong> people from Africa who are deaf have defended a linguistics doctoral thesi<em>s: Dr. Sam Lutalo-Kiingi from Uganda, Dr. Pawlos Kassu Abebe from Ethiopia, and Dr. Woinshet Girma from Ethiopia.<\/em> If we have overlooked someone, please let us know!:<\/em> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"493\" height=\"45\" class=\"wp-image-39\" style=\"width: 220px\" src=\"http:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/06\/Wocal-email-address.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/06\/Wocal-email-address.jpg 493w, https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/06\/Wocal-email-address-300x27.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 493px) 85vw, 493px\" \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-medium-gray-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-medium-gray-background-color has-background is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>1997 \u2022 Constanze Schmaling<\/strong> \u2022 University of Hamburg \u2022 <em>Maganar Hannu: Language of the hands. A descriptive analysis of Hausa Sign Language<\/em>. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/oclc\/45897973\">WorldCat<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2007 \u2022 Victoria Nyst<\/strong> \u2022 University of Amsterdam \u2022 <em>A descriptive analysis of Adamorobe Sign Language, Ghana<\/em>. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lotpublications.nl\/Documents\/151_fulltext.pdf\">PDF, 6.3MB<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2010 \u2022 Philemon O. Akach<\/strong> \u2022 University of the Free State \u2022 <em>Application of South African Sign Language (SASL) in a Bilingual-Bicultural Approach to Educating the Deaf<\/em>. (<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.ufs.ac.za\/bitstream\/handle\/11660\/663\/AkachPAO.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y\">PDF, 1.2MB<\/a>)&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2014 \u2022 Sam Lutalo-Kiingi <\/strong>\u2022 University of Central Lancashire \u2022 <em>A descriptive grammar of morphosyntactic constructions in Ugandan Sign Language (UgSL)<\/em>. (<a href=\"http:\/\/clok.uclan.ac.uk\/10566\/1\/Lutalo-kingi%20Sam%20Final%20e-Thesis%20%28Master%20Copy%29.pdf\">PDF, 5.3MB<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2015 \u2022 Annelies Kusters<\/strong> \u2022 University of Bristol \u2022 <em>Deaf space in Adamorobe: An ethnographic study of a village in Ghana.<\/em> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/oclc\/924478844\">WorldCat<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2016 \u2022 Tano Angoua Jean-Jacques<\/strong> \u2022 Leiden University \u2022 <em>Etude d&#8217;une langue des signes \u00e9mergente de C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire: l&#8217;example de la langue des signes de Bouakako (LaSiBo).<\/em> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lotpublications.nl\/Documents\/437_fulltext.pdf\">PDF, 7.1MB<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2017 \u2022 Hope E. Morgan<\/strong> \u2022 University of California San Diego \u2022 <em>The Phonology of Kenyan Sign Language (Southwestern Dialect)<\/em>.&nbsp;(<a href=\"https:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/9bp3h8t4\">eScholarship [PDF, 161MB]<\/a> ; <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1515\/9783110765694\">book<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2018 \u2022 Eyasu Hailu Tamene \u2022<\/strong> Addis Ababa University \u2022 <em>The Sociolinguistics of Ethiopian Sign Language: A Study of Language Use and Attitudes.<\/em> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/oclc\/1099800435\">WorldCat<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2020 \u2022 Pawlos Kassu Abebe \u2022<\/strong> University of Addis Ababa \u2022 <em>Aspect marking in Ethiopian Sign Language <\/em>(<a href=\"https:\/\/benjamins.com\/catalog\/impact.48.15abe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">article based on thesis<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2021 \u2022 Mary Edward \u2022<\/strong> University of Brighton \u2022 <em>Iconicity as a pervasive force in language: Evidence from Ghanaian Sign Language and Adamorobe Sign Languag<\/em>e<em> <\/em>(<a href=\"https:\/\/cris.brighton.ac.uk\/ws\/portalfiles\/portal\/24457482\/Edward_PhD_thesis_Final.pdf\">PDF, 12.3MB<\/a>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2021 \u2022 <strong>Andargachew Deneke Demssie<\/strong> \u2022<\/strong> Addis Ababa University \u2022 <em>Phonology of Ethiopian Sign Language <\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>2024 \u2022 Marta Morgado \u2022<\/strong> Leiden University \u2022 <em>Personal experience narratives in three West African sign languages.<\/em> (<a href=\"https:\/\/scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl\/handle\/1887\/3719763\">LOT publication<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2<strong>024  \u2022 Woinshet Girma \u2022<\/strong> Addis Ababa University \u2022 <em>Description of lexical semantic relationships in Ethiopian Sign Language: Implications for sign language dictionary making<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2<strong>024  \u2022 Timothy mac Hadjah \u2022<\/strong> Leiden University \u2022 <em>Understanding Ghanaian Sign Language(s): History, linguistics and ideology<\/em>. (<a href=\"https:\/\/scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl\/handle\/1887\/3765773\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl\/handle\/1887\/3765773\">Leiden University publication<\/a>)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2<strong>026  \u2022 Mariana  Martins \u2022<\/strong> Leiden University \u2022 <em>Creating a Sign Language out of Everything and Everywhere: An Example from the Deaf People of Bissau<\/em>. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lotpublications.nl\/creating-a-sign-language-out-of-everything-and-everywhere\">LOT publication<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-medium-gray-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-medium-gray-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-dark-red-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-19f197a143c98662bbf9145571c07417\"><strong>Dissertation abstracts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1997<\/strong> \u2022 Constanze Schmaling \u2022 <em>Maganar Hannu: Language of the hands. A descriptive analysis of Hausa Sign Language<\/em>. (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/oclc\/45897973\">WorldCat<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;This is the first comprehensive account of any West African sign language. Hausa Sign Language (HSL) is the language used by deaf people in the Hausa-speaking areas of northern Nigeria. This book introduces the reader to the deaf community in Kano State and presents a description and analysis of the phonology, morphology, and lexicon of HSL as used in this area. Documentation of sign languages such as HSL will help in testing and possibly modifying existing models of sign language structure. <em>Constanze Schmaling studied African linguistics and phonetics at Hamburg University, Bayero University Kano, and the School of Oriental and African Studies London. She lived in the old city in Kano, northern Nigeria, for four years as a researcher and lecturer. Since 1997, she has been teaching and researching at the Institute of German Sign Language at Hamburg University.<\/em>&#8220;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-light-gray-color has-css-opacity has-light-gray-background-color has-background\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2007<\/strong> \u2022 Victoria Nyst \u2022 <em><em>A descriptive analysis of Adamorobe Sign Language, Ghana<\/em><\/em>. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lotpublications.nl\/Documents\/151_fulltext.pdf\">PDF, 6.3MB<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;Adamorobe, a&nbsp;small Akan village&nbsp;in&nbsp;Ghana, has an unusually high incidence of hereditary deafness.&nbsp;As a result, a sign language came into being, Adamorobe Sign Language (AdASL), which is unrelated to any other sign language described so far and is assumed to be about 200 years old. The present study describes selected aspects of AdaSL, notably phonology, lexicon, the expression of size and shape and the encoding of motion events. A comparison of these aspects with descriptions of other sign languages reveals interesting crosslinguistic differences in the use of iconicity as well as in the use of space and classifier constructions.&nbsp;Data were collected during three periods of fieldwork of nine months in total. Moreover, this study considers to what extent the social setting may influence the development of structural features in sign languages. This investigation nuances the impact the visual spatial modality has on sign language structure. The book is of interest to scholars of sign linguistics, African linguistics, as well as contact&nbsp;linguistics and Deaf studies.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-light-gray-color has-css-opacity has-light-gray-background-color has-background\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><strong>2010 \u2022 Philemon O. Akach<\/strong> \u2022<\/strong> University of the Free State \u2022 <em>Application of South African Sign Language (SASL) in a Bilingual-Bicultural Approach to Educating the Deaf<\/em>. (<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.ufs.ac.za\/bitstream\/handle\/11660\/663\/AkachPAO.pdf?sequence=1&amp;isAllowed=y\">PDF, 1.2MB<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Excerpts of abstract: <em>&#8220;After contextualising the challenges of deaf education in the twenty-first century in the global context, this study focused on sign language in the environment of bilingual-bicultural education for the deaf in South Africa. Each of the five essays pinpointed particular challenges and as a result the study ventures to use empirical research to demonstrate conclusively that the issue of sign language in a bilingual-bicultural education for the deaf in South Africa, as is the case elsewhere, is a complex matter in which a motley intersection of dynamics is to be taken into consideration.&#8221; \u2022 &#8220;Fundamentally, the study indicates that sign languages in many polities in general, and in South Africa in particular, despite positive constitutional, legislative and policy developments, are subject to a particular challenges coined as \u201cdouble linguistic imperialism\u201d: sign languages are not only marginalised by the former colonial languages that have been adopted as official languages in many states in the developing world; they are also marginalised by the dominant indigenous languages in these societies. Language policy in general and educational policy and concomitant systems in particular are some of the mechanisms that can be deployed to redress this state of affairs.&#8221; \u2022 &#8220;In addressing the issue of sign languages acquisition and deaf education, the discussion establishes that the deaf child, in order to fully integrate into a predominantly hearing world, is faced with a particular challenge of adapting to an education system that provides for bilingual education. In such circumstances, sign language should ideally feature as first language, or mother tongue, as well as language of instruction. However, for purposes of reading and writing, the deaf child should also be exposed to a second, spoken language. This approach, the thesis argues, should lend emphasis on the so-called \u201ccritical period\u201d in the child\u2019s development.&#8221; \u2022 &#8220;Empirical research conducted and published here for the first time reveals that parents\u2019 attitudes towards sign language as medium of instruction are as a rule at variance with particular situations, conditions and circumstances prevalent at any given time. However, the parents surveyed tend to agree that signed language should be used in instructing the Deaf child at school&#8230;Overall, from an attitudinal perspective, parents of deaf learners would prefer signed languages to be the languages of instruction for their children. By contrast, educators seemed to find themselves unable to distinguish between the use of SASL and alternatives in the classroom, calling all methods of communication &#8216;SASL&#8217;.&#8221; \u2022 &#8220;The conclusion is that teachers are in dire need of formal training in order to appreciate the true complexity of signed language and by extension therefore realise the current limitations in the education of the learners.&#8221; \u2022 &#8220;Policies setting out the requirement that the Deaf are taught through the medium of signed language have certainly not been heeded nor implemented on the continent of Africa.&#8221; \u2022 &#8220;The last paper in the study also establishes that sign languages, caught between negative societal perceptions, lethargic educational policies and an outdated pedagogy, suffer from a paucity of the development of instructional\/learning materials. It is therefore important to recognise that there is need for materials development for sign languages so that they can become entrenched in the curriculum as taught subjects and in educational policy and practice as a media of instruction for Deaf learners.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2014 \u2022 Sam Lutalo-Kiingi <\/strong>\u2022 University of Central Lancashire \u2022 <em>A descriptive grammar of morphosyntactic constructions in Ugandan Sign Language (UgSL)<\/em>. (<a href=\"http:\/\/clok.uclan.ac.uk\/10566\/1\/Lutalo-kingi%20Sam%20Final%20e-Thesis%20%28Master%20Copy%29.pdf\">PDF, 5.3MB<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;The Ugandan Deaf Community, consisting of approximately 25,000 sign language users, has seen significant developments in its recent history. Government recognition of sign language, establishment of schools for the deaf, and the beginnings of research into Ugandan Sign Language (UgSL) have been important milestones. While Deaf Ugandans are entering university level education for the first time, a number of challenges to the community remain. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the linguistic structures of UgSL in order to produce a description of the language\u2019s morphosyntax. There is a close relationship between word (or sign) properties and syntactic expressions, so UgSL is described here in terms of its morphosyntactic constructions, rather than a differentiation between morphological and syntactic features (cf. Croft 2001; Wilkinson 2013:260). While a substantial number of such descriptions exist for languages outside of Africa, this thesis is the first attempt at describing the morphosyntax of an African sign language. Many African sign languages are severely under-documented, and some are endangered. This study uses an inductive approach and a corpus-based methodology, examining how UgSL signers construct utterances of morphosyntactic complexity. The thesis is in three parts: part I is an introduction and overview of UgSL and also provides the theoretical and methodological background; part II provides a preliminary survey of UgSL grammar to provide a sider context for subsequent chapters; and part III is a detailed survey of five morphosyntactic domains of UgSL. The author is a native Deaf user of UgSL and a member of the Ugandan Deaf Community, as well as being fluent in several other sign languages and participating in international communities of Deaf people.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2015 \u2022 Annelies Kusters<\/strong> \u2022 University of Bristol \u2022 <em>Deaf space in Adamorobe: An ethnographic study of a village in Ghana.<\/em> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/oclc\/924478844\">WorldCat<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;Shared signing communities consist of a relatively high number of hereditarily deaf people living together with hearing people in relative isolation. In the United States, Martha\u2019s Vineyard gained mythical fame as a paradise for deaf people where everyone signed up until the 19th century. That community disappeared when deaf people left the island, newcomers moved in, married locals, and changed the gene pool. These unique communities still exist, however, one being the Akan village in Ghana called Adamorobe. Annalies Kuster traveled to Adamorobe to conduct an ethnographic study of both the deaf and hearing populations in the village. In her new book, Kusters reveals how deaf people in Adamorobe did not live in a social paradise and how they created their own \u201cDeaf Space\u201d by seeking each other out to form a society of their own. Deaf Space in Adamorobe reveals considerable variation in shared signing communities regarding rates of sign language proficiency and use, deaf people\u2019s marriage rates, deaf people\u2019s participation in village economies and politics, and the role deaf education. Kusters describes spaces produced by both deaf and hearing people as cohesive communities where deaf and hearing people living together is an integral fact of their sociocultural environments. At the same time, Kusters identifies tension points between deaf and hearing perspectives and also between outside perspectives and discourses that originated within the community. Because of these differences and the relatively high number of deaf people in the community, Kusters concludes it is natural that they form deaf relationships within the shared space of the village community.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2016 \u2022 Tano Angoua Jean-Jacques<\/strong> \u2022 Leiden University \u2022 <em>Etude d&#8217;une langue des signes \u00e9mergente de C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire: l&#8217;example de la langue des signes de Bouakako (LaSiBo).<\/em> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lotpublications.nl\/Documents\/437_fulltext.pdf\">PDF, 7.1MB<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;Cette th\u00e8se fait la description de la Langue des Signes de Bouakako (LaSiBo), qui a \u00e9merg\u00e9e dans une communaut\u00e9 entendante. C\u2019est une langue jeune, 48 ans environ, qui s\u2019est construite par le contact entre les personnes sourdes ainsi qu\u2019avec les membres de la communaut\u00e9 entendante pour les besoins de communications. Cette \u00e9tude d\u00e9crit des aspects de la LaSiBo \u00e0 savoir les caract\u00e9ristiques formelles et la variation interpersonnelle dans l\u2019utilisation des signes; les domaines s\u00e9mantiques tels que l\u2019expression de la parent\u00e9, des couleurs, le syst\u00e8me num\u00e9ral et mon\u00e9taire ainsi que l\u2019expression du temps. La taille de la communaut\u00e9, l\u2019\u00e2ge de la langue, l\u2019influence de la langue parl\u00e9e et l\u2019absence de l\u2019usage dans l\u2019\u00e9ducation sont autant de facteurs qui interviennent dans la formation de la LaSiBo. Les comparaisons syst\u00e9matiques des quatre domaines s\u00e9mantiques ont \u00e9t\u00e9 faites avec ceux de l\u2019AdaSL d\u00e9crit par Nyst (2007). Les r\u00e9sultats de ces comparaisons nous permettent de dire que l\u2019\u00e2ge peut affecter le d\u00e9veloppement des lexiques des langues des signes. Les similarit\u00e9s constat\u00e9es des comparaisons faites de la LaSiBo avec d\u2019autres langues des signes qui sont diff\u00e9rentes les unes des autres peuvent r\u00e9sulter du fait qu\u2019elles partagent une modalit\u00e9 de communication qui est visuo-gestuelle. De m\u00eame, des similarit\u00e9s et diff\u00e9rences ont \u00e9galement \u00e9t\u00e9 observ\u00e9es entre des langues qui se c\u00f4toient (LaSiBo et Dida) mais qui ont diff\u00e9rents canaux de r\u00e9alisations, respectivement visuo-gestuel et audio-oral.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2017 \u2022 Hope E. Morgan<\/strong> \u2022 University of California San Diego \u2022 <em>The Phonology of Kenyan Sign Language (Southwestern Dialect)<\/em>. (<a href=\"https:\/\/escholarship.org\/uc\/item\/9bp3h8t4\">eScholarship [PDF, 161MB]<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1515\/9783110765694\">book<\/a> [2022])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) is a thriving national sign language used by tens of thousands of signers in Kenya, and which emerged out of two deaf schools in western Kenya in the early 1960s. In this thesis, I provide a description and analysis of the basic phonological components of the KSL lexicon used in the southwestern region of Kenya (formerly south Nyanza Province). This phonological grammar of (SoNy)KSL makes contributions in three domains. In the descriptive domain, it provides a report of the basic units in the main phonological parameters; i.e., Handshape (Ch. 4), Location (Ch. 5), and Movement (Ch 6, 7), as well as the evidence for the distinctiveness of each unit. The description for Movement and Location are notable because those parameters have received less attention in sign linguistics in general compared to Handshape. In the methodological domain, the grammar is based on a KSL Lexical Database built for this project, in which over 50 phonetic characteristics of 1,880 non-compound signs were coded. This database is currently one of only a few such richly coded lexical databases of sign languages. In addition, this grammar employs a rigorous approach to determining lexical contrast, which has yielded a separate dataset of 461 minimal pairs (Ch. 3). This dataset reveals patterns of lexical contrast that were not previously known, and which have generated new hypotheses about how lexical contrast may be constrained by degrees of visual similarity. Finally, this thesis makes a theoretical contribution by comparing how different models of sign phonology can account for sign types in KSL. By evaluating the explanatory power of the main theories of sign phonology on the basis of specific descriptive data, this thesis gives new insights into the theoretical validity of these models. It also proposes modifications in some cases, especially with regard to how the Dependency Model (DPM) can account for the representation of movement features and their relationship to the timing tier. In addition, a new movement feature, [dispersed], is described and its implementation worked out in the DPM.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2018 \u2022 Eyasu Hailu Tamene \u2022<\/strong> Addis Ababa University \u2022 <em>The Sociolinguistics of Ethiopian Sign Language: A Study of Language Use and Attitudes.<\/em> (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcat.org\/oclc\/1099800435\">WorldCat<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;Ethiopian Sign Language (EthSL) emerged relatively recently; its development is closely tied to the establishment of the first school for deaf students in Addis Ababa by American missionaries in 1963. Today, EthSL is used by more than a million members of the Ethiopian Deaf community, but it remains an under-researched language. In this work, Eyasu Hailu Tamene presents a groundbreaking study of EthSL that touches on multiple aspects of Deaf people&#8217;s lives in Ethiopia.Tamene collects data from three principal groups of people: deaf participants, teachers of deaf students, and parents of deaf children. He examines EthSL use within families, in formal and informal settings, and in various community spaces. He documents the awareness among different groups of the services available for deaf people, such as sign language interpreters and Deaf associations. He finds that members of the Deaf community show positive attitudes toward the use of EthSL and investigates the factors that impact those attitudes. His work indicates that there are still critical gaps in recognition and support for the use of EthSL, which can pose a threat to the vitality of the language.&nbsp;The Sociolinguistics of Ethiopian Sign Languagewill help to advance public understanding of EthSL and contribute to improved educational and social outcomes for the Deaf community in Ethiopia.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2021 \u2022 Mary Edward \u2022<\/strong> University of Brighton \u2022 <em>Iconicity as a pervasive force in language: Evidence from Ghanaian Sign Language and Adamorobe Sign Languag<\/em>e. (<a href=\"https:\/\/cris.brighton.ac.uk\/ws\/portalfiles\/portal\/24457482\/Edward_PhD_thesis_Final.pdf\">PDF, 12.3MB<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;In this dissertation, I investigate various manifestations of iconicity and how these are demonstrated in the visual-spatial modality, focusing specifically on Ghanaian Sign Language (GSL) and Adamorobe Sign Language (AdaSL). The dissertation conducts three main empirical analyses comparing GSL and AdaSL. The data for the analyses were elicited from deaf participants using lexical elicitation and narrative tasks. The first study considers iconicity in GSL and AdaSL lexical items. This study additionally compares the iconic strategies used by signers to those produced in gestures by hearing non-signers in the surrounding communities. The second study investigates iconicity in the spatial domain, focusing on the iconic use of space to depict location, motion, action. The third study looks specifically at the use of, simultaneous constructions, and compares the use of different types of simultaneous constructions between the two sign languages. Finally, the dissertation offers a theoretical analysis of the data across the studies from a cognitive linguistics perspective on iconicity in language. The study on lexical iconicity compares GSL and AdaSL signers\u2019 use of iconic strategies across five semantic categories: Handheld tools, Clothing &amp; Accessories, Furniture&amp; Household items, Appliances, and Nature. Findings are discussed with respect to patterns of iconicity across semantic categories, and with respect to similarities and differences between signs and gestures. The result of this study demonstrates that varied iconic patterns for different semantic domains emerge within the sign languages (and gesture) and provide valuable insight into the typology of sign languages and into the community-mediated interplay between sign and gesture in their shared access to the iconic affordances of the visual modality. The analysis of iconicity in the grammatical constructions expressing location, motion and action focuses on similarities and differences between the two sign languages in signers\u2019 telling of a narrative. The analysis shows that the expression of iconicity in the grammatical domain depends on different predicate types, e.g., classifier and lexical predicates and the use of signing perspectives. Although GSL and AdaSL do not show substantial differences in their use of predicate types and perspectives, we identify the possible language contact as reason for some novel structures in AdaSL. The third study investigates the different types of simultaneous constructions (SC) in GSL and AdaSL. The analysis indicates that GSL and AdaSL use different types of SC to almost the same degree. Some of the results from AdaSL were unexpected considering previous research on SC. The cognitive linguistics approaches to iconicity considers the different ways in which grammatical organisation mirrors experience. The framework perceives iconic structures to be instantiated by the meaningfulness of the phonological parameters and the meaningfulness is influenced by signers\u2019 experiential knowledge.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2024 \u2022 Marta Morgado \u2022<\/strong> Leiden University \u2022 <em>Personal experience narratives in three West African sign languages.<\/em> (<a href=\"https:\/\/scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl\/handle\/1887\/3719763\">LOT publication<\/a>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;This book is about three West African sign languages with different time-depths, community sizes and patterns of social interactions. Adamorobe Sign Language (AdaSL), Ghana, is an old village sign language used by 33 deaf people. Langue des Signes de Bouakako (LaSiBo), C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire, is a new village sign language, used by six deaf people. L\u00edngua Gestual Guineense, Guinea-Bissau, is an emerging school-based sign language used by around 500 deaf people.In the three sign languages, 45 narratives of personal experiences were analysed to better understand how the time depth, the community size and the socialisation frequency influenced the three sign languages. Four different descriptive analyses of the narratives were carried out. Study 1 analysed the structure of the narratives, following Labov &amp; Waletzky&#8217;s model (1967) and Freytag&#8217;s dramatic pyramid (1894). Studies 2, 3 and 4 focus on specific narrative devices that work to make narratives more convincing, as part of Labov&#8217;s (1972) &#8220;evaluation&#8221; component. These devices refer to the moments when storytellers give dramatic prominence to narratives through the incorporation of characters, such as the use of different signing perspectives (Study 2), the use of role shifting between characters and constructed dialogues (Study 3) and the use of different types of descriptions of the animal (Study 4). These studies show that AdaSL and male LGG signers use devices that reflect a greater ability to capture the audience&#8217;s attention, while LaSiBo and female LGG signers tend to show similar patterns in using simpler or reduced devices.This study shows that the frequency of social interaction between deaf peers is the most crucial factor in language change over time.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2024 \u2022 Timothy mac Hadjah \u2022<\/strong> Leiden University \u2022 <em>Understanding Ghanaian Sign Language(s): History, linguistics and ideology<\/em>. (<a href=\"https:\/\/scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl\/handle\/1887\/3765773\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl\/handle\/1887\/3765773\">Leiden University publication<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;The thesis explores Ghanaian Sign Language (GSL), the national sign language of Ghana within urban deaf communities. Using historical, linguistic and ideological data, the research discovered GSL is a cover term for various signing forms (e.g., ENGLISH, BROKEN, LOCAL). Tracing GSL roots back to the introduction of American Sign Language (ASL) in 1957 by an American missionary, this research unveils a lasting connection between ASL signs and GSL. The thesis presents GSL&#8217;s historical journey amidst significant challenges such as discrimination and sign language bans (oralism). It sheds light on signers&#8217; resilience and contributions to GSL&#8217;s evolution. This exploration also highlights the emergence of local signing varieties (e.g., school-lects) alongside foreign-based signing forms within a triglossic framework that resembles the distribution and use of spoken languages in Ghana and other African countries. The thesis unearths lexical relationships, examining variants of GSL\u2019s connections not only with ASL but also with locally evolved village sign languages like Adamorobe SL and Nanabin SL. Moreover, the study investigates the expression of Size and Shape Specifiers (SASS) within GSL and Ghanaian gestural communication, offering valuable insights into the susceptibility of sign languages to their gestural environment throughout their life spans. Beyond linguistics, the book explores social landscapes and language ideologies of sign languages in the Ghanaian urban deaf communities. It reveals a pluridimensional continuum of GSL usage and the interplay between high- and low-prestige variants. As an invaluable resource, this thesis enhances the understanding of African national sign languages, providing essential insights for researchers, teachers, and learners.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2026 \u2022 Mariana Martins \u2022<\/strong> Leiden University \u2022 <em>Creating a Sign Language out of Everything and Everywhere: An Example from the Deaf People of Bissau<\/em>. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lotpublications.nl\/creating-a-sign-language-out-of-everything-and-everywhere\">LOT publication<\/a>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><em>&#8220;This thesis traces the formation of a deaf community in Guinea-Bissau and the emergence of its sign language, L\u00edngua Gestual Guineense (LGG), offering rare real-time documentation of how a language develops from gestural roots. The relative absence of medical approaches to deafness enabled a free-signing environment in schools and informal meeting places. Within two decades, the first generation of signers in Bissau established a proud community and shaped an autochthonous sign language.<\/em> <em>The analysis of gestures reveals three main pathways of incorporation into LGG: direct incorporation, incorporation of variants, and incorporation of overlapping networks of polysemous and synonymous gestures. While gestures entered the lexicon with minimal change, signers have exploited gesture variation in form and meaning to drive lexical growth. Innovative methods relying on small-group elicitation and deaf participants\u2019 metalinguistic insights shed new light on the degree of gesture conventionalisation in Bissau. Gestures serving as communicative bridges provided a linguistic starting capital, which is particularly evident in kinship terms. This research also discovered that gender-based social dynamics influenced other lexical semantic domains. For instance, male signers are likely to have created colour and country name signs motivated by football references.<\/em> <em>Linguistically, LGG exhibits rapid expansion through compounding, derivation, and grammaticalisation. The latter process can be seen in how the gesture for \u2018hit\u2019 evolved into signed markers of comparative and emphatic structures. Altogether, LGG exemplifies both universal processes of language creation and the imprint of a local shared world, showing how new languages are created out of everything and everywhere<\/em>.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Considering the number of deaf signers across Africa, the varieties of sign languages, and the complex contexts of language use, there are surprisingly few PhD theses that have been written about sign languages and deaf people in Africa. The WOCAL Committee for African Sign Languages encourages new scholars to present research in this field at &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/research-on-sign-languages-in-africa\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Research on sign languages in Africa&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":637,"href":"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wocal.net\/sign\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}