Click HERE for presentation video with sign interpretation.
Shared sign languages are used by both deaf and hearing residents of small communities with a larger proportion of deaf residents. They are considered to have originated from homesign: individually created communication systems by deaf children of hearing non-signing adults. When a homesign is shared by deaf and hearing community members, it develops into a shared sign language, and is passed on through generations. In this video lecture, linguistic properties of Miyakubo Sign Language, one of the shared sign languages attested in Japan, will be presented, with examples. It will be demonstrated that Miyakubo Sign Language is fundamentally different from Japanese Sign Language (the established sign language of the Japanese native deaf population). Academic contributions of shared sign language research, as well as the importance of recruiting deaf researchers, will also be discussed.