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One structural dimension that varies across languages is the simultaneous or sequential expression of meaning. Complex predicates can layer meanings together simultaneously in a single-verb predicate (SVP) or distribute them sequentially in a multiple-verb predicate (MVP). We ask whether typological variability in this dimension might be a consequence of systematic patterns of diachronic change. We examine the distribution of markers of agency and number within the verb phrase (the predicate) in the earliest stages of a young, emerging sign language in Nicaragua, Lengua de Señas Nicaragüense (LSN), beginning with homesign systems like those from which LSN originated, and progressing through two decades of transmission to new learners. We find that: (i) LSN2 signers are more likely to produce MVPs than homesigners or LSN1 signers; (ii) in the MVPs they do produce, homesigners and LSN1 signers are more likely to produce predicates that mark both agency and number simultaneously on at least one of the verbs; LSN2 signers are just as likely to produce sequences with verbs that mark agency and number in sequentially separate verbs. We discuss how language acquisition, modality, and structure, as well as specific social factors associated with each of the groups, play a role in driving these changes, and how, over time, these patterns of change might yield the diversity of forms observed across spoken and signed languages today.
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Convergence and Emergence: How Nicaraguan Signing Has Been Shaped by Transmission, Acquisition, and Interaction
Abstract: Common features in sign languages that have no history of contact present a puzzle. The current article brings together findings from three studies of Lengua de Señas Nicaragüense (LSN) to identify processes that underpin the inception and changes in language as it emerges. We use an apparent time approach to capture language change in three domains: pointing and deixis, nonmanual markers with Wh-questions, and spatial differentiation for locatives and arguments. By comparing the language of Nicaraguan homesigners, three successive cohorts of LSN signers, and the signing of hearing children of deaf LSN signers (Codas), we propose that language change is characterized by two complementary processes, in balance: emergence and convergence. Emergence is the constructive process by which forms arise, such as new lexical items, new patterns of word order, and new mappings between forms and functions, such as a pointing sign taking on a pronominal function (study 1). We argue that vertical transmission from a more experienced user to a less experienced learner drives emergence, often via linguistic reanalysis in which the learner assigns a different function to a form than the one used in the grammar of the experienced user. Complementing the process of emergence, convergence is the reductive process by which competing forms and structures are condensed to a smaller set to achieve parity across a group of language users, a process exemplified by the selection of the brow furrow and head tilt to accompany Wh-questions (study 2). We argue that horizontal peer interactions are key to convergence processes; the language of learners who do not experience such peer interactions, such as homesigners and Codas, shows less convergence (study 3). Taken together, these studies illustrate how the developmental characteristics of the learner intersect with the characteristics of their language (internal ecology), environments, and interactions (external ecology) to drive the processes of language change. We conclude that both vertical transmission and horizontal peer interactions are key to the emergence of new languages, enabling the mechanisms responsible for the typological similarities observed across unrelated languages.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2116180
- PAR ID:
- 10663693
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Sign Language Studies
- Volume:
- 26
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 1533-6263
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 69 to 103
- Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
- Lengua de Señas Nicaragüense Nicaraguan Sign Language emerging language homesign acquisition transmission language change
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1353/sls.2025.a981200
