The Emergence of Language in Social Interaction

Project description

Studying the emergence of a sign language in Bali

During spontaneous sign language genesis, signers naturally integrate gestures into their grammars. Researchers have studied this process in two famous cases: Nicaragua and Israel’s Negev desert. The EU-funded ELISA project will be studying Kata Kolok, a third sign language that emerged six generations ago due to high incidences of deafness in a Balinese village. The project aims to identify the earliest stages of this language and the mechanisms that shaped its emergence. It will focus on signing varieties in Bali to directly compare the various stages of language emergence. Through this comparative approach, it will chart the birth and development of a modern human language over the course of a century.

Field of science

/humanities/languages and literature/general language studies
/humanities/languages and literature/linguistics/sign language

Funding Scheme

ERC-STG - Starting Grant

Host institution

STICHTING KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT BRABANT

Address

Warandelaan 2
5037 AB Tilburg
Netherlands

Activity type

Higher or Secondary Education Establishments

EU contribution

€ 1 482 813

Website

Contact the organisation

Beneficiaries (1)

STICHTING KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT BRABANT

Netherlands