Sociolinguistic Variation in Hong Kong Sign Language
Authors:   , Siu Wai Yan Rebecca 
Published: November 2021

<p>Internal lexical variation appears to be a prominent feature within signed languages; it is perhaps a result of their distinctive acquisition patterns and fragile transmission. Recent research in different signed languages indicates that sociolinguistic variation within signed languages parallels some patterns found in spoken languages, though with some factors distinct to the former. This research examines sociolinguistic variation in a regional sign language, Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL), “spoken” by deaf people in Hong Kong. The focus of this dissertation is lexical variation and two phonological variations in the signs DEAF/HEARING, and ‘location drop’ in articulation of signs made at the forehead.  This research project is a modified replication of the earlier studies in American Sign Language, Australian Sign Language, and New Zealand Sign Language (Lucas, Bayley, & Valli, 2001; Schembri, McKee, McKee, Pivac, Johnston, & Goswell, 2009; McKee & McKee, 2011). The data of 65 participants recruited from the researcher’s networks in the HKSL community using the friend-of-a-friend method was analyzed. Three types of data were collected: free conversation, picture naming and interview. A set of 120 pictures (with/without Chinese characters) was used to elicit signs for the concepts represented. Fifty-one out of these 120 concepts were analyzed from the semantic domains of colour, kinship, number, and country/region. Results show that school attended and age of signer play a prominent role in lexical variation. A gender effect is also found in several concepts. In addition to individual lexical items, the use of compound signs, ‘citation forms’ and handedness in number signs were also examined. Various social factors including school, age, gender, education, and work environment, interact with each other to constrain the variant choices. While numbers over ten can be produced either one-handed or two-handed, signs for hundred and tens highly favour the latter.  Regarding phonological variation, conversation videos of 40 participants were annotated for the DEAF/HEARING and location drop variables. For the DEAF/HEARING variables, preliminary investigation of the movement pattern demonstrates that there may be two different types of change going on: linguistically driven (originated from compounds) and socially driven (motivated by redefining deaf identity). It also suggests that DEAF is in a further stage of development than HEARING. For the location variable, twenty tokens from each participant were coded, producing 800 tokens for multivariate analysis. Again, complex correlations between social factors are found to constrain the lowering of signs. The findings further indicate that this change has originated in the deaf school name signs due to their salience, and signers from these schools have led the change. In addition, the results in both phonological variables show that grammatical constraints play an essential role in conditioning variant choices, which parallels results of the previous studies.  In sum, the lexical analysis results affirm the crucial role of school in shaping a signer’s lexicon. The findings of the phonological variables confirm the role of grammatical function. Also, there is evidence of language change in progress in this young sign language.</p>