4. Linguistic data in morphosyntax
4.1. Language modality
In linguistics, language modality is the medium or format through which language is conveyed. Human language shows up in at least four different modalities:
- Spoken language, also known as vocal-auditory language, is produced by making sounds with the vocal tract and is perceived through hearing.
- Signed language, also known as manual-visual language, is produced by making movements with the hands, face, and body, and is perceived through seeing.
- Tactile language, also known as manual-tactile, is produced by making movements with the hands, face, and body, and is perceived through touch.
- Graphemic language is produced by making markings such as symbols on some material and is perceived through seeing.
Most often, in natural settings, language is multi-modal, meaning we use multiple modalities simultaneously to communicate (Henner and Robinson 2023). For example, someone communicating through spoken language will also frequently use body posture and hand gestures at the same time.
Our model of language needs to take into account all of the attested modalities of human language. Studying different modalities can give us different clues about which aspects of language are a result of the physical constraints of a particular modality, and which are a result of our cognitive dispositions. Historically, the field of linguistics has overlooked signed and tactile languages and focused primarily on spoken language.
A terminological note on the words signed languages and deaf
Signed languages are sometimes called sign languages. Both terms are generally acceptable, so you may encounter either one in linguistics writing. Sign languages has long been the more common term, but signed languages has recently been gaining popularity among deaf scholars.
Another piece of relevant terminology that is in flux is the long-standing distinction in capitalization between uppercase Deaf (a sociocultural identity) and lowercase deaf (a physiological status). However, this distinction has been argued to contribute to elitist gatekeeping within deaf communities, so many deaf people have pushed to eliminate this distinction (Kusters et al. 2017, Pudans-Smith et al. 2019).
In this textbook, we follow these prevailing modern trends by using signed languages and by not using the Deaf/deaf distinction. However, the alternatives are still widespread in linguistics writing, so you may still encounter them.
For these issues, it is important to proceed with caution and follow the lead of anyone more knowledgeable than you, especially if they are deaf. If you are uncertain what usage is appropriate in a given situation with a given deaf person, ask what they prefer.
Why writing is different
Spoken, signed, and tactile languages are all primary modalities, but writing, a form of graphemic language, is a bit different. Unlike the other three modalities, writing is secondary to another modality, because it is a written representation of a language that occurs primarily in another modality, usually spoken language. For example, English writing is a representation of spoken English. Individual letters in written English represent different sounds in spoken language.
Here are some ways that writing is different:
- Other modalities of language are transient. That is, they disappear as soon as they are produced. Writing is the only language modality that can last independently of the language user.[1] Because of this, writing is often not as interactive as other modalities of language, which, in turn, affects discourse structure and other properties.
- Other modalities of language are acquired subconsciously by instinct, while writing must be consciously learned.
- Unlike spoken and signed languages, writing has only been independently invented a handful of times throughout human history. Many languages do not have a written form at all. Most of the languages that do have a written form borrowed at least the idea from another language community. In contrast, spoken languages occur in every known human community with hearing populations, and deaf children who are not exposed to signed languages will develop a homesign language with their families.
- Writing has different genre conventions than spoken language. Writing tends to be more formal and language change in writing lags behind change in spoken language.
Because of these differences, linguists do not treat written language the same. Because it is not subconsciously acquired, there is no reason to think it would be part of Universal Grammar. For these reasons, it is often intentionally excluded from our model of language. However, we still sometimes use written language as a clue to patterns in spoken language, especially for older varieties of language for which only a written record remains.
We have to be careful, however, that we do not dismiss all graphemic forms of language as secondary to spoken language. There are many forms of graphemic communication that are not directly linked to a spoken language, at least some of which display some complex properties (see Henner and Robinson 2023).
Dr. Melanie McKay-Cody, a deaf Cherokee professor, demonstrates that petroglyphs—stone carvings—from the Northern Ute in Utah and the Kiowa in Texas incorporate signs from North American Indian Sign Language (NAISL). She argues that these petroglyphs are a form of written signed language. Although a few different transcription methods for signed language have been proposed in modern times, none have really caught on. But perhaps there has been signed language writing for hundreds, if not thousands, of years!
Ethics and modality
As previously mentioned, the field of linguistics has primarily focused on spoken languages, which Henner and Robinson (2023) call modality chauvinism. This focus on spoken modality has its roots in ableism, since other modalities are often used by people with disabilities. The solution seems simple—include more signed languages in our studies! But even well-intentioned linguists will face some difficulties incorporating signed languages in their research. For example, the lack of a writing system for signed languages makes them more difficult to write about, contributing to their marginalization in research (Henner and Robinson 2023). Secondly, signed languages are best portrayed by video, and so signed language data cannot be anonymized and require different copyright permissions. Most importantly, however, signed and tactile modalities are used by communities which are marginalized both within linguistics and in wider society, and therefore require extra care from researchers. We will discuss more about how to conduct research with marginalized communities in Chapter 5. These extra difficulties do not excuse us from including signed and tactile languages in our research! But they must be taken into account when planning a research study.
Other modalities for other species?
Some animal species use different modalities for their communication systems. For example, ants are known to use scents to communicate. However, as far as we can tell, these communication systems do not seem to have all of the properties of language.
In some science fiction settings, though, authors have also invented full language in other modalities. For example, in Becky Chambers’ The Wayfarers series, a species called the Aeluon communicate through patches on their cheeks that change colours. In the movie Arrival, the alien species have a form of written language that does not seem to be secondary to spoken language. Many, many science fiction stories also have some sort of telepathic communication in their fictional worlds.
Check yourself!
References and further resources
Attribution
The call-out box ‘A terminological note’ is adapted from the following CC BY NC source:
↪️ Anderson, Catherine, Bronwyn Bjorkman, Derek Denis, Julianne Doner, Margaret Grant, Nathan Sanders, and Ai Taniguchi. 2022. Section 3.1: Modality. Essentials of Linguistics, 2nd edition. Pressbooks. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/essentialsoflinguistics2/chapter/3-1-modality/
Linguistics in the media
🎉 Chambers, Becky. 2014–2021. The Wayfarers series. Hodder & Stoughton. https://www.otherscribbles.com
- Book 1: The long way to a small, angry planet
- Book 2: A closed and common orbit
- Book 3: Record of a spaceborn few
- Book 4: The galaxy, and the ground within
🎉 Villeneuve, Denis (director). 2016. Arrival. FilmNation Entertainment, Lava Bear Films, and 21 Laps Entertainment.
For a general audience
🔍 Canadian Language Museum. n.d. Sign Languages of Canada 3D. Virtual museum exhibit. https://languagemuseum.ca/online-exhibits/sign-languages-of-canada-3d
🔍 📚 Heumann, Judy and Melanie McKay-Cody. 2023. Indigenous sign languages with Dr. Melanie McKay-Cody. The Heumann Perspective. https://judithheumann.com/melaniemckaycody/
Edwards, Terra. 2024. Going tactile: Life at the limits of language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
🔍 Leland, Andrew. 12 May 2022. DeafBlind communities may be creating a new language of touch. The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/deafblind-communities-may-be-creating-a-new-language-of-touch
🔍 Quartz. 2016. Pro-tactile ASL: A new language for the DeafBlind. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GrK3P15TYU
For students
🧠 Anderson, Catherine, Bronwyn Bjorkman, Derek Denis, Julianne Doner, Margaret Grant, Nathan Sanders, and Ai Taniguchi. 2022. Section 3.1: Modality. Essentials of Linguistics, 2nd edition. Pressbooks. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/essentialsoflinguistics2/chapter/3-1-modality
Academic sources
🔍📚 Henner, Jon, and Octavian Robinson. 2023. Unsettling languages, unruly bodyminds: A Crip Linguistics manifesto. Journal of Critical Study of Communication and Disability 1(1): 7–37. https://criticalstudycommunicationdisability.org/index.php/jcscd/article/view/4
Kusters, Annelies, Maartje De Meulder, and Dai O’Brien. 2017. Innovations in Deaf Studies: Critically mapping the field. In Innovations in Deaf Studies: The role of deaf scholars, ed. Annelies Kusters, Maartje De Meulder, and Dai O’Brien, Perspectives on Deafness, 1–56. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
McKay-Cody, Melanie. 2019. Memory comes before knowledge—North American Indigenous Deaf: Socio-cultural study of rock/picture writing, community, sign languages, and kinship. PhD dissertation, University of Oklahoma. https://shareok.org/handle/11244/319767
Pudans-Smith, Kimberly K., Katrina R. Cue, Ju-Lee A Wolsley, and M. Diane Clark. 2019. To Deaf or not to deaf: That is the question. Psychology 10(15): 2091–2114.
- Since the invention of audio and video recording devices, we can also keep records of spoken, signed, and tactile language. However, these are all recordings of a language user producing the language—they do not separate the language from the language user in the same way as writing. ↵
The type of signal through which language is transmitted and perceived, such as spoken or signed.
Chomsky's theory that there is an innate, language-specific genetic component underlying the human capacity for language.
