SOME OBSERVATIONS ON SOCIOLINGUISTIC VARIATION AND AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE

Abstract

This paper attempts to make a case for the value of studying linguistic and social structures in the U.S. deaf community (and other communities) in a dynamic sociolinguistic framework by presenting a brief outline of the language situation in the deaf community, some specific facts on linguistic variation in the deaf community, the correlation of the linguistic variation with selected social variables, and the relevance of this kind of research to sociology and the deaf community.