NZSL311 Key terms Wk 3

Phonology

Study of the smallest formational units (sounds / sign parts) in a language and rules for combining these in words.

Phonetics

Study of the physical properties of word / sign formation.

Sign Parameter

The equivalent of a phoneme – the smallest part of a sign.

HOLM

The four major sign parameters: handshape, orientation (palm), location, movement

Unmarked handshapes

A set of handshapes that are easy to perceive and produce, and that are frequently used in most sign languages. Unmarked handshapes are the first to be acquired by children, and they are used to form signs in many locations

Marked handshapes

Handshapes that are more complex to perceive and produce, less frequent, produced on the dominant hand only, often in more central locations, and acquired later

Minimal pair

Two words or signs that differ in only one phoneme / sign parameter. Minimal pairs are used to determine which phonemes are ‘contrastive’ in the language

Contrastive

If two phonemes are in contrastive distribution, replacing one phoneme with the other results in a change in meaning in the word.

Manual Sign

A sign produced by the hands, consisting of the HOLM sign parameters

Non-manual sign

A sign produced by other parts of the body, e.g. head, shoulders, body, eyebrows, eyes, mouth, cheeks

NMF or NMS

Non-manual features or non-manual signals

Multi-channel sign

A sign in which NMF are a regular ‘fixed’ part of the sign formation

Formation constraint

A sign in which NMF are a regular ‘fixed’ part of the sign formation

Symmetry constraint

For signs made with two hands, when both hands are moving, all HOLM parameters will be the same. Movement can be simultaneous or alternating. The sign is symmetrical.

Dominance constraint

For signs made with two hands, if the handshapes are different, the dominant hand is more active and the non-dominant hand 2 is passive; the dominant hand’s handshape is usually more marked.

Dominant Hand

A signer’s ‘strong’ hand (usually the hand with which they write). This is the most active hand in producing signs.

Non-dominant

A signer’s ‘weak’ hand.

One-handed sign

A sign produced with the dominant hand only

Two-handed signs

A sign that meets the dominance constraint (asymmetrical; the dominant hand is more active)

Double-handed sign

A sign that meets the symmetry constraint (HOLM parameters are the same for both hands).

Syllable

A unit of word pronunciation or sign production, consisting of segments.

Segment

A part of a syllable broken down into distinct bundles of phonemes. Sound syllables are made up of Consonant and Vowel segments. Sign syllables are made up of Movement and Hold segments

Monosyllabic

A word or sign with one syllable

Assimilation

A change in handshape or location to blend a sign with a previous or following sign

Location drop

A sign is produced lower in the signing space (because of assimilation with a previous or following sign)

Deletion

Dropping a hold or movement segment from a sign