American Sign Language Commons^™

Using Space To Describe Space: American Sign Language And The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, Cindee Calton

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

My study sought to combine two topics that have recently generated much interest among anthropologists. One of these topics is American Sign Language, the other is linguistic relativity. Although both topics have been a part of the literature for some time, neither has been studied extensively until the recent past. Both present exciting new horizons for understanding culture, particularly language and culture.

The first of these two topics is the study of American Sign Language. The reason for its previous absence from the literature has to do with unfortunate prejudice which, for a long time, kept ASL from being recognized …