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Code-blending of functional heads in Hong Kong Sign Language and Cantonese: A case study*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

CAT H.-M. FUNG  and
GLADYS TANG
CAT H.-M. FUNG*
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
GLADYS TANG
Affiliation:
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
*
Address for correspondence: Cat H.-M. Fung, Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies, Room 104, Academic Building II, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong[email protected]
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Abstract

In analyzing code-switching in spoken languages, Chan (2003, 2008) proposes that only functional heads with their associated language determine the order of the complement. In this paper, we examine whether Chan's analysis can account for code-blending in Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) and Cantonese by a deaf child (2;0.26–6;6.26) and three deaf adult native signers. HKSL and Cantonese differ in head directionality so far as the functional elements of modals, negators, and auxiliaries are concerned. They are head-final in HKSL but head-initial in Cantonese. The HKSL–Cantonese code-blending data in this study largely conform to Chan's analysis, where the order of the complement is determined by which language the functional head appears in. However, code-blending the functional heads of a similar category in both languages leads to either order of the complement. Also, the deaf child's apparent violations of adult HKSL grammar reveal crosslinguistic influence from Cantonese to HKSL during code-blending.

Keywords

code-blendingcode-switchingsign bilingual acquisitionHong Kong Sign Language (HKSL)crosslinguistic influence
Type
Research Article
Information
Bilingualism: Language and Cognition , Volume 19 , Special Issue 4: Cross-language Effects in Bilingual Production and Comprehension , August 2016 , pp. 754 - 781
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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Footnotes

*

The development of the Child HKSL Corpus was initially supported by the Research Grant Council (RGC Grant #CUHK4278/01H; Direct Grant #2081006). Subsequent developments of the corpus and research into HKSL–Cantonese code-blending have been supported by Dr. Alex K. Yasumoto's donation. We would like to thank the deaf children and their families for participating in this project; the Deaf researchers, Kenny Chu, Mila Lam, Stella Lee, Connie Lo, Pippen Wong, Anita Yu, and Brenda Yu, for collecting, transcribing and discussing the data with us; the hearing researchers, Felix Sze, Scholastica Lam, Joe Mak and Ada Lau for assisting in developing the corpus in its early days, and the staff at the Centre for Sign Linguistics and Deaf Studies for their technical support. Finally, we are indebted to the critical comments of the editor and anonymous reviewers. Any remaining errors are our own.

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