Taiwan Sign Language and Beyond. 2009. Edited by James H-Y. Tai and Jane Tsay. Chia-Yi, Taiwan: The Taiwan Institute for the Humanities, National Chung Cheng University. Pages 131-148.
Lexical Variation and Change in Taiwan Sign Language Yijun Chen and James H-Y. Tai
Institute of Linguistics National Chung Cheng University
Abstract. This paper gives a preliminary report of lexical variation and change in Taiwan Sign Language (TSL). Chao's (1988; 1999; 2001) textbooks and TSL online dictionary (Tsay et al. 2008) are used as two data sources. We adopted four steps to compare and analyze lexical variants noted in these two sources. First, all variants in Chao's textbooks are analyzed with respective to five phonological parameters (handshape, movement, location, orientation, and handedness) to see whether the variants are phonological related or not. Second, the variants noted in the two data sources are compared to identify the changes with respect to five phonological parameters. Third, the changes among most frequent 1000 signs are analyzed to obtain heuristics for future variation study. Finally, the formation mechanisms of new lexical signs which contribute to variation are also identified.
1. Introduction Languages vary in patterned ways through time and space. Language variation and language change are closely related in that change results in variation and in turn variation causes further change. Language variation and change in spoken languages have been the focus of historical linguistics and sociolinguistics. However, there has been only little research in variation and change in sign languages. This is partly because sign language started to be treated as a natural language only in early 1960's by Stokoe and his associates (Stokoe et al. 1965) and partly because sign language researchers in earlier decades have focused on the demonstration of sign language as natural language. Frishberg (1976) first examined some historical changes in American Sign Language

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