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Cognitive pragmatics: Insights from homesign conversations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2023

Connie de Vos*
Affiliation:
Tilburg Center for Cognition and Communication, Tilburg University, 5037 AB Tilburg, The Netherlands. c.l.g.devos@tilburguniversity.edu https://elisa.uvt.nl

Abstract

Homesign is a visual–gestural form of communication that emerges between deaf individuals and their hearing interlocutors in the absence of a conventional sign language. I argue here that homesign conversations form a perfect testcase to study the extent to which pragmatic competence is foundational rather than derived from our linguistic abilities.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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