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Sign Languages (review)

The task is daunting: to survey sign language linguistic study to date, to create a work that will stand among its Cambridge Language Surveys series siblings as representative of not just the typological features but also the genetic relationships and sociolinguistic issues of signed languages around the globe, to introduce spoken language linguists to the field-broadening insights of the visual modality, to provide an introductory framework for students of deaf studies and sign language studies that is simultaneously enticing and relevant for those who have laid the linguistic groundwork in our field. A daunting task indeed. Having been assigned to the task, Sign Languages, edited by Diane Brentari, takes on its role with remarkable grace and poise. Though fifty years ago one could scarcely imagine the linguistic study of signed languages, a mere half century later the idea of a single-volume survey of sign language seems unequal to the task. So much ground has been broken, so many questions have been studied, so many approaches applied, and so many languages explored, yet we have only begun to scratch the surface. Sign Languages situates itself clearly and specifically at this moment in the development of our field. Rather than attempt to paint one single picture representing linguistic findings about signed languages the world over, Sign Languages pieces together chapters, resulting in a kaleidoscopic image. Findings and examples from more than forty sign languages are included in the volume, throwing light on both the myriad sign languages that exist and the remarkable dearth of knowledge about them and the people who use them in so many areas of the world. The volume is