APPROCHE CONTRASTIVE FRANÇAIS/LANGUE DES SIGNES FRANÇAISE: EMPIRISME OU PSYCHOMÉCANIQUE
CONTRASTIVE APPROACH TO FRENCH / FRENCH SIGN LANGUAGE: EMPIRICISM OR PSYCHOMECHANICS

Summary/Abstract: Contrastive approach to French / French Sign Language: empiricism or psychomechanics. The peculiarity of manual sign language signifiers is such that interested authors often assess the linguistic facts based on the impact they have on their own person. This methodological empiricism is coupled with judgmental subjectivity. I will briefly review the work of these ‘impressionistic’ scholars; I will then try to show that Guillaume’s psychomechanics, in allowing to go back from the effect to the cause and explain the linguistic process involved beyond appearances is very useful for research. If need be, this extension of psychomechanics to non-vocal languages demonstrates the scope of Guillaume’s views.

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