Content interrogatives in a young sign language

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v11i1.6084

Keywords:

Content interrogative, emerging sign language, wh-doubling, wh-movement

Abstract

We examined content interrogatives, i.e., wh-questions, in a young family sign language, Sadat Tawaher Sign Language (STSL), which began to emerge sixty years ago in a single household in southwestern Iran following a man’s sudden, complete hearing loss. We show that the wh-sign in STSL remains in situ and that it is sometimes doubled. Furthermore, we offer a formal account of content interrogative formation and wh-doubling in STSL. Our analysis adds to the repertoire of young/emerging sign languages for which wh-questions have been investigated to date (e.g., Nicaraguan Sign Language).

Author Biographies

  • Hatam Tamimi, Purdue University

    Hatam Tamimi is a linguist with specialization in syntax, sociolinguistics, and language acquisition. His work explores bilingualism, language emergence, and the evolution of language through cross-modal and cross-linguistic perspectives, combining theoretical and experimental approaches with a focus on sign languages. 

  • Roland Pfau, University of Amsterdam

    Roland Pfau is Associate Professor for Sign Language Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam. In his research, he focuses on the morphosyntax and syntax of sign languages, often from a formal and/or cross-modal typological perspective. An important aim of his research is to determine in how far formal models and typological classifications proposed based on spoken language data can be applied to sign language structures. Together with Pamela Perniss, he is editor of the international journal Sign Language & Linguistics.

  • Ronnie B. Wilbur, Purdue University

    Professor Ronnie B. Wilbur (Full Professor, Dept of Linguistics) is a theoretical and experimental linguist whose work concentrates on sign languages and their vital implications for our adequate understanding of human language structures, language acquisition, language processing by native users, general cognition, and the linguistic representations necessary for all languages. A central focus of this work also is the application of our expanded knowledge of sign languages to the proper and effective education of deaf children. Prof. Wilbur is a Fellow of the LSA and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

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Published

2026-06-05

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 1 (2026): Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Hatam Tamimi, Roland Pfau, Ronnie B. Wilbur

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Published by the LSA with permission of the author(s) under a CC BY 4.0 license.

How to Cite

Tamimi Sa'd, Seyyed Hatam, Roland Pfau, and Ronnie B. Wilbur. 2026. “Content Interrogatives in a Young Sign Language”. Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 11 (1): 6084. https://doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v11i1.6084.