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Regular change and signed languages: A response to the commentaries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2026

Danny Law ,
Justin M. Power  and
David Quinto-Pozos
Danny Law*
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin
Justin M. Power*
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin
David Quinto-Pozos*
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Austin
*
[dannylaw@austin.utexas.edu]
[justin.power@utexas.edu]
[davidqp@austin.utexas.edu]
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Abstract

This paper responds to commentaries by several authors on our target article, ‘Bringing signed languages into the study of regular sound change’ (Law et al. 2025a). We provide some additional context on the research program that spurred the target article and draw on several themes discussed in both the target article and commentaries, specifically (i) the affordances and effects of modality in (theories of) language change, (ii) iconicity (and indexicality), (iii) variation and irregularity in language change, and (iv) language transmission. We highlight the methodological advances afforded by new technologies to study phonetic variation in signed languages and advocate for increased attention to the systematic and comparative study of phonetic variation in signed languages as a window into processes of phonetic and phonological change in signed languages.

Keywords

sound changeregularitythe comparative methodvariationmodalitytransmissioniconicity

Information

Type
Perspectives
Information
Language , Volume 101 , Issue 3 , September 2025 , pp. e295 - e306
Copyright
Copyright © 2025 Linguistic Society of America

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