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Bringing signed languages into the study of regular sound change

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

We contend that attention to signed languages is crucial for a fuller understanding of the processes and mechanisms behind regular sound change in spoken languages. While the label ‘regular sound change’ would seem to limit the object of study to language change in the auditory-vocal channel, a typical assumption is that a visual-gestural modality correlate to regular sound change exists. At the same time, there exists a conflicting position that languages in nonauditory modalities, as they do not deal with sounds, are irrelevant to the study of sound change. These contradictory stances converge in their consequences, leading to the general practice in historical linguistics of not taking evidence from signed languages into account when developing theories of sound change. However, we argue that consideration of the affordances of the visual-gestural modality, and the distinctive aspects of language transmission and demographics in signing communities, is of particular value for refining the field’s understanding of the processes and constraints on regular sound change. Insights from signed languages push us to reframe the processes and mechanisms that lead to regular sound change and to broaden our understanding of why it happens. This has implications for a programmatic exploration of theories of regular sound change.

Keywords

regularitysound changesigned languageslanguage transmissioniconicity

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Type
Perspectives
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Language , Volume 101 , Issue 3 , September 2025 , pp. e166 - e201
Copyright
Copyright © 2025 Linguistic Society of America

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