Fluxus Editions

Abstract. The discovery of grammar in sign language in the late twentieth century led to the realization that grammar is amodal. Increasingly, writing is being considered a third (admittedly derivative) modality of language, with written signs possessing grammar. Most such work has thus far focused on phonological structures such as graphic syllables and feet, but this paper argues that written signs also have morphology. Morphological analyses of Chinese characters (Hànzì) and of Maya glyph blocks are cited, and new analyses of Brahmic scripts and Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics are presented. Just as the modality of sign languages affects the expression of their grammar, the written modality of scripts affects their grammatical expression. Specifically, they are designed to be processed spatially and as such have some morphological characteristics in common with sign languages. The consonant and vowel schemas of the Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics family of scripts are interpreted here as analogs of the so-called ion-morphs of American Sign Language.

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Amalia E. Gnanadesikan (2022), “Amodal Morphology. Applications to Brahmic Scripts and Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics,” in Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2022 (Yannis Haralambous, Ed.), Grapholinguistics and Its Applications, Vol. 9, Brest: Fluxus Editions, 45–66.


@INPROCEEDINGS{gla9-gnan,
   AUTHOR = {Amalia E. Gnanadesikan},
   EDITOR = {Haralambous, Yannis},
   TITLE = {{Amodal Morphology. Applications to Brahmic Scripts and Canadian
Aboriginal Syllabics}},
   BOOKTITLE = {{Proceedings of Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, 2022}},
   SERIES = {{Grapholinguistics and Its Applications}},
   VOLUME = {9},
   PUBLISHER = {Fluxus Editions},
   ADDRESS = {Brest},
   YEAR = {2022},
   PAGES = {45--66},
   DOI = {https://doi.org/10.36824/2022-graf-gnan},
}