William Stokoe
| William C. Stokoe, Jr. | |
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 William Stokoe, 1993
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| Born | July 21, 1919 New Hampshire, USA |
| Died | April 4, 2000 (aged 80) Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA |
| Fields | English, American Sign Language (ASL) |
| Institutions | Wells College, Gallaudet University |
| Alma mater | Cornell University (Ph.D., 1946) |
| Known for | Stokoe notation |
William C. Stokoe, Jr. (
/ˈstoʊkiː/ stoh-kee; New Hampshire, July 21, 1919 – Chevy Chase, Maryland, April 4, 2000) was a scholar who researched American Sign Language (ASL) extensively while he worked at Gallaudet University. He coined the term cherology, the equivalent of phonology for sign language (but sign language linguists, of which he may have been the first, now generally use the term "phonology").
Stokoe graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in 1941, and in 1946 received his Ph.D. in English, also from Cornell. From there, he became an instructor of English at Wells College in Aurora, NY.[1]
From 1955 to 1970 he served as a professor and chairman of the English department at Gallaudet University. He published Sign Language Structure[2] and co-authored A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles (1965).
Through the publication of his work, he was instrumental in changing the perception of ASL from that of a broken or simplified version of English to that of a complex and thriving natural language in its own right with an independent syntax and grammar as functional and powerful as any found in the spoken languages of the world.[3][4] Because he raised the prestige of ASL in academic and educational circles, he is considered a hero in the Deaf community.
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[edit] Writing system for American Sign Language
Stokoe invented a written notation for sign language (now called Stokoe notation) as ASL had no written form at the time. Unlike SignWriting, which was developed later, it is not pictographic, but drew heavily on the Latin alphabet.
Thus the written form of the sign for 'mother' looks like
- ͜ 5x
The ' ͜ ' indicates that it is signed at the chin, the '5' that is uses a spread hand (the '5' of ASL), and the 'x' that the thumb touches the chin. Stokoe coined the terms tab, dez, and sig, meaning sign location, handshape and motion, to indicate different categories of phonemes in ASL. The Stokoe notation system has been used for other sign languages, but is mostly restricted to linguists and academics.
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/stokoe.html
- ^ Stokoe, William C. 1960. Sign Language Structure: An Outline of the Visual Communication Systems of the American Deaf, Studies in linguistics: Occasional papers (No. 8). Buffalo: Dept. of Anthropology and Linguistics, University of Buffalo.
- ^ Gannon, Jack. 1981. Deaf Heritage–A Narrative History of Deaf America, Silver Spring, MD: National Association of the Deaf, pp. 364, 365, 367 (PDF)(PDF)
- ^ Barnes, Bart. 1979. Hands Full of Words: Exploring the Riches of Sign Language. The Washington Post. District Weekly section (March 29, 1979), pp. DC1, DC10.
[edit] References
- Maher, Jane, Seeing in Sign: The Works of William Stokoe, ISBN 156368053X
- Stokoe, William, Language in Hand, ISBN 156368103X
- An interview with William C. Stokoe. Gallaudet Research Institute Newsletter, Fall 1984, pp. 3, 5.
- Gerhold, Sara C. 2000. William C. Stokoe and the Study of Signed Languages Conference. Research at Gallaudet--A publication of the Gallaudet Research Institute at Gallaudet University (Winter 2000), p. 7. (Full issue)
- Stokoe gives keynote address at linguistics conference. Research at Gallaudet (Fall 1988), pp. 4–6.
- Pearson, Richard. 2000. Linguist William C. Stokoe Jr. Dies at 80. Washington Post (April 8, 2000), p. B6.
- Nagourney, Eric. 2000. William Stokoe Jr., Sign Language Advocate, Dies at 80. New York Times (April 11, 2000), p. B10. (PDF)
