Ted Supalla

Last updated January 17, 2023

Ted Supalla is a deaf linguist whose research centers on sign language in its developmental and global context, including studies of the grammatical structure and evolution of American Sign Language and other sign languages.^[1]

Biography

Ted Supalla was born deaf, into a deaf family,^[3] including his younger brother Sam. Ted's father would often go to the Deaf Club, bringing the whole family.

He is married to Elissa L. Newport, also a professor in the Department of Neurology at Georgetown University.

Education

Portland State University Psychology
California State University at Northridge Psychology B.A., 1973
University of Nevada, Reno Psychology
University of California, San Diego Psychology M.A., 1975, Ph.D., 1982

Research

Supalla co-authored with Elissa Newport the first work on the use of movement changes to derive nouns from verbs in American Sign Language.^[4] He also produced the seminal^[5] work on the structure of classifier constructions and verbs of motion and location.^[6]^[7] He has published a book and several journal articles on the history of American Sign Language and the processes of linguistic change that introduce new grammatical forms into a sign language over its history.^[8] In all of these works, his overarching claim is that the structure of sign languages is quite parallel to that of spoken languages, in complexity and in the processes that introduce grammatical complexities into the language. His recent work focuses on the structure of quite different sign language typologies, comparing American Sign Language and its family of French-derived sign languages with the quite different family of sign languages in Japan and other parts of Asia.

Selected publications

Supalla, Ted and Clark, P. 2015. Sign Language Archeology: Understanding History and Evolution of American Sign Language. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.
Supalla, Ted. In press. Film and Deaf Culture. San Diego, CA: Dawn Sign Press.
Koo, D. & Supalla, Ted. In press. "Nativization of bi-modal co-articulation in Cued Speech: Phonological Representations and Processes in Deaf Cuers," In C. LaSasso & J. Kelly (eds.), Cued Speech and Cued Language Development of Deaf Students. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.
Supalla, Ted, Clark, P., Neumann Solow, S., & Quadros Mueller, R. In press. "A protocol for interpreter coordination at international conferences." In R. McKee & J. Davis (eds.), Studies in Interpretation Series, Volume 5. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.
Bavelier, D., Newport, Elissa L., Hall, M., Supalla, Ted, & Boutla, M. 2008. "Ordered short-term memory differs in signers and speakers: Implications for models of short-term memory." Cognition, 107, 433–459.
Supalla, Ted. 2008. "Sign Language Archeology: Integrating Historical Linguistics with Fieldwork on Young Sign Languages." In R. M. de Quadros (ed.), Sign Languages: Spinning and Unraveling the Past, Present and Future. Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research. Florianopolis, Brazil, December 2006. Petropolis, Brazil: Editora Arara Azul.
Hauser, P.C., Paludenviciene, R., Supalla, Ted., & Bavelier, D. 2008. "ASL-Sentence Reproduction Test: Development and Implications." In R. M. de Quadros (ed.), Sign Languages: Spinning and Unraveling the Past, Present and Future. Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research. Florianopolis, Brazil, December 2006. Petropolis, Brazil: Editora Arara Azul.
Supalla, Ted. 2008. Prologue for WFD Sign Lexicon. Spanish Association of the Deaf.
Bavelier, D., Newport, Elissa L., Hall, M., Supalla, Ted, & Boutla, M. 2006. "Persistent differences in short-term memory span between sign and speech: Implications for cross-linguistic comparisons." Psychological Science, 17, 1090–1092.
Boutla, M., Supalla, Ted, Newport, Elissa L., & Bavelier, D. 2004. "Short-term memory span: insights from sign language." Nature Neuroscience, 7, 997–1002.
Supalla, Ted. 2004. "The validity of the Gallaudet Lecture Films." Sign Language Studies, 4, 261–292.
Bavelier, D., Newport, Elissa L., & Supalla, Ted. 2003. "Children need natural languages, signed or spoken." Cerebrum, 5, 19–32.
Supalla, Ted. 2003. "Revisiting visual analogy in ASL classifier predicates." In K. Emmorey (ed.), Perspectives on Classifier Constructions in Sign Language. Mahwah N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc.
Supalla, Ted. 2002. "Making historical sign language materials accessible: A prototype database of early ASL." Sign Language & Linguistics, 4, 285–297.
Newport, Elissa L., & Supalla, Ted. 2000. "Sign language research at the millennium." In K. Emmorey and H. Lane (Eds.), The Signs of Language Revisited: An Anthology in Honor of Ursula Bellugi and Edward Klima. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Newport, Elissa L., & Supalla, Ted. 1999. "Sign languages." In R. Wilson and F. Keil (Eds.), The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Osugi, Y., Supalla, Ted., & Webb, R. 1999. "The use of word elicitation to identify distinctive gestural systems on Amami Island." Sign Language & Linguistics, 2, 87–112.
Senghas, Ann, Coppola, M., Newport, Elissa L., & Supalla, Ted. 1997. "Argument structure in Nicaraguan Sign Language: The emergence of grammatical devices." In E. Hughes, M. Hughes, and A. Greenhill (Eds.), Proceedings of the 21st Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development: Vol.2. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Metlay, D. & Supalla, Ted. 1995. "Morpho-syntactic structure of aspect and number inflections in ASL." In K. Emmorey and J. Reilly (Eds.), Sign, Gesture and Space. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Supalla, Ted, & Webb, R. 1995. "The grammar of International Sign: A new look at pidgin languages." In K. Emmorey and J. Reilly (Eds.), Sign, Gesture and Space. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Supalla, Ted. 1994. Charles Krauel: A Profile of a Deaf Filmmaker. 30 min., VHS, Color/b&w. Documentary videotape. San Diego, CA: DawnSign Pictures.
Supalla, Ted. 1991. "Deaf folklife film collection project." Sign Language Studies, 70, 73–82.
Supalla, Ted. 1990. "Serial verbs of motion in American Sign Language." In S. Fischer (Ed.), Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research. University of Chicago Press.
Supalla, T. 1986. "The classifier system in American Sign Language." In C. Craig (Ed.), Noun Classification and Categorization. J. Benjamins.
Supalla, Ted. 1982. Structure and acquisition of verbs of motion and location in American Sign Language. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, San Diego.
Supalla, T., & Newport, E. 1978. "How many seats in a chair? The derivation of nouns and verbs in American Sign Language." In P. Siple (Ed.), Understanding Language through Sign Language Research. Academic Press.

External links

Gallaudet University. "Biographical Sketch of Ted Supalla" (PDF). Gallaudet University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
Signs Through History by Dr. Ted Supalla

Related Research Articles

American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is expressed by employing both manual and nonmanual features. Besides North America, dialects of ASL and ASL-based creoles are used in many countries around the world, including much of West Africa and parts of Southeast Asia. ASL is also widely learned as a second language, serving as a lingua franca. ASL is most closely related to French Sign Language (LSF). It has been proposed that ASL is a creole language of LSF, although ASL shows features atypical of creole languages, such as agglutinative morphology.

Sign languages are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign languages are full-fledged natural languages with their own grammar and lexicon. Sign languages are not universal and are usually not mutually intelligible, although there are also similarities among different sign languages.

International Sign (IS) is a pidgin sign language which is used in a variety of different contexts, particularly at international meetings such as the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) congress, in some European Union settings, and at some UN conferences, at events such as the Deaflympics, the Miss & Mister Deaf World, and Eurovision, and informally when travelling and socialising.

William C. Stokoe Jr. was an American linguist and a long-time professor at Gallaudet University. His research on American Sign Language (ASL) revolutionized the understanding of ASL in the United States and sign languages throughout the world. Stokoe's work led to a widespread recognition that sign languages are true languages, exhibiting syntax and morphology, and are not only systems of gesture.

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A contact sign language, or contact sign, is a variety or style of language that arises from contact between deaf individuals using a sign language and hearing individuals using an oral language. Contact languages also arise between different sign languages, although the term pidgin rather than contact sign is used to describe such phenomena.

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References

↑ "Ted Supalla". Archived from the original on 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
↑ "Ted Supalla, PhD". Georgetown University. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
↑ Supalla, Samuel J. (1992). The book of name signs. Berkeley, Calif.: Dawn Sign Press. pp. 4. ISBN 0-915035-30-8.
↑ Supalla, T., & Newport, E. (1978). "How many seats in a chair? The derivation of nouns and verbs in American Sign Language." In P. Siple (Ed.), Understanding Language through Sign Language Research. Academic Press.
↑ Sandler, Wendy; Lillo-Martin, Diane (2006). Sign Language and Linguistic Universals. Cambridge University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0521483957.
↑ Supalla, Ted (1982). Structure and acquisition of verbs of motion and location in American Sign Language (Ph.D.). University of California, San Diego.
↑ Supalla, Ted (1986). "The classifier system in American Sign Language". In Craig, Colette (ed.). Noun classes and categorization: Proceedings of a symposium on categorization and noun classification, Eugene, Oregon 1983. Typological Studies in Language 7. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. ISBN 978-9027228741.
↑ Supalla, Ted; Clark, Patricia (2015). Sign language archaeology: Understanding the historical roots of American Sign Language. Washington D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. ISBN 978-1-56368-493-7.

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[1] "Ted Supalla". Archived from the original on 2015-02-26. Retrieved 2015-02-26.

[2] "Ted Supalla, PhD". Georgetown University. Retrieved 16 May 2021.

[3] Supalla, Samuel J. (1992). The book of name signs. Berkeley, Calif.: Dawn Sign Press. pp. 4. ISBN 0-915035-30-8.

[4] Supalla, T., & Newport, E. (1978). "How many seats in a chair? The derivation of nouns and verbs in American Sign Language." In P. Siple (Ed.), Understanding Language through Sign Language Research. Academic Press.

[5] Sandler, Wendy; Lillo-Martin, Diane (2006). Sign Language and Linguistic Universals. Cambridge University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-0521483957.

[6] Supalla, Ted (1982). Structure and acquisition of verbs of motion and location in American Sign Language (Ph.D.). University of California, San Diego.

[7] Supalla, Ted (1986). "The classifier system in American Sign Language". In Craig, Colette (ed.). Noun classes and categorization: Proceedings of a symposium on categorization and noun classification, Eugene, Oregon 1983. Typological Studies in Language 7. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. ISBN 978-9027228741.

[8] Supalla, Ted; Clark, Patricia (2015). Sign language archaeology: Understanding the historical roots of American Sign Language. Washington D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. ISBN 978-1-56368-493-7.

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