Author Description

"It is common for grammars to include an introductory chapter that offers a general introduction to the language under investigation as well as its users. We encourage the grammar writer to include this type of information for the sign language to be described. If a certain variant of the sign language is described, this should be made clear at the outset. The structure of this part is fairly flexible. As can be seen from the table of contents, we suggest including information about (i) the history of the sign language, (ii) characteristics of the Deaf community, (iii) the status of the sign language, and (iv) previous linguistic work on the sign language. The last section in particular will have an impact on the content of subsequent parts, as we encourage the grammar writer to include findings from previous studies in the grammatical description of the sign language. Clearly, alternative structures are possible. The overview of previous linguistic work, for instance, could be provided under the "History" header, and Deaf culture and/or Deaf education could be discussed under dedicated first-level headers - to give just two examples. Also, depending on the available information, sub-headers could be added. Note that we adopt the convention of writing Deaf with a capital D when it refers to issues related to a community that is characterized by the use of a sign language. In contrast, deaf with a small d refers to the medical condition of not being able to hear. It is up to the grammar writer to decide whether to stick to this convention in the grammar"--