title: The Uniformity and Diversity of Language: Evidence from Sign Language.
abstract: Evidence from sign language strongly supports three positions: (1) language is a coherent system with universal properties; (2) sign languages diverge from spoken languages in some aspects of their structure; and (3) domain-external factors can be identified that account for some crucial aspects of language structure -- uniform and diverse -- in both modalities. Assuming that any of these positions excludes the others defeats the purpose of the enterprise.
authors.affiliation: Department of English Language and Literature, The University of Haifa, 31905 Haifa, Israel, wsandler@research.haifa.ac.il.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sandler