Issued as part of UPCC book collections on Project MUSE.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : to international sign or not to international sign? That is the question / Rachel Rosenstock and Jemina Napier -- part I. Status -- What is international sign? the linguistic status of a visual transborder communication mode / Martje Hansen -- part II. Linguistics -- Telling, showing, and representing : conventions of the lexicon in international sign expository text / Lori Whynot -- Comparative analysis of depicting signs in international sign and natural sign language interpreting / Christopher Stone and Debra Russell -- Comprehension of expository international sign / Rachel Rosenstock -- part III. Usage -- International sign : an exploration into interpreter preparation / Maya de Wit and Irma Sluis -- From a to gestalt : critical points and interpreter strategies in interpretation from international sign into spoken English / Brett Best, Jemina Napier, Andy Carmichael, and Oliver Pouliot -- The complexities of interpreting international conferences : a case study / Naomi Sheneman and Pamela F. Collins -- Complexity of international sign for inexperienced interpreters : insights from a deaf IS instructor / Joni Oyserman.

International Sign (IS) is widely used among deaf people and interpreters at international events, but what exactly is it, what are its linguistic features, where does its lexicon come from, and how is it used at interpreted events? This groundbreaking collection is the first volume to provide answers to these questions. Editors Rachel Rosenstock and Jemina Napier have assembled an international group of renowned linguists and interpreters to examine various aspects of International Sign. Their contributions are divided into three parts: International Sign as a Linguistic System; International Sign in Action--Interpreting, Translation, and Teaching; and International Sign Policy and Language Planning. The chapters cover a range of topics, including the morphosyntactic and discursive structures of interpreted IS, the interplay between conventional linguistic elements and nonconventional gestural elements in IS discourse, how deaf signers who use different signed languages establish communication, Deaf/hearing IS interpreting teams and how they sign depicting verbs, how best to teach foundation-level IS skills, strategies used by IS interpreters when interpreting from IS into English, and explorations of the best ways to prepare interpreters for international events. The work of the editors and contributors in this volume makes International Sign the most comprehensive, research-based analysis of a young but growing field in linguistics and interpretation.

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