While many neighbouring language groups such asArrernte and theWestern Desert Language have auxiliary sign languages, Warlpiri Sign Language, along withWarumungu Sign Language, appears to be the most well developed and widely used — it is as complete a system of communication as spoken Warlpiri. This is possibly due to the tradition that widows should not speak during an extended mourning period which can last for months or even years; during this time they communicate solely by sign language.
In Warlpiri communities, widows also tend to live away from their families, with other widows or young single women. As a result, it is typical for Warlpiri women to have a better command of the sign language than men, and among older women atYuendumu, Warlpiri Sign Language is in constant use, whether they are under a speech ban or not.[2] However, all members of the community understand it, and may sign in situations where speech is undesirable, such as while hunting, in private communication, across distances, while ill, or for subjects that require a special reverence or respect. Many also use signs as an accompaniment to speech.
British linguistAdam Kendon (1988) argues that Warlpiri Sign Language is best understood as a manual representation of the spokenWarlpiri language (amanually coded language), rather than as a separate language; individual signs representmorphemes from spoken Warlpiri, which are expressed in the sameword order as the oral language. However, "markers ofcase relations,tense, andcliticisedpronouns are not signed." Some spatial grammatical features are present which do not exist in spoken Warlpiri, though spoken Warlpiri incorporates directionals in its verbs, and in such cases sign corresponds to speech.
^Dail-Jones, M. A. (1984).A Culture in Motion: A Study of the Interrelationship of Dancing, Sorrowing, Hunting and Fighting as Performed by the Warlpiri Women of Central Australia. M.A. Thesis, University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Wright, Cheryl D. (1980).Walpiri Hand Talk: An Illustrated Dictionary of Hand Signs used by the Walpiri People of Central Australia. Darwin: N.T. Department of Education.ISBN9780642509772.
Kendon, Adam (1985). "Iconicity in Warlpiri Sign language". In Bouissac, Paul; Herzfeld, Michael; Posner, Roland (eds.).Inconicity: Essay on the Nature of Culture. Tübingen: Stauffenburger Verlag.
Kendon, Adam (1988).Sign Languages of Aboriginal Australia: Cultural, Semiotic and Communicative Perspectives. Cambridge University Press.ISBN9780521360081.
Kendon, Adam (1980). "The Sign Language of the Women of Yuendumu: A Preliminary Report on the Structure of Warlpiri Sign Language".Sign Language Studies.27:101–112.doi:10.1353/sls.1980.0005.
^a Sign-language names reflect the region of origin. Natural sign languages are not related to the spoken language used in the same region. For example, French Sign Language originated in France, but is not related to French. Conversely,ASL andBSL both originated in English-speaking countries but are not related to each other; ASL however is related toFrench Sign Language.
^b Denotes the number (if known) of languages within the family. No further information is given on these languages.
