William Stokoe

William C. Stokoe, Jr. (pronounced STOE-kee, (1919 - 2000) was a scholar who researched American Sign Language (ASL) extensively while he worked at Gallaudet University.

From 1955 to 1970 he served as a professor and chairman of the English department at Gallaudet. He published Sign Language Structure and co-authored A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles (1965).

Through the publication of his work he was instrumental in changing the perception of ASL from that of a broken or simplified version of English to that of a complex and thriving natural language in its own right with an independent syntax and grammar as functional and powerful as any found in the spoken languages of the world. Because he raised the prestige of ASL in academic and educational circles, he is considered a hero in the Deaf community.

Life

William Stokoe attended Cornell University for his undergraduate and graduate work. He was involved in Cornell's ROTC program. He always received good grades, and was awarded a Boldt Scholarship, as well as other scholarships to assist him in paying his tuition.

The topic of Stokoe's graduate dissertation was "The Work of the Redactors of Sir Launfal, Richard Coeur de Lion and Sir Degare."

Work

In 1950, Wiliam Stokoe was invited by one of his oldest friends from Cornell University, George Detmold, to teach English at Gallaudet. During this time Gallaudet was undergoing major curriculum improvements and Detmold's job was to get Gallaudet accredited. Stokoe's acceptance of this offer was a great benefit for Gallaudet College, as there were few professors with Ph.D.'s at that time.

Stokoe arrived at Gallaudet College to teach English. Although he had no formal training in linguistics, he soon noticed that American Sign Language (ASL) had the elements of true language.

Stokoe invented a written notation for sign language (now called Stokoe notation) as ASL had no written form at the time. Unlike SignWriting, which was developed later, it is not pictographic, but drew heavily on the Latin alphabet.

Thus written form of the sign for the 'mother' looks like U5x. The 'U' indicates that it is signed at the chin, the '5' that is uses a spread hand (the '5' of ASL), and the 'x' that the thumb touches the chin. Stokoe coined the terms tab, dez, and sig, meaning sign location, handshape and motion, to indicate different categories of phonemes in ASL. The Stokoe notation system has been used for other sign languages, but is mostly restricted to linguists and academics.

Legacy

Major Works

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Maher, Jane Seeing in Sign: The Works of William Stokoe ISBN 156368053X
Stokoe, William Language in Hand ISBN 156368103X

External Links

Credits

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