Talking Hands: What Sign Language Reveals About the Mind

I read this book for fun, checked it out of the public library, and ended up enjoying it so much I bought a copy for permanent use. And, I assigned it as the course textbook for a freshman level college seminar class. It's an easy read, alternating chapters between a) recounting of anthropological fieldwork and b) linguistic theory and history, with a focus on research into signed languages.If you're interested in learning a heck of a lot about how signed languages work or about what language reveals to us about the human condition, but you don't want a boring old text book, this is a must read.

Margalit Fox wrote a moving narrative detailing the stepwise evolution of an indigenous sign language in sited in a remote Beduouin village in the Middle East relatively uninfluenced by other established sign language systems. Joining the other three linguists investigating the unique grammatical structures of that means of communication, Fox engagingly takes the readers into the lives of both Deaf and hearing native signers as well as that of the investigators during the course of the field research. The chapters alternate between examining the linguistic underpinnings of sign language in general and the cinematic snapshots of a unique culture unlike any other previously encountered. It's full of wry humor and trenchant observations. Highly enjoyable read and thoroughly recommended.

A lingistics book that is deeply tied with anthropology and even some neurology. Best understood by those with some interest in sign language or in anthropological research into isolated language cultures. How would you research a culture that has kept their language completely uninflected from other language influences? You can't use your own language to interview them, because then you are introducing your language as a new linguistic influence. The researchers used pictures, and asked the natives to use their own language to explain what they were seeing.I personally found many things totally fascinating, and marked half a dozen pages for reference. But when I tried to share my excitement with others who had no interest in linguistics, I couldn't interest them. Sign language interpreters love it!

I wish I had read this one before reading the author's other book: 'Riddle of the Labyrinth'. It does a good job of explaining some of the concepts in the other book for a non-linguist like myself. BOTH books are well worth reading, by the way.

Mrs. Fox makes some exciting inquiries into the development of human language by studying an isolated bedouin community, who happens to have developed it's own visual language or signed language. While interesting for those who seek to understand the Deaf community it is invariably a book on linguistics. American Sign Language and Israeli Sign Language are used in contrast to this unique bedouin sign language.On a personal level it amazes me to see how versatile humans are. Even without sound we can create language.

I think I've purchased about 10 copies of this book over time. This is as close to perfect as any work in the general area of linguistics or sign language I've seen. Fascinating and inspiring.Stop reading this review and just order yourself a copy. You'll be glad you did. If you can put it down, you have more willpower than me. Great job.

I read it and it opened my understanding in the Deaf world.

This is a terrific book. You'll learn much about Deaf culture, history and linguistics in general. I wish I had had this book in my first year in American Sign Language. It's a great tool to have. The lanugage of Sign is every bit as complex and nuanced as any spoken language. "Talking Hands" is a fabulous journey into the linguistics and culture of Sign.