William C. Stokoe Jr. was an American linguist and a long-time professor at Gallaudet University. His research on American Sign Language revolutionized the understanding of ASL in the United States and sign languages throughout the world and had a profound impact on deaf culture, deaf education, and sign language teaching and interpreting. Stokoe's work led to a widespread recognition that sign languages are true languages, exhibiting syntax and morphology, and are not mere systems of gesture. This work redefined the concept of "language" itself, and influenced thinking in theoretical linguistics, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, neural studies, and even jurisprudence.
Stokoe graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in 1941, from where in 1946 he earned his Ph.D. in English, specifically medieval literature. From there, he became an instructor of English at Wells College in Aurora, NY.
Career
From 1955 to 1970 he served as a professor and chairman of the English department at Gallaudet University, after being recruited to the position by his friend and former classmate Dean George Detmold. He published Sign Language Structure and co-authored along with Dorothy C. Casterline and Carl G. Croneberg, A Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles. The former was the first place the term "American sign language" was ever formally used. He also started the academic journalSign Language Studies in 1972, which he edited until 1996. He established Linstok Press, an academic publishing company, to facilitate the journal's publication. Stokoe's final book, Language in Hand, was published in 2001, after his death. Though the relationship between Stokoe and Gallaudet was not always one of complete support, the university awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1988.
Sign language research
Stokoe researched American Sign Language extensively while he worked at Gallaudet University. He coined the term cherology, the equivalent of phonology for sign language. However, sign language linguists, of which he was the first, now generally use the term "phonology" for signed languages.
Notation system
Stokoe invented a written notation for sign language 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 the written form of the sign for 'mother' looks like The ' ͜ ' indicates that it is signed at the chin, the '5' that is uses a spread hand, and the 'x' that the thumbtouches 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.
Impact
Stokoe is often considered to be the "father of linguistics" in the field of American Sign Language. 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 oral languages of the world.
