{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,17]],"date-time":"2026-09-17T00:52:32Z","timestamp":1789606352941,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":70,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,28]],"date-time":"2022-07-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1658966400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Lang Speech"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2023,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Mouth activity forms a key component of all sign languages. This can be divided into mouthings, which originate from words in the ambient spoken language, and mouth gestures, which do not. This study examines the relationship between the distribution of mouthings co-occurring with verb signs in British Sign Language (BSL) and various linguistic and social factors, using the BSL Corpus. We find considerable variation between participants and a lack of homogeneity in mouth actions with particular signs. This accords with previous theories that mouthings constitute code-blending between spoken and signed languages\u2014similar to code-switching or code-mixing in spoken languages\u2014rather than being a phonologically or lexically compulsory part of the sign. We also find a strong association between production of plain verbs (which are body-anchored and cannot be modified spatially) and increased mouthing. In addition, we observe significant effects of region (signers from the south of the United Kingdom mouth more than those from the north), gender (women mouth more than men), and age (signers aged 16\u201335\u2009years produce fewer mouthings than older participants). We find no significant effect of language background (deaf vs. hearing family). Based on these findings, we argue that the multimodal, multilingual, and simultaneous nature of code-blending in sign languages fits well within the paradigm of translanguaging. We discuss implications of this for concepts of translanguaging, code-switching, code-mixing, and related phenomena, highlighting the need to consider not just modality and linguistic codes but also sequential versus simultaneous patterning.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/00238309221107002","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,29]],"date-time":"2022-07-29T01:58:11Z","timestamp":1659059891000},"page":"412-441","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["Sociolinguistic Variation in Mouthings in British Sign Language: A Corpus-Based Study"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"66","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9875-1803","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Heidi","family":"Proctor","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre, University College London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6071-7706","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kearsy","family":"Cormier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Deafness Cognition and Language Research Centre, University College London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-00238309221107002","first-page":"231","volume-title":"The hands are the head of the mouth: The mouth as articulator in sign languages","author":"Ajello R.","year":"2001"},{"key":"bibr2-00238309221107002","unstructured":"Auer P. (under review). \u201cTranslanguaging\u201d or \u201cdoing languages\u201d? Multilingual practices and the notion of \u201ccodes.\u201d In MacSwan J. (Ed.), Language(s): Multilingualism and Its Consequences."},{"key":"bibr3-00238309221107002","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0954394500000569"},{"key":"bibr4-00238309221107002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bank R. (2015). 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