This special issue introduces the approach of “linguistic ethno graphy” (LE) in sign language studies. While this term has been adopted by only a handful of sign language researchers in the past few years, LE has existed as a named emerging field for at least twenty years in the United Kingdom and Europe. A number of sign language researchers have done work that we see as falling under the term linguistic ethnography (LE) even when they have not classified their work as such. This introduction for the special issue gives a quick overview of what LE means, how it has emerged as a field, and what kind of sign language research work classifies as LE. In the last part, we also introduce the five articles featured in this special issue and discuss how they fit in the development of LE as a field.

中文翻译：

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语言民族志和手语研究

本期特刊介绍了“语言民族志”（LE）在手语研究中的方法。虽然这个术语在过去几年中只有少数手语研究人员采用，但 LE 作为一个命名的新兴领域在英国和欧洲已经存在了至少 20 年。许多手语研究人员所做的工作我们认为属于语言民族志 (LE) 一词，即使他们没有将他们的工作归类为这样。本期特刊的介绍简要概述了 LE 的含义、它是如何成为一个领域的，以及什么样的手语研究工作可以归类为 LE。在最后一部分，我们还介绍了本期特刊中的五篇文章，并讨论了它们如何适应 LE 作为一个领域的发展。