Grammaticalization and modality: the emergence of a case-marked pronoun in Israeli Sign Language

2003 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
IRIT MEIR
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Case Markers ◽  
Pronominal System

This paper focuses on the role of modality in determining certain properties of grammaticalization processes in signed vs. spoken languages. The process examined here is the evolution of a case-marked pronoun in the pronominal system of Israeli Sign Language. This pronoun is shown to have evolved from the homophonous noun PERSON. The grammaticalization path leading to the evolution of a case distinction is compared to the evolution of case markers in spoken languages. This comparison reveals that languages in different modalities target different words as sources for grammaticalization. Case markers in spoken languages usually evolve from certain nouns or verbs denoting spatial relations, while in sign languages this is not the case. It is suggested that this difference might be attributed to the scarcity of prepositions in sign languages, and to the iconicity of spatial predicates, which may restrict the possible grammaticalization processes in which they may participate.

A comparison of spoken and signed lingua franca communication: the case of English as a lingua franca (ELF) and International Sign (IS)

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-208
Author(s):  
Lisa Bierbaumer
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
The Other ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
Interaction Processes ◽  
Specific Sign

Abstract This article explores similarities between English as a lingua franca (ELF) and International Sign (IS), two lingua franca phenomena which in the last decades have been subject to increasing, albeit independent, linguistic research. In contrast to spoken intercultural communication, in which English often represents a shared resource that speakers from different linguacultural backgrounds draw on, in the visual-gestural modality no specific sign language has yet gained such global reach. Instead, in many international contexts IS is used: a lingua franca that can be more or less conventionalized and that is not based on one particular sign language. IS use depends on the communicative situation, in which signers flexibly and creatively use different signs from natural sign languages as well as iconic elements and gestures. Despite overt formal differences between ELF and IS, when focusing on the actual communication process, rather than the forms that result from it, the two lingua franca phenomena share many similarities. In fact, both ELF and IS are variable communicative means that get situationally adapted by speakers and signers on the basis of different resources they have at their disposal. Similar discussions about the difficulty of conceptualizing ELF and IS, about the role of multilingual resources, and about interaction processes at play can thus be found in both ELF and IS literature. This insight opens up new possibilities for researchers in the two fields to mutually benefit from the study of lingua franca communication in the other modality, which prompts the need for a cross-modal collaboration between ELF and IS researchers.

scholarly journals Indicating verbs in British Sign Language favour motivated use of space

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kearsy Cormier ◽  
Jordan Fenlon ◽  
Adam Schembri
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
British Sign Language ◽  
Arbitrary Space ◽  
British Sign ◽  
Language Corpus

AbstractSign languages have traditionally been described as having a distinction between (1) arbitrary (referential or syntactic) space, considered to be a purely grammatical use of space in which locations arbitrarily represent concrete or abstract subject and/or object arguments using pronouns or indicating verbs, for example, and (2) motivated (topographic or surrogate) space, involving mapping of locations of concrete referents onto the signing space via classifier constructions. Some linguists have suggested that it may be misleading to see the two uses of space as being completely distinct from one another. In this study, we use conversational data from the British Sign Language Corpus (www.bslcorpusproject.org) to look at the use of space with modified indicating verbs – specifically the directions in which these verbs are used as well as the co-occurrence of eyegaze shifts and constructed action. Our findings suggest that indicating verbs are frequently produced in conditions that use space in a motivated way and are rarely modified using arbitrary space. This contrasts with previous claims that indicating verbs in BSL prototypically use arbitrary space. We discuss the implications of this for theories about grammaticalisation and the role of gesture in sign languages and for sign language teaching.

Finnish Sign Language

2018 ◽  
pp. 764-784
Author(s):  
Tommi Jantunen
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Nominal Phrase ◽  
Vp Ellipsis

This chapter discusses several of the elliptical phenomena presented in this book as found in Finnish Sign Language (FinSL): nominal phrase-internal ellipsis (cf. nominal ellipses), the ellipsis of nominal phrases in two-clause coordinated structures (cf. conjunction reduction), phenomena resembling VP-ellipsis, sluicing, gapping, stripping, and also fragmented answers. In addition, because of its high frequency in FinSL and other sign languages, the chapter also addresses the ellipsis in FinSL of clausal core arguments—also known as pro-drop—together with a few other elision phenomena, such as the ellipsis of conjunctions. The chapter broadly considers the role of discourse orientation as well as gesture and mime with respect to the various elliptical phenomena, and in conclusion it is suggested that gesture and mime, used extensively in FinSL and other sign languages, may also have a larger role than is normally assumed in many of the elliptical phenomena found in spoken languages.

Argument structure and the role of the body and space in Kenyan Sign Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 38-72
Author(s):  
Hope E. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Verb Agreement

Abstract This paper investigates how systematically a young macro-community sign language, Kenyan Sign Language, uses two different means to communicate about events: (i) word order, and (ii) verb agreement using spatial co-reference. The study finds that KSL signers rely primarily on word order and using the body as a referent, rather than verb agreement, when representing transitive events. Yet, by looking separately at how KSL signers use the sub-components of verb agreement, a pattern emerges that indicates a possible path toward ‘canonical verb agreement’. These sub-components are evaluated using Meir’s stages/types of grammaticalization of verb agreement (Meir 2011, 2016), and compared with other young and emerging sign languages.

scholarly journals Interview with Diane Brentari

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-27
Author(s):  
Marília Uchôa Cavalcanti Lott de Moraes ◽  
Loise Soares de Azevedo ◽  
Anderson Almeida da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Historical Time ◽  
University Of Chicago ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Language Typology ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
The University

Diane Brentari is co-director of the Center for Gesture, Sign and Language at the University of Chicago. She has published several books, such as Sign Language Phonology (Cambridge University Press, 2019) and Shaping Phonology (2018). Her research focuses on the role of modality in language, sign language phonology, how sign languages develop through historical time, and sign language typology.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------ENTREVISTA COM DIANE BRENTARIDiane Brentari é professora de linguística Mary K. Werkman e codiretora do Center for Gesture, Sign and Language da Universidade de Chicago. Publicou vários livros, como Sign Language Phonology (Cambridge University Press, 2019) e Shaping Phonology (2018). Sua pesquisa enfoca o papel da modalidade na linguagem, a fonologia da língua de sinais, como as línguas de sinais se desenvolvem ao longo do tempo histórico e a tipologia da língua de sinais.---Original em inglês.

Language is shaped by the body

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 509-511
Author(s):  
Mark Aronoff ◽  
Irit Meir ◽  
Carol Padden ◽  
Wendy Sandler
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sign Languages

AbstractSign languages provide direct evidence for the relation between human languages and the body that engenders them. We discuss the use of the hands to create symbols and the role of the body in sign language verb systems, especially in two quite recently developed sign languages, Israeli Sign Language and Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language.

Pronominal system in Croatian Sign Language

2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 95-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Alibašić Ciciliani ◽  
Ronnie B. Wilbur
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
First Person ◽  
Second Person ◽  
Fundamental Properties ◽  
Person Pronoun ◽  
Hand Orientation ◽  
Person Reference ◽  
Third Person ◽  
Pronominal System

In this article we present some fundamental properties of the Croatian Sign Language (Hrvatski Znakovni Jezik, HZJ) pronominal system. The most common functions of pointing in HZJ are pronominal, demonstrative, locative, possessive and reflexive. Examination of the first person pronoun shows that the signer uses nonmanuals to indicate that she has taken the role of another person. Thus, the signer points to herself, but the intended reference is to a character in the story and not to the signer. These findings are used to provide evidence for grammatical first person. Viewed from Berenz’s (2002) perspective, grammatical second and third person pronouns show some degree of consistency within each category and differences across categories. When reference to the second person is intended, the characteristics hand orientation, eyegaze and the head will usually line up. In contrast, when reference to third person is intended, disjunction of some of these features occurs. Thus, the distinction between second and third person pronoun is linguistically marked in HZJ. Therefore we argue against Liddell (1995, 2003), who treats pointing as deictic, gestural, hence nonlinguistic. Furthermore we argue with Berenz against Meier (1990), who claims that at least for ASL there is no distinction between second and third person reference. Our morphological analysis reveals no gender distinction in the pronoun system, but there are distinctions between singular, plural, inclusive and exclusive pronouns. No correlation between spoken Croatian case marking and either HZJ handshape choice or systematic mouthing was found.

Metaphors in sign languages and in co-verbal gesturing

Gesture ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tommaso Russo Cardona
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Ferdinand De Saussure ◽  
Language Communication ◽  
Academic Lectures ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Organizational Principles

In analyses of the grammatical structure of sign languages (Liddell, 2003), “classifier forms” which play a major role in these spatialised grammars, are looked upon as a “gestural” component of sign language. Kendon (2004) pointed out that some of the organizational principles of co-verbal gesturing can be compared to “classifiers” in sign languages. In this paper drawing on previous analyses of LIS (Italian Sign Language) metaphors in discourse (Russo, 2004a, 2005) the role of “classifier forms” in SL metaphors is examined and compared with some aspects of gestural metaphors produced during academic lectures in Italian. It is shown that similarities and differences between the two communicative devices can be pointed out only if the multimodal organization of both face-to-face speech activity and face-to-face sign language communication is taken into account. The gestural actions produced by speakers and the non-manual gestures produced by signers are interpreted as framing a speech act unit in this way providing a perspective for the interpretation of the lexical items within it. The distinction between langue and parole proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure (1916) is discussed and reframed by this analysis.

Developmental evidence for continuity from action to gesture to sign/word

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virginia Volterra ◽  
Olga Capirci ◽  
Maria Cristina Caselli ◽  
Pasquale Rinaldi ◽  
Laura Sparaci
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Multimodal Communication ◽  
Human Language ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Compositional Structure ◽  
Semantic Significance

Abstract What is linguistic communication and what is it not? Even if we often convey meanings through visible bodily actions, these are rarely considered part of human language. However, co-verbal gestures have compositional structure and semantic significance, while highly iconic structures are essential in sign languages. This paper offers a review of major studies conducted in our lab on the continuity from actions to gestures to words/signs in development. After a brief introduction, we show how gestures may bridge the gap between actions and words and how this interrelationship extends beyond early childhood and across cultures. We stress the role of sign language and multimodal communication in the study of language as a form of action and present recent research on motoric aspects of human communication. Studying the visible actions of speakers and signers leads to a revision of the traditional dichotomy between linguistic and enacted, and to the development of a new approach to embodied language.

scholarly journals The Road More Travelled: The Differential Effects of Spatial Experience in Young and Elderly Participants

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 709
Author(s):  
Antonella Lopez ◽  
Alessandro Germani ◽  
Luigi Tinella ◽  
Alessandro Oronzo Caffò ◽  
Albert Postma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The Road ◽  
Socio Demographic Factors ◽  
Effects Of Aging ◽  
Coordinate Spatial Relations ◽  
Categorical Spatial Relations ◽  
The Relationship

Our spatial mental representations allow us to give refined descriptions of the environment in terms of the relative locations and distances between objects and landmarks. In this study, we investigated the effects of familiarity with the everyday environment, in terms of frequency of exploration and mode of transportation, on categorical and coordinate spatial relations, on young and elderly participants, controlling for socio-demographic factors. Participants were tested with a general anamnesis, a neuropsychological assessment, measures of explorations and the Landmark Positioning on a Map task. The results showed: (a) a modest difference in performance with categorical spatial relations; (b) a larger difference in coordinate spatial relations; (c) a significant moderating effect of age on the relationship between familiarity and spatial relations, with a stronger relation among the elderly than the young. Ceteris paribus, the role of direct experience with exploring their hometown on spatial mental representations appeared to be more important in the elderly than in the young. This advantage appears to make the elderly wiser and likely protects them from the detrimental effects of aging on spatial mental representations.

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