Transcript Current issues in sign language linguistics Day 1

Current issues
in sign language
linguistics
Day 4
LOT Summer School 2006
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Josep Quer (ICREA & UB)
Classifier constructions
• Rich and complex morphological
system used in order to denote
spatial relations and motion
events and and to characterize
shapes and dimensions of objects.
• Often capitalize on iconicity.
• Handshapes and movements.
• Pervasive but somehow anomalous
subsystem in SL grammars.
Example
Types of SL classifiers
• Semantic (whole entity, class)
classifiers: the handshape stands for
the referent
• Size and Shape Specifiers (SASS): the
hands trace the outline of form of the
entity
• Bodypart classifiers: combination of
SASS and body location
• Handling classifiers: handshapes
reflects how the entity id manipulated
• Body classifiers: involve the whole
body of the signer
Example: Semantic CL
Example: Semantic CL
Example: SASS CL
Example: Bodypart CL
Example: Handling CL
Classifier typology I
• Numeral classifiers (categorize the referent in
terms of animacy, shape etc.); e.g. Mal:
?en
?ui
?ooi
phe?
le?
I
have
pot
‘I have three pots’
?en
?ui
khwan
I
have
three
thiat
child
four
CL:round.object
phoon
CL:person
‘I have four children’
• Noun classifiers (categorize the noun with
which they appear)
Classifier Typology II
• Verbal classifiers
(1)Classificatory morphemes, e.g.
Caddo:
Kapi:
kan-ca:ni’-ah
coffee CL:liquid-buy-PERF
‘He bought (liquid) coffee’
Kapi:
dan:-ca:ni’-ah
coffee CL:powder-buy-PERF
‘He bought coffee powder’
Classifier Typology
III
(2) Classificatory verb stems, e.g. Navaho:
beeso
si-?a ‘A coin is lying (there)’
money
PERF-lie(round entity)
beeso
si-nil‘Some money is lying (there)’
money
PERF-lie(collection)
beeso si-ltsooz ‘A note/bill is lying (th)’
money
•
PERF-lie(flat flexible entity)
Noun classes/genders (grammatical agreement
classes based on semantic characteristics such
as animacy, sex, or humanness)
SL Classifiers
• Verbs of motion and location may
include classifier morphemes
(handshapes)
• Classifiers incorporate meaning
based on salient visual-tactile
characteristics of the referent
object
• Novel forms vs. frozen forms
Morphosyntactic
Properties
• SASS do not combine with verb roots,
they are more adjective-like
• CLASS classifiers classify (agentive or
non-agentive) subjects in intransitive
sentences
• HANDLE classifiers classify direct
objects in transitive sentences
• How do these types relate to the
classifier typology presented before?