Bare Noun Phrases, Verbs and Quantification in ASL

Petronio, Karen

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-2817-1_18

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…relative locations in space) can mean one thing in one linguistically-precise situation and something else in another. Petronio (1995) also provides clear examples of ambiguity of encoding in ASL. To start, consider how singular vs. plural is encoded in (1) using the classifier motion verbs cl:1 (1a) vs. cl:44 (1b).…”

Section: 4mentioning

confidence: 95%

The point of agreement

Wilbur

2013

SL&L

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This paper reconsiders arguments suggesting that sign language analyses must proceed differently to take into account their gestural, iconic origins. Lillo-Martin & Meier (2011) argue that agreement is ‘person marking’, shown by directionality. Liddell (2003, 2011) argues that directional verbs move between locations associated with referents; given an infinite number of points, the forms of these verbs are unlistable, and therefore just gestural indicating; he claims that this makes sign languages different from spoken languages, a position that I will argue against. In their response, Lillo-Martin & Meier then agree that real-world referent locations are not part of grammar, so language must interface closely with the gestural system. In contrast, Quer (2011) argues that Liddell’s reasoning is flawed. I will present evidence to agree with Quer and argue that the linguistic discussion was prematurely derailed by noting the recent alternate analysis offered by Gökgöz (2013). There may well be a role for visual iconicity in relation to sign language structure, as demonstrated by Schlenker (2013a,b), but unless we pursue linguistic analysis further, we will never get a clear understanding of what that role is.

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Section: 4mentioning

confidence: 95%

The point of agreement

Wilbur

2013

SL&L

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“…The third variant, the simultaneous dual (sim.dual), involves a simultaneous execution of the verb in which 5. The distributive reading of the exhaustive marker has been alternatively interpreted as quantification, not number agreement (Wilbur 1987;Petronio 1995).…”

Section: Description Of Plural Verb Formsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acquiring plurality in directional verbs

Hou

2013

SL&L

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Little is known about when and how children acquire plurality for directional verbs in ASL and other signed languages. This paper reports on an experimental study of 11 deaf native-signing children's acquisition of 'plural verb agreement' or plural forms of directional verbs in American Sign Language. Eleven nativesigning deaf adults were also tested. An elicitation task explored how children (aged 3;4 to 5;11) and adults marked directional verbs for plurality. The children also participated in an imitation task. Adults marked directional verbs for plurality significantly more often than children. However, adults also omitted plurality from directional verbs, utilizing alternative strategies to mark plural referents significantly more often than did children. Children across all ages omitted plurality, suggesting that the omission is attributable to both the conceptual complexity of plural markers and the optionality of number-marking. Directionality may not be best analyzed as a morphosyntactic phenomenon analogous to verb agreement morphology in spoken languages.

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“…Despite the focus on an area of research that has developed recently, some topics were left out for which formal semantics analyses have been proposed (one example is the work on relative clauses by Cecchetto et al 2006). Other topics, like quantification and aspect have been investigated from a semantic standpoint though no formal semantic analysis has yet been given (see, for example, Petronio 1995 for quantification and Meir 1999, Wilbur 2003, Schalber 2006, and references therein for aspect). Other phenomena, like definiteness, specificity, genericity, focus, conditionals and modals, which in sign languages display distinctive features, are waiting for full semantic investigation.…”

Section: Wrapping Upmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formal Semantics of Sign Languages

Zucchi

2012

Language and Linguist. Compass

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The paper discusses some issues that arise from research on sign languages in the area of formal semantics. Sign languages provide a unique standpoint to investigate semantic phenomena like donkey anaphora, indexical reference shift, and tense. Moreover, they pose a challenge for semantic theories, since movement verbs display gradient properties (semi-continuous variations with semantic import). The paper presents and discusses some accounts that have been proposed.(2) $ i man i broke the bank at Monte Carlo, and he i recently died a pauper.According to other theories, the pronouns in (1) are disguised definite descriptions: for example, (1c) is interpreted on a par with (3) below, where the description ''the man

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Bare Noun Phrases, Verbs and Quantification in ASL

Cited by 12 publications

References 4 publications

The point of agreement

The point of agreement

Acquiring plurality in directional verbs

Formal Semantics of Sign Languages

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