Ideophones in Sign Language? The place of reduplication in the tense-aspect system of Swedish Sign Language

Bergman, Brita; Dahl, Östen

doi:10.1515/9783110883077.397

Cited by 44 publications

(16 citation statements)

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“…Ideophones function dually as descriptions and depictions, because of their conventionalized status, although novel ideophones can also be created within the context of an interaction. Others have compared ideophones to iconic, lexical signs in signed languages (e.g., Bergman and Dahl, 1994; Ferrara and Halvorsen, 2017). In “Composite Utterances Evidenced Within Hearing/Hearing interactions,” we will present an example from a Siwu language interaction that includes two examples of ideophones to illustrate the multimodal, composite utterances produced by hearing speakers.…”

Section: P-signs Signaled Through Description Indication and Depictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language as Description, Indication, and Depiction

2018

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Signers and speakers coordinate a broad range of intentionally expressive actions within the spatiotemporal context of their face-to-face interactions (Parmentier, 1994; Clark, 1996; Johnston, 1996; Kendon, 2004). Varied semiotic repertoires combine in different ways, the details of which are rooted in the interactions occurring in a specific time and place (Goodwin, 2000; Kusters et al., 2017). However, intense focus in linguistics on conventionalized symbolic form/meaning pairings (especially those which are arbitrary) has obscured the importance of other semiotics in face-to-face communication. A consequence is that the communicative practices resulting from diverse ways of being (e.g., deaf, hearing) are not easily united into a global theoretical framework. Here we promote a theory of language that accounts for how diverse humans coordinate their semiotic repertoires in face-to-face communication, bringing together evidence from anthropology, semiotics, gesture studies and linguistics. Our aim is to facilitate direct comparison of different communicative ecologies. We build on Clark’s (1996) theory of language use as ‘actioned’ via three methods of signaling: describing, indicating, and depicting. Each method is fundamentally different to the other, and they can be used alone or in combination with others during the joint creation of multimodal ‘composite utterances’ (Enfield, 2009). We argue that a theory of language must be able to account for all three methods of signaling as they manifest within and across composite utterances. From this perspective, language—and not only language use—can be viewed as intentionally communicative action involving the specific range of semiotic resources available in situated human interactions.

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Section: P-signs Signaled Through Description Indication and Depictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Language as Description, Indication, and Depiction

2018

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“…Siwu ideophones come in nine distinct morphophonological templates, six of which feature some form 1. A related point is made by Bergman & Dahl (1994), who argue, based on evidence from Swedish Sign Language and from ideophones in Kammu (Mon-Khmer), for the existence of three distinct types of reduplication: inflectional, derivational, and ideophonic. Their proposal can be assimilated into the current conceptual framework by linking their 'ideophonic reduplication' to the depictive mode of representation -with the added benefit of explaining, rather than simply describing, the features of ideophonic reduplication that make it distinct from inflectional and derivational reduplicative processes in other words.…”

Section: A Closer Look At Reduplication In Ideophonesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Ideophones and reduplication

Dingemanse

2015

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Repetition is one of the most basic operations on talk, often discussed for its iconic meanings. Ideophones are marked words that depict sensory imagery, often identified by their reduplicated forms. Yet not all reduplication is iconic, and not all ideophones are reduplicated. This paper discusses the semantics and pragmatics of repeated talk with special reference to ideophones. To understand these phenomena, it is useful to distinguish two modes of representation in language -description and depiction -along with cues like prosodic foregrounding that help steer listener's interpretations from one to the other. Reduplication can partake in both modes, which is why it is common in ideophones and other areas of grammar. Using evidence from a range of languages, this paper shows how the study of ideophones sheds light on the interpretation of repeated talk, and argues that both description and depiction are fundamental to understanding how language works.

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“…Repetition of verbs in signed languages, and especially in narrative discourse, has been discussed by several linguists. Bergman & Dahl (1994) discuss the possibility of certain kinds of repetition of verbs in Swedish Sign Language being ideophones. According to them: "Typically, what happens is that a situation is first described by ordinary linguistic means, and then an ideophone is added to give concretion to the narrative" (1994: 415).…”

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It could perhaps be claimed that the "discourse continuity" Fischer & Janis discuss consists of not only keeping the same verb, but also keeping the same referent as subject, only switching into a more lively narrative style by using a textperson's perspective. Maybe the "concretion" suggested by Bergman & Dahl (1994) is actually a narrative technique.…”

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

Form and discourse function of the pointing toward the chest in Swedish Sign Language

Nilsson

2004

SL&L

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The object of this study is a sign glossed index-c, a point toward the signer’s chest, and its use in Swedish Sign Language. The sign has often been referred to as the first person pronoun of Swedish Sign Language, and it has been claimed that index-c is only used for non-first person reference in reported speech (Wallin 1987; Ahlgren 1991; Simper-Allen 1999). In the analyzed material, however, index-c is also used for non-first person reference when the actions and thoughts of a referent are rendered. A closer look also made it clear that there are actually two different forms of index-c, with different distribution, and that there appears to be an indefinite pronoun in Swedish Sign Language. What is presented here is thus an analysis of the use and meaning of two forms of the sign that was initially glossed index-c.

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Ideophones in Sign Language? The place of reduplication in the tense-aspect system of Swedish Sign Language

Cited by 44 publications

References 1 publication

Language as Description, Indication, and Depiction

Language as Description, Indication, and Depiction

Ideophones and reduplication

Form and discourse function of the pointing toward the chest in Swedish Sign Language

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