Object marking in the signed modality

245 Pages·2017·2.79 MB·English

Object marking in the signed modality
Verbal and nominal strategies in Swedish Sign Language and other
sign languages
Carl Börstell
Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics at Stockholm
University to be publicly defended on Friday 2 June 2017 at 10.00 in hörsal 11, hus F,
Universitetsvägen 10 F.
Abstract
In this dissertation, I investigate various aspects of object marking and how these manifest themselves in the signed
modality. The main focus is on Swedish Sign Language (SSL), the national sign language of Sweden, which is the topic
of investigation in all five studies. Two of the studies adopt a comparative perspective, including other sign languages as
well. The studies comprise a range of data, including corpus data, elicited production, and acceptability judgments, and
combine quantitative and qualitative methods in the analyses.
The dissertation begins with an overview of the topics of valency, argument structure, and object marking, primarily
from a spoken language perspective. Here, the interactions between semantics and morphosyntax are presented from a
typological perspective, introducing differential object marking as a key concept. With regard to signed language, object
marking is discussed in terms of both verbal and nominal strategies.
Verbal strategies of object marking among sign languages include directional verbs, object handshape classifiers, and
embodied perspective in signing. The first study investigates the use of directionality and object handshapes as object
marking strategies in Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language (ABSL), Israeli Sign Language (ISL), and SSL. It is shown that
the strategies generally display different alignments in terms of the types of objects targeted, which is uniform across
languages, but that directionality is much more marginal in ABSL than in the other two languages. Also, we see that there is
a connection between object marking strategies and the animacy of the object, and that the strategies, object animacy, and
word order preferences interact. In the second and third studies, SSL is investigated with regard to the transitive–reflexive
distinction. Here, we see that there are interactional effects between object handshapes and the perspective taken by the
signer. This points to intricate iconic motivations of combining and structuring complex verb sequences, such as giving
preference to agent focusing structures (e.g., agent perspective and handling handshapes). Furthermore, the use of space is
identified as a crucial strategy for reference tracking, especially when expressing semantically transitive events.
Nominal strategies include object pronouns and derivations of the sign PERSON. The fourth study provides a detailed
account of the object pronoun OBJPRO in SSL, which is the first in-depth description of this sign. It is found that the
sign is in widespread use in SSL, often corresponds closely to object pronouns of spoken Swedish, and is argued to be
grammaticalized from the lexical sign PERSON. In the final study, the possible existence of object pronouns in other
sign languages is investigated by using a sample of 24 languages. This analysis reveals that the feature is found mostly
in the Nordic countries, suggesting areal contact phenomena. However, the study also shows that there are a number of
derivations of PERSON, such as reflexive pronouns, agreement auxiliaries, and case markers. The use of PERSON as a
source of grammaticalization for these functions is attributed to both semantic and phonological properties of the sign.
This dissertation is unique in that it is dedicated to the topic of object marking in the signed modality. It brings a variety
of perspectives and methods together in order to investigate the domain of object marking, cross-linguistically and cross-
modally.
Keywords: sign language, object marking, differential object marking, argument structure, transitivity, valency,
directionality, handshape, pronoun, perspective, Swedish Sign Language, Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language, Israeli Sign
Language.
Stockholm 2017
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-141669
ISBN 978-91-7649-746-3
ISBN 978-91-7649-747-0
Department of Linguistics
Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm
Object marking in the signed modality
Verbal and nominal strategies in Swedish Sign Language and other sign languages
Carl Börstell

Object marking in the signed modality
Verbal and nominal strategies in Swedish Sign Language and other sign languages
Carl Börstell
©CarlBörstell,StockholmUniversity2017
ISBN(print): 978-91-7649-746-3
ISBN(pdf): 978-91-7649-747-0
PrintedinSwedenbyUniversitetsserviceUS-AB,Stockholm2017
Distributor: DepartmentofLinguistics,StockholmUniversity
Cover: CarlBörstell
– Was it as easy as it looked?
– No, sir. No, sir, it wasn’t.

Abstract
In this dissertation, I investigate various aspects of object marking and how these manifest
themselves in the signed modality. The main focus is on Swedish Sign Language (SSL), the
national sign language of Sweden, which is the topic of investigation in all five studies. Two
of the studies adopt a comparative perspective, including other sign languages as well. The
studies comprise a range of data, including corpus data, elicited production, and acceptability
judgments, and combine quantitative and qualitative methods in the analyses.
The dissertation begins with an overview of the topics of valency, argument structure, and
object marking, primarily from a spoken language perspective. Here, the interactions between
semantics and morphosyntax are presented from a typological perspective, introducing differen-
tialobjectmarkingasakeyconcept. Withregardtosignedlanguage,objectmarkingisdiscussed
in terms of both verbal and nominal strategies.
Verbal strategies of object marking among sign languages include directional verbs, object
handshape classifiers, and embodied perspective in signing. The first study investigates the
use of directionality and object handshapes as object marking strategies in Al-Sayyid Bedouin
Sign Language (ABSL), Israeli Sign Language (ISL), and SSL. It is shown that the strategies
generally display different alignments in terms of the types of objects targeted, which is uniform
across languages, but that directionality is much more marginal in ABSL than in the other
two languages. Also, we see that there is a connection between object marking strategies and
the animacy of the object, and that the strategies, object animacy, and word order preferences
interact. In the second and third studies, SSL is investigated with regard to the transitive–
reflexive distinction. Here, we see that there are interactional effects between object handshapes
andtheperspectivetakenbythesigner. Thispointstointricateiconicmotivationsofcombining
and structuring complex verb sequences, such as giving preference to agent focusing structures
(e.g., agent perspective and handling handshapes). Furthermore, the use of space is identified
as a crucial strategy for reference tracking, especially when expressing semantically transitive
events.
Nominal strategies include object pronouns and derivations of the sign person. The fourth
study provides a detailed account of the object pronoun objpro in SSL, which is the first in-
depth description of this sign. It is found that the sign is in widespread use in SSL, often
corresponds closely to object pronouns of spoken Swedish, and is argued to be grammaticalized
fromthelexicalsignperson. Inthefinalstudy,thepossibleexistenceofobjectpronounsinother
sign languages is investigated by using a sample of 24 languages. This analysis reveals that the
feature is found mostly in the Nordic countries, suggesting areal contact phenomena. However,
thestudyalsoshowsthatthereareanumberofderivationsofperson,suchasreflexivepronouns,
agreement auxiliaries, and case markers. The use of person as a source of grammaticalization
for these functions is attributed to both semantic and phonological properties of the sign.
This dissertation is unique in that it is dedicated to the topic of object marking in the signed
modality. It brings a variety of perspectives and methods together in order to investigate the
domain of object marking, cross-linguistically and cross-modally.

Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Tables xi
Glossary xiii
Glossing conventions xv
Sign language acronyms xvii
Acknowledgments xix
I. Introduction and background 1
1. Introduction 3
1.1. Part I: Introduction and background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2. Part II: Verbal strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3. Part III: Nominal strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4. Part IV: Concluding discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. Background 9
2.1. Argument structure and transitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.2. Differential object marking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
II. Verbal strategies 25
3. Object marking verbs and word order in sign languages 27
3.1. Verb types, directionality, and classifier handshapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.2. Word order and perspective constructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.3. Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
4. Study 1: Word order, animacy, and object marking in three sign languages 45
4.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.2. The languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.3. Data and methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
v