Table Of ContentThe Meaning of Space in Sign Language
Sign Languages
and Deaf Communities 4
Editors
Annika Herrmann
Markus Steinbach
Ulrike Zeshan
Editorial board
Carlo Geraci
Rachel McKee
Victoria Nyst
Marianne Rossi Stumpf
Felix Sze
Sandra Wood
De Gruyter Mouton · Ishara Press
The Meaning of Space
in Sign Language
Reference, Specificity and Structure
in Catalan Sign Language Discourse
By
Gemma Barbera` Altimira
De Gruyter Mouton · Ishara Press
ISBN 978-1-61451-866-2
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-1-61451-881-5
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-1-5015-0055-8
ISSN 2192-516X
e-ISSN 2192-5178
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Acknowledgements
Cloc els ulls i sé
que no hi ha res més bonic,
quan aquest gest és sincer,
que dar, cada ú, un xic.
(Eulàlia Ribera Llonc, 2011)
This book is a stimulating project that goes beyond what it is contained within
the following pages. There have been inspiring people and appealing situa-
tions that have influenced the path I have taken and shaped this adventure.
They are also in part responsible that I have come so far as to transform an
almost naive intuition into a scientific work. I would like to take the opportu-
nity to acknowledge them now. Josep Quer, my mentor, has been on this path
since the very beginning. I would like to express my most sincere gratitude
for his guidance, constant support and all the opportunities he has all the way
provided. As I have previously said, this is only (part of) the beginning. Un
milió de gràcies!!
I am most grateful to the Catalan Sign Language deaf signers who contrib-
uted to the creation of the small corpus with their natural signing. Special
thanks go to Josep Boronat, Albert R. Casellas, Pepita Cedillo, Encarna
Muñoz, Frank Vidiella, Santiago Frigola, and Delfina Aliaga. ¡Muchísimas
gracias por todo, amigos! Also, I am much indebted to the Catalan Deaf
Community to welcoming me to their visual world, sharing with me their
wonderful language and instructing me how to express irony in sign language,
make fun and argue (well, maybe not that much on the arguing side...).
Short trips within this journey drove me to meet very interesting people
here and elsewhere who contributed in some way or another to the shaping
of the ideas herein. I am very grateful to have travelled on the same journey
as Celia Alba, Delfina Aliaga, Stefan Bott, Elena Castroviejo, Brendan
Costello, Onno Crasborn, Kathryn Davidson, Javi Fernández, Santi Frigola,
Berit Gehrke, Carlo Geraci, Annika Herrmann, Vadim Kimmelman, Els van
der Kooij, Diane Lillo-Martin, Guillem Massó, Laia Mayol, Marta Mosella,
Louise McNally, Ellen Ormel, Roland Pfau, Lali Ribera, Joana Rosselló,
Markus Steinbach, Alexandra Spalek, Henriette de Swart, Enric Vallduví,
Saúl Villameriel, Martine Zwets, and Inge Zwitserlood. I would also like
to thank my students throughout these years for having taught me so much
about teaching.
Last but not least, my beloved family deserves an exceptional mention.
My parents, Jaume and Teresa, as well as Cesc, my fellow traveller, have
supported me on every single step. Moltíssimes gràcies per ser-hi sempre.
Contents
Acknowledgements .....................................................................................v
List of figures ............................................................................................xiii
List of tables...............................................................................................xv
Abbreviations ...........................................................................................xvi
Notational conventions ..........................................................................xviii
1. Introduction ............................................................................................1
1.1. Objectives and goals ........................................................................1
1.2. Sign language research ....................................................................2
1.3. Catalan Sign Language ....................................................................3
1.4. Methodology ....................................................................................4
1.4.1. Sign language corpora ..........................................................4
1.4.2. Small-scale LSC corpus ........................................................6
1.4.3. Annotation conventions ........................................................8
1.5. Organisation of this book ...............................................................10
2. Space in sign languages: background ................................................13
2.1. Introduction ....................................................................................13
2.2. Signing space .................................................................................14
2.3. Modality effects .............................................................................18
2.3.1. Modality and space .............................................................19
2.3.2. Modality and gesture ..........................................................21
2.4. Spatial functions ............................................................................22
2.4.1. Descriptive localisation .......................................................23
2.4.2. Non-descriptive localisation ...............................................25
2.4.3. One function or two? ..........................................................26
vviiiiii Contents
2.5. Previous accounts ..........................................................................28
2.5.1. Spatial mapping view ..........................................................29
2.5.1.1. Locus and real space .............................................29
2.5.1.2. Limitations ............................................................31
2.5.2. R-locus view .......................................................................35
2.5.2.1. Referential locations and linguistic space .............36
2.5.2.2. Advantages ............................................................37
2.6. The pointing hodgepodge ..............................................................38
2.6.1. The morphosyntax of pointing signs...................................38
2.6.2. The semantics of pointing signs ..........................................39
2.6.3. Sign language pronouns ......................................................41
2.7. Acquisition and emergence of new sign languages .......................44
2.8. Proposal .........................................................................................46
2.9. Summary ........................................................................................47
3. A morpheme on spatial planes ............................................................49
3.1. Introduction ....................................................................................49
3.2. The spatial morpheme ....................................................................50
3.3. Localisation mechanisms ...............................................................52
3.3.1. Index signs ..........................................................................55
3.3.2. Spatial modification ............................................................57
3.3.3. Verb agreement ...................................................................57
3.3.4. Nonmanual mechanisms .....................................................59
3.4. Non-descriptive use of spatial planes ............................................60
3.4.1. Horizontal ...........................................................................62
3.4.1.1. Kinds of spatial entities .........................................64
3.4.1.2. Contrastive topics ..................................................68
Contents iixx
3.4.2. F rontal .................................................................................69
3.4.2.1. Hierarchical relations ............................................70
3.4.2.2. L ocatives ...............................................................72
3.4.2.3. Specificity .............................................................74
3.4.2.4. Absence in the physical context ............................78
3.4.3. M idsaggital .........................................................................79
3.5. Features on spatial planes ..............................................................80
3.6. Body-anchored locations ...............................................................83
3.7. Summary ........................................................................................86
4. Spatial locations and discourse referents ...........................................87
4.1. Introduction ....................................................................................87
4.2. Dynamic semantics ........................................................................87
4.2.1. D iscourse and discourse model ...........................................88
4.2.2. D iscourse representation theories .......................................89
4.2.2.1. Donkey anaphora in DRT .....................................93
4.2.2.2. Accessibility ..........................................................94
4.2.3. D iscourse referents .............................................................95
4.2.3.1. S-Topic ..................................................................98
4.2.3.2. Referential status .................................................100
4.2.4. D esiderata for a DRT application to sign language ..........101
4.3. Locations and discourse referents ................................................102
4.3.1. L ocationsas variables ........................................................103
4.3.2. I dentity features ................................................................104
4.4. Scope of discourse referents’ quantifiers .....................................106
4.4.1. ( Non-)argumental NPs ......................................................109
4.4.2. D onkey sentences .............................................................112
xx Contents
4.4.3. Distributivity and quantification .......................................114
4.4.4. Genericity ..........................................................................118
4.4.5. Kinds .................................................................................119
4.5. Summary ......................................................................................121
5. Deixis and familiarity ........................................................................123
5.1. Introduction ..................................................................................123
5.2. Definiteness: background .............................................................124
5.2.1. Uniqueness ........................................................................124
5.2.2. Familiarity .........................................................................125
5.2.2.1. Weak/strong familiarity .......................................127
5.2.2.2. Discourse/addressee familiarity ..........................129
5.2.3. Deixis ................................................................................131
5.2.4. Definiteness in sign language ...........................................134
5.3. Anaphoric deixis in LSC ..............................................................136
5.4. Familiarity ....................................................................................141
5.4.1. Assertion of existence .......................................................142
5.4.2. Presupposition of existence ..............................................144
5.5. Indefiniteness marking .................................................................146
5.5.1. Indefinite determiners .......................................................146
5.5.2. Nonmanual indefiniteness marking ..................................146
5.6. Summary ......................................................................................147
6. Specificity ............................................................................................149
6.1. Introduction ..................................................................................149
6.2. Specificity: background ...............................................................150
6.2.1. Scope .................................................................................151
6.2.2. Partitivity ..........................................................................153
6.2.3. Identifiability .....................................................................154
6.2.4. Specificity in sign language ..............................................156
