A Signer’s Perspective
By
Samuel
J.
Supalla
Citation
Lillo-Martin, D., & Meier, R. (2011). On the linguistic status of ‘agreement’ in sign languages.
Theoretical Linguistics, 37(3/4), 95-141.
Abstract
In signed languages, the arguments of verbs can be marked by a system of verbal modification
that has been termed “agreement” (more neutrally, “directionality”). Fundamental issues
regarding directionality remain unresolved and the phenomenon has characteristics that call into
question its analysis as agreement. We conclude that directionality marks person in American
Sign Language, and the ways person marking interacts with syntactic phenomena are largely
analogous to morpho-syntactic properties of familiar agreement systems. Overall, signed
languages provide a crucial test for how gestural and linguistic mechanisms can jointly
contribute to the satisfaction of fundamental aspects of linguistic structure.
(See page 7 for the English transcript)
The Power of ASL
6
Spring 2016 – Issue 1