A Grammar of German Sign Language (DGS)

Two-handed signs might be articulated with only one hand. This process is referred to as Weak (hand) drop. Weak Drop is constrained by phonological, semantic and iconic properties of the signs in DGS. Phonological factors are symmetricity (similarity in handshape, movement and orientation) and body contact. Two-handed symmetrical signs [Phonology 1.4.1], in which both hands have the same handshape and an alternating, or non-alternating movement are most likely to undergo Weak Drop in DGS. The sign teach is a symmetrical sign, in which both hands have the same handshape and perform a non-alternating movement, and which generally undergoes Weak Drop, as is show in the example below.

teach (citation) – teach (WD)

‘to teach’

(based on Schulze, 2019: 112)

 

 

In addition, two-handed asymmetrical signs [Phonology 1.4.2.] in which the dominant hand is active and the non-dominant hand remains passive and both hands have different handshapes while performing the sign can undergo Weak Drop as well. However, those cases occur rarely in DGS. write is a two-handed sign and the non-dominant hand is passive and has x-handshape compared to the active hand which has O-handshape. write canundergo Weak Drop in DGS as illustrated below.

write (citation) – write (WD)

‘to write’

(based on Schulze, 2019: 112)

 

 

The handshapes which mostly undergo Weak Drop in two-handed symmetrical signs are: O-handshape, >-handshape, 6-handshape and Y-handshape. On the other hand, in the asymmetrical two-handed signs w-handshape of the non-dominant hand is the most likely to be dropped.

Weak hand drop is frequently observed in the signs which are articulated in neutral signing space [Pragmatics 8.1.] and have no contact with the body. This is shown in the DGS example below with the occurrence of one-handed version of what in comparison to its two-handed citation form.

what (citation) – what (WD)

‘what’

(based on Nishio, 2009: 24)

 

 

The phonological context influences Weak Drop as well. In the environment of preceding and/or following one-handed signs, Weak Drop is more likely to occur in DGS. This is illustrated below where a two-handed sign evening undergoes a weak drop through regressive assimilation caused by a one-handed sign food in the compound form evening^food (‘dinner’).

evening (‘evening’) – food (‘food’) – evening^food (‘dinner’)

(based on Becker, 2001: 155)

 

 

Semantic or iconic features of the sign might block weak drop in DGS. To be more specific, in some two-handed signs, the meaning of a sign might be expressed through iconic usage of both hands. Thus, deletion of one of the hands is not possible as it has a direct influence on the interpretation of the meaning. For instance, signs like brother_sıster ‘siblings’(a) and together (b) have a pairwise meaning that cannot be preserved when one of the hands is dropped.

a. brother_sister      

‘siblings’

 

 

b. together                 

‘together’

(based on Schulze, 2018: 469)