A Grammar of German Sign Language (DGS)

Spatial verbs can be categorized as a subgroup of agreement verbs, because spatial verbs can also be manually modified in order to show agreement with locations in signing space. However, in contrast to agreement verbs, spatial verbs do not agree with their subject and/or object locations, but with loci associated with locative (i.e. spatial) arguments. From a semantic perspective, spatial verbs denote actions of movement (go, drive, fly, fall, jump, etc.), actions of being locally positioned (sit, stand, lie, be-at, etc.), and directional actions of placing something somewhere (put, move, take, lay, etc.). The meaning of a local spatial verb, such as sit or stand, varies according to the location in signing space, in which the verb is articulated.

a.house ix l-e-a stand_3a

‘Lea stands on the right side of the house.’

 

 

b. house ix l-e-a stand_3b

‘Lea stands on the left side of the house.’

 

 

In contrast, directional spatial verbs of movement (go, drive) or directional spatial verbs of placing (put, move), involve a path movement from one location towards another location. Their meaning varies by a change in path movement, as in the following example, in which the beginning of the path movement coincides with the source location, while the endpoint of movement coincides with the goal location.

a. berlin cologne family _3adrive_3b

‘The family drives from Berlin to Cologne.’ 

 

 

b. cologne berlin family _3bdrive_3a

‘The family drives from Cologne to Berlin.’

 

 

In the following example with a directional verb of placing, even a small change in the initial or final location of the path movement can make a change in meaning.

a. shelf ix₁ book _amove_b

‘I move a book in the shelf from here to there.’ 

       

 

b. shelf ix₁ book _amove_c

‘I move a book in the shelf from here to there.’

 

 

Additionally, spatial verbs are highly productive in being modified by the use of classifier constructions [see Morphology 5.]. For example, if the spatial verb stand is associated with a human entity, it occurs with a human classifier handshape: B; whereas, if stand is associated with an animal, it occurs with the animal classifier handshape 3-bent: @; and if associated with a flat non-human entity like a book, it occurs with the flat classifier handshape B: ].