3.7. Pronouns
Pronouns in DGS are expressed in the signing space. They refer either to physically present or absent referents by pointing towards the actual or abstract locations previously associated with those referents. Pointing can be realized either manually (with the index finger -H, the thumb-2 or the entire hand-x) or non-manually (with eye gaze, head nod or body orientation), as well as combinations of these. See [Lexicon 1.2.2.] for further information on pointing.
Other than pointing, classifier handshapes as in relative pronouns referring to humans [Lexicon 3.7.6.], lexical forms such as interrogative [Lexicon 3.7.5.] and indefinite pronouns [Lexicon 3.7.7.] can be used for pronominal reference. Additionally, in DGS pronouns do not have to be pronounced when their referents are easily retrievable from the context [Pragmatics 2.1.].
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant Agreement No 693349.