A Grammar of German Sign Language (DGS)

Agreement in DGS is expressed within the signing space, i.e. the space in front of the signer’s upper body [Pragmatics 8]. The signing space is used to establish person and location references. Reference to the first person corresponds to the physical location of the signer, so that the location for first person is fixed on or near the signer’s chest. For reference towards the addressee (i.e. second person) or towards a third person, referents are associated with locations in the signing space. If a referent is present in the conversation, the reference in space corresponds to the actual position of the referent. If a referent is non-present in the conversation, the signer chooses a particular location within the signing space that arbitrarily represents the referent.

 

As already mentioned, the expression of agreement with subject and object is restricted to the specific verb class of agreement verbs. These agreement verbs agree with subject and/or object by modulating the path movement and/or finger and hand orientation. The movement of the verb begins at the locus associated with the subject and ends at the locus associated with the object. If referents are present, the verb starts and ends at the actual loci of the present referents.

 

Agreement verbs in DGS select at least two (usually animate) arguments (subject, direct object and/or indirect object) and they assign a unique thematic role to each of the arguments. Subject agreement in DGS can be optional whereas object agreement is obligatory. The transitive verb [Syntax 2.1.1] visit agrees with the subject and the direct object. The signer chooses locations in signing space and associates them with the referents (see the example below). The path movement of visit starts at the location associated with the subject (‘grandchild’) and ends at the locations associated with the object (‘grandfather’). The verb assigns the thematic role of ‘agent’ to the subject and the thematic role of ‘patient’ to the direct object. Furthermore, visit belongs to the group of agreement verbs that show agreement by a change of path movement and also by a change of finger- and hand orientation. Therefore, the back of hand is orientated towards the subject (‘grandchild’) and the fingertips are orientated toward the object (‘grandfather’).

 

            grandchild_3a grandfather_{3b 3a}visit_3b    

            ‘The grandchild visits the grandpa.’                                                         

   (based on Happ & Vorköper, 2005: 90)

 

 

 

 

Whereas visit is articulated in front of the signer’s chest, other (di)transitive verbs like ask and inform in DGS are specified for initial contact near or on the face. The path movement of ask for example starts in its citation form in front of the chin.

           

            ₁ask₂                                          

            ‘I ask you.’                

 

 

 

 

 

However, ditransitive verbs [Syntax 2.1.1.1] like show agree with the subject and the indirect object as shown in the example below by the indices.

 

 

            grandmother_3a grandchild_3b poss_3anecklace _3ashow_3b

                ‘The grandmother shows the grandchild her necklace.’     

 

             (based on Happ & Vorköper, 2006: 85)

 

 

 

 

There is another interesting subgroup of agreement verbs, so-called backwards verbs, which show the reverse pattern of regular agreement verbs. Backwards verbs in DGS are for example invite, accept or pick-up. The path movement of these verbs starts at the location associated with the object and ends at the location associated with the subject as in DGS example below, which is interpreted as ‘he accepts me’.

 

            ₁accept₃                    

            ‘He accepts me.’

 

 

 

Independent of the reversed path movement, the orientation of the finger still faces towards the syntactic object. For example, the verb pick-up keeps the orientation of the fingertips towards the object ‘I’ as in (a), which is interpreted as ‘he/she picks me up’. Compared to (b), which has the meaning ‘I pick him/her up’.

 

 

a.         ₁pick_up_3b                      

            ‘he/she picks me up.’

 

 

 

 

b.         _3bpick_up₁                             

            ‘I pick him/her up.’

 

 

 

 

 

Not all backwards verbs mark agreement by changing the orientation. The sign invite, for instance, only changes the path movement from the locus associated with the object towards the locus associated with the subject. See the example below.

 

a.         ₁invite₂                       

            ‘You invite me.’

 

 

 

b.         ₂invite₁                            

            ‘I invite you.’