A Grammar of German Sign Language (DGS)

In DGS, the predicate in copular constructions [Syntax 2.1.4.1] is realized by an adjectival phrase [Syntax 5] as in (a) or by a nominal phrase [Syntax 4] as in (b).

 

a.       poss₁ son sick

‘My son is sick’

                                                                (based on Papaspyrou et al., 2008: 170)

 

 

 

b.      ix₃ teacher

         ‘He/She is a teacher.’

           

 

Locative constructions sometimes display a different word order than SOV because entities are signed according to the figure-ground principle, which states that bigger and less mobile entities (‘the ground’) are signed before smaller and mobile entities (‘the figure’). Locative adjuncts often serve as the ground and therefore can be placed sentence initially as it is demonstrated below.

 

             bed child++ cl({):‘lie_in’                         

                ʻThe children are lying in the bed.

 

 

 

Furthermore, existential constructions [Syntax 2.1.5.2] exhibit a varying word order. This can be observed looking at predicate there, whichis used to express that an entity exists in particular location, as it can be placed before (a) or after the particular entity (b).

 

a.       there garden

         ‘There is a garden.’

 

 

 

 

b.      garden there

         ‘There is a garden.’

 

 

 

In yes/no questions [Syntax 1.2.1], the word order is the same as in declarative sentences, hence both show an SOV order. Yes/no questions are marked nonmanually with raised eyebrows, which usually spread over the whole sentence as exemplified below.

 

                                                                        re

         tomorrow ix_1+2pl cinema visit palm_up

         ‘Do we want to go to the cinema tomorrow?’

           

                                                                       (based on Papaspyrou et al., 2008: 172)

 

 

 

In wh-questions [Syntax 1.2.3] wh-words [Lexicon 3.7.5] can be placed sentence-initially (a), sentence-finally (b) or they are doubled and occur in both positions as shown in (c). Wh-questions are marked by furrowed eyebrows, which usually spread over the whole clause.

 

                              fe

a.       who book buy

         ‘Who bought the book?’

 

 

      

                              fe

b.      book buy who

         ‘Who bought the book?’

  

 

 

                                        fe

c.       who book buy who

         ‘Who bought the book?’

         

 

 

                                                                                  (based on Happ & Vorköper, 2006: 324)

 

Furthermore, imperatives in DGS [Syntax 1.3, Pragmatics 3] show the same word order as declarative clauses, hence the verb is positioned sentence-finally as it can be seen in the following example.

 

         please poss₂ room clean_up

         ‘Please, clean up your room.’ 

    

                                                                                              (based on Papaspyrou et al., 2008: 173)