2.2.3. Buoys
Buoys [Lexicon 1.2.3] are spatial devices signed on the non-dominant hand. They can be used to refer to a group of referents in order to provide a list of them (list buoys). In such occurrences, people or objects are localized on the fingers of the non-dominant hand and each finger stands for a separate entity (e.g. one week, one hour, one person, one exam topic). In DGS, up to 5 referents can be listed on one hand. In the following example from DGS, the narrator talks about three topics he is about to present. Those topics are represented on the three fingers of the non-dominant hand and are referred back via pointing to each of them with an index finger handshape (H ) of the dominant hand.
h1: today ix1 want three topic present ix sign_language acquisition
h2: first sign_language acquisition
h1: ix deaf interpreter ix history deaf ix want start
h2: second interpreter third history deaf second start
‘Today I would like present three topics: First, sign language acquisition; second, deaf interpreters; third, history of the deaf. I would like to start with the second one.’
Buoys can also refer to a prominent discourse participant. In these cases, the non-dominant hand is either pointing to the spatial location associated earlier with this referent (pointer buoy) or it is held simultaneously with the articulation of the dominant hand (fragment buoy). In example (b) below, the classifier for house (the fragment buoy) is hold on the non-dominant handthroughout the duration of the utterance.
a. h1: yesterday ix1 film ix interesting watch pst
h2: ix________________
‘Yesterday, I watched a very interesting film.’
b. h1: poss1 house.cl(5) ix1 car car.cl park_next_to_house get-off
h2: house.cl(5) _________________________________________
‘I park my car next to my house and get out.’
(recreated from Papaspyrou et al., 2008: 199)
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant Agreement No 693349.