A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

Plain verbs cannot be spatially modified to agree with their argument(s), although they can usually inflect for aspect (MORPHOLOGY 3.3). This constraint is due to the phonological specification of the sign: plain verbs are produced on the body of the signer and cannot therefore be separated from the body itself to agree with the arguments. An example of a plain verb is think.

 

 

 

            think

 

This verb class includes many verbs that express mental or physical states, like emotions, thoughts, feelings, sensations. Plain verbs in LIS are be_satisfied, remember, suffer, worry, imagine. Plain verbs also include verbs referring to actions connected with body activities, like eat and drink. In the example below, we can see the verb drink.

 

 

 

            drink

 

Plain verbs show a homogeneous behaviour with respect to the specification of their arguments: they retain their citation form unchanged, regardless of the person or number of their arguments. For example, the verb remember is produced in the same way to express the first (a) or third (b) singular person, as we can see below.

 

 

 

 

            a.        ix₁ remember

            ‘I remember.’

 

 

 

            b.         ix₃ remember

            ‘S/he remembers.’

 

Plain verbs can select either one argument or two arguments. This class, therefore, includes transitive (a) (SYNTAX 2.1.1.1) and intransitive (b) (SYNTAX 2.1.1.2) verbs, as can be seen in the examples below.

 

 

 

            a.         gianni meat eat

            ‘Gianni eats meat.’

 

 

 

            b.         sara cry

            ‘Sara cries.’

 

In the example (a) above, the verb eat behaves as a transitive verb because it selects two arguments, gianni and meat, while the verb cry (b) behaves as an intransitive verb, selecting only one argument (sara).