A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

Adverbials, like adjectives, are modifying elements: they can modify sentences, verbs, adjectives or other adverbials.

            In some languages, adverbials are usually marked by derivational affixes. For instance, in Italian the suffix -mente identifies a kind of adverbial (e.g. lenta-mente, ‘slow-ly’).

            In the sign languages studied to date, LIS included, there seems to be no morphological systematic distinction between adjectives (a) and the corresponding adverbial (b), as shown by the following examples.

 

 

 

            a.         young_a ix_a fast

            ‘The boy is quick.’

 

 

 

            b.         young_a ix_a run fast

            ‘The boy runs quickly.’

 

As shown in the (b) example above, adverbial modification in LIS may be realised with a specific sign. However, adverbial modification can also be simultaneous. This happens when modification is expressed by specific non-manuals that convey the meaning of the adverb or by the modification of a manual parameter, like movement. The following two examples illustrate these two possibilities.

 

 

 

                                                 ce we

                                                blow

            a.         sara book read_[fast]

            ‘Sara reads quickly a book.’ (based on Lerose, 2012: 328)

 

 

 

                                                   fe

                                                   sq

            b.         young_a ix_a run_[fast]

            ‘The boy runs fast.’

 

In (a) the verb read is performed with a quick and sharp movement and it is accompanied by a specific mouth gesture. In (b) a mouth gesture indicates the way in which the action described by the verb takes place and the verb is performed with a more rapid and repeated movement.

            When overtly expressed by a specific sign, adverbials behave in different ways depending on the type of adverb. It is possible to identify different types of classification. The classification we propose considers the semantic aspect of adverbials.

            Manner adverbs indicate the way an action takes place. They are mostly expressed by non-manuals, as in (a) and (b) above, but if they are expressed by a sign, it usually follows the verb. Examples of this phenomenon are reported below.

 

 

 

            a.         young_a ix_a run fast

            ‘The boy runs fast.’

 

 

 

            b.         sara read fast

            ‘Sara reads quickly.’ (based on Lerose, 2012: 327)

 

Locative adverbs indicate where an action takes place. They are usually expressed by a specific lexical sign or by a deictic form pointing toward a location in the signing space. Here we can find an example.

 

 

 

            davide eat outside

            ‘Davide eats out.’ (based on Lerose, 2012: 333)

 

Temporal adverbs indicate the time in which an action takes place. They are usually expressed by a specific lexical sign.

 

 

 

            today davide come

            ‘Today Davide is coming.’ (based on Lerose, 2012: 336)

 

The unmarked position of temporal adverbs is at the beginning of the sentence, even if other positions are possible.

            In some circumstances, it is not necessary to use a specific sign, but the adverb is expressed by the repetition of the verb. For example, the adverb always can be expressed by a lexical sign (a) or by the reduplication of the movement of the verb (b).

 

 

 

            a.         sara read always

            ‘Sara always reads.’

 

 

 

            b.         sara read++

            ‘Sara always reads.’

 

Quantitative adverbs indicate an indefinite quantity that refers to the action performed by the verb. They are usually expressed by non-manuals (prolonged mouthing and squint), and by modifying the parameter of movement within the verb sign, as in the following example.

 

 

 

                                    sq

                       ‘st[uuu]dia’

            davide study++

            ‘Davide studies a lot.’ (based on Lerose, 2012: 341)

 

However, the same meaning can be conveyed by a specific sign, like in the following examples:

 

 

 

            a.         davide study many

            ‘Davide studies a lot.’

 

 

 

            b.         davide study very

            ‘Davide studies a lot.’

 

In this last example, the status of very is not very clear. Some signers do not consider it a sign but a gesture, also used by hearing people in the Italian culture.

Speaker-oriented adverbs express a judgment or an evaluation. In this case, the adverb is usually expressed by a specific sign and its corresponding non-manual marking.

 

 

 

            sure gianni come

            ‘Gianni is surely coming.’ (based on Lerose, 2012: 344)

 

In this case, the position of the adverb in the sentence does not change the meaning of the sentence itself.

 

 

 

            a.         gianni come sure

            ‘Gianni is surely coming.’

 

 

 

            b.         gianni sure come

            ‘Gianni is surely coming.’

 

It is also possible to convey the meaning of speaker-oriented adverbs by modifying the movement component of the verb and adding a specific non-manual marking. As illustrated below, certainty can be conveyed by articulating the verb with a sharp and quick movement and a simultaneously head nod (a). To express doubt, the verb is usually executed in a less tense way with sideward head tilt and downward mouth-corners (b).

 

 

 

                                                hn

            a.         daniele come_[fast]

            ‘Daniele is surely coming.’

 

 

 

                                     ht-left

                                         md

            b.         daniele come

            ‘Daniele is coming probably.’

 

For adverbs of negation see MORPHOLOGY 3.5 and SYNTAX 1.5. For more details on the distribution of adverbs, see SYNTAX 2.3.1.6.