A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

Locative pronouns are used to denote a position in space. In LIS, they are typically realised as pointing signs directed toward the actual (absolute) location in real space or, alternatively, toward a spatial point previously established in the discourse.

 

 

 

            ix₁ eat ix(loc)

            ‘I’ll eat there.’

 

The most frequent realisation of locative pointing signs is with G handshape and downward palm orientation. The extension of the movement of the arm indicates how far the location is from the perspective of the signer. The screenshots below show locative pronouns with different degrees of extension.

 

            

            a.         ix(loc)_[proximal]

            ‘Here’

 

            

            b.         ix(loc)_{[contra_distal]}

            ‘There’

 

            

            c.         ix(loc)_{[ipsi_distal]}

            ‘There’

 

If special emphasis is needed, for instance to contrast two different locations, a repeated movement can be added to the pointing sign. This is shown in the example below.

 

 

 

                                                                                         om                                                                             tp

            ix(loc)_a person++ CL(5): ‘be_many_at_a’. ix(loc)_b person++ CL(5): ‘be_few_at_b’

            ‘There are many people there (location a) and few people there (location b).’

 

Demonstratives (LEXICON 3.6.1) are typically used to indicate a referent by using an act of demonstration (i.e. ‘this’ in English, associated to a pointing in a position close to the speaker). These elements can combine with nouns, thus behaving as nominal modifiers (SYNTAX 4.1.2), or they can be used pronominally, without a noun. In this section, we focus on this second usage. To illustrate, we present below an example containing a demonstrative pronoun.

 

 

 

            ix(dem) ix₁ want

            ‘I want this.’

 

Because of their definite nature, demonstrative pronouns in LIS are always headed toward a specific point in the signing space. Non-manually, proximity (i.e. nearness in space) may be marked by wide-open eyes (we), whereas distality (i.e. farness in space) may be signalled by squint eyes (sq). As for the articulation of demonstrative pronouns, there are three possible realisations, which also reflect differences in usage. The most common form is a pointing sign with a straight path movement. Below, we show both the proximal (a) and distal (b) realisation.

 

 

 

                                                            we

            a.         ix(dem)_{straight[proximal]}

 

 

 

                                                         sq

            b.         ix(dem)_{straight[distal]}

 

Pointing signs with straight path movement realise canonical deictic demonstratives, thus referring to entities present in the surrounding extra-linguistic context.

            Another possibility is to articulate the pointing sign with wrist pivoting from radial to ulnar and a co-occurring implosive mouth gesture, which is traditionally identified by the gloss pe.

 

 

 

                                                                   [p]

            a.         ix(dem)_{pivoting[proximal]}

 

 

 

                                                             [p]

            b.         ix(dem)_{pivoting[distal]}

 

Pointing signs with wrist pivoting realise anaphoric demonstratives, thus referring to entities previously mentioned in the discourse. Demonstratives can be used anaphorically when they point to a location in the neutral space, so they have a deictic component, but by doing so they pick up a position previously associated to a given referent.

            The last type of demonstrative pronoun is a pointing sign with wrist rotation either from prone to supine (a) or vice versa (b).

 

 

 

            a.         ix(dem)_{rotating[ipsi]}

           

 

 

            b.         ix(dem)_{rotating[contra]}

 

Pointing signs with wrist rotation are typically used to select a referent between two alternatives. Indeed, they rotate moving from the non-selected to the selected option.

            As previously observed with locative pronouns, the extension of the movement of the arm used to articulate demonstrative pronouns show the distance between signer and target. As discussed before, another strategy that signals distance is represented by the non-manuals which can co-occur with the demonstrative pronouns: wide-open eyes and in some cases also tongue protrusion signal proximity (a), while squinted eyes signal distality (b).

 

            

                                                        tp

                                                      we

            a.         ix(dem)_[proximal]

 

            

                                                   sq

            b.         ix(dem)_[distal]

 

Moreover, demonstrative pointing signs may be accompanied by the eye-gaze pointing toward the same direction. This is a further cue that helps the addressee to identify the relevant referent(s) in space.