A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

A reflexive relation and a reciprocal relation both involve co-referentiality.

            On the one hand, reflexive pronouns are used to indicate that the object in a sentence refers to the same person or thing denoted by the subject of the same sentence. In LIS, reflexive meaning can have two different realisations, which are equivalent from a semantic point of view.

            The first realisation, glossed here as ix_person, is a sign phonologically similar to the sign person. It consists in a personal pronoun articulated in the locus associated with the antecedent. If referring to the first person (ix₁_person), it is realised on the signer’s body with inward palm orientation.

 

             

            ix₁_person

            ‘Myself’

 

If referring to the second or third person, it is articulated with outward/sideward palm orientation and in correspondence with the locus associated with the second or third person. To illustrate, we show below the articulation of ix₂_person.

 

                         

            ix₂_person

            ‘Yourself’

           

For the sake of clarity, in the example below, we show the use of the reflexive pronoun ix₃_person in context.

 

 

 

            woman ix_a paint ix_3a_person

            ‘The woman is painting herself.’

 

For the reflexive reading to emerge, it is important that the pronoun ix_personis realised in the same locus of the antecedent, i.e. the locus associated with the pointing sign accompanying the body-anchored noun woman. If the two elements, pronoun and antecedent, are not produced in the same location in space, then a non-reflexive interpretation emerges (‘the girl is painting her/him’).

            The second strategy that can be used to convey reflexive meaning in LIS consists in a body-anchored reflexive pronoun, here glossed as self.

 

            

            self

            ‘Myself/yourself/himself/herself’

 

We show below the use of the reflexive pronoun self in context.

 

 

 

            ix_a woman paint self

            ‘The woman is painting herself.’

 

The reflexive pronoun, here glossed as self, is articulated with a V handshape performing a single or repeated movement toward the signer’s chest. Note that self does not change its phonological form depending on the person or number features. This is shown in the examples below: self is compatible with first-person (a), non-first person (b), and distributive plural referents (c).

 

 

 

            a.         ix₁ love self

            ‘I love myself.’

 

 

 

            b.         ix₃ love self

            ‘She loves herself.’

 

 

 

            c.         each paint self

            ‘Each of them is painting himself.’

 

The reflexive pronoun self cannot be used as emphatic pronoun to put emphasis on the relevant referent.

            Reciprocity, on the other hand, requires a plural referent (i.e. two or more entities). A reciprocal relation signals that the individuals in the relation are at the same time the agent and the undergoer of the action (e.g. ‘we visit each other’). When possible, in LIS, reciprocity is marked on the verb. For a discussion of reciprocal markers, see MORPHOLOGY 3.1.3. However, not all verbs behave alike: the class of plain verbs (LEXICON 3.2.1) shows particular articulatory restrictions and is not likely to mark reciprocity morphologically (SYNTAX 2.1.3.4). For this reason, these verbs can be combined with a reciprocal pronoun, here glossed as each_other. It is a two-handed sign realised with curved open L handshape and an alternating back-and-forth movement in the neutral space.

 

 

 

            ix₁₊₂ understand each_other

            ‘You and I understand each other.’