A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

Proximity, either temporal or spatial, can be marked in LIS by means of non-manuals alone.

Temporal proximity is conveyed through squinted eyes (sq) and slightly grinding teeth (gt) modifying the sign recently, conveying that something happened just few seconds before. This is illustrated below.

                         sq

                         gt

         recently

On the other hand, spatial proximity is conveyed through tongue protrusion (tp), often at the corner of the mouth, which can occur with indexical signs conveying the position of the entity. In the example below, we see that the non-manual marker for proximity occurs with the indexical sign articulated with the dominant hand, to indicate that there is another door very close to the other identified with the classifier articulated with the non-dominant hand.

                                                                                                        tp

         dom:    door                                     another ix(loc)_a

         n-dom:         CL(unspread 5): ‘door_be_located’_b---

         ‘That door is next to the other (door).’