5.1.2. Bodypart classifiers
In LIS, entities can be denoted considering only one part, for instance a part of the body. As entity classifiers, bodypart classifiers can express the motion and location of the referent. However, they form unergative predicates. The present section provides a list of handshapes functioning as bodypart classifiers in LIS, which are collected in the table belo
Table: List of handshapes that can appear in bodypart classifiers in LIS
Unspread 5 denotes human’s feet.
thread CL(unspread 5): ‘feet_walk’
‘A person walking on a rope.’
Closed 5 refers to the head of human referents (a), or it can denote animals of big dimensions (elephants, rhinoceros) by referring to their paws (b). In such instances, it is articulated with both hands moving alternatively and oriented downward.
a. dom: key fall ix1 table ix1 take ix CL(closed 5): ‘head_slam’a
n-dom: fall table CL(unspread 5): ‘table’a------------------
‘I slammed the head against the table while picking up the keys which were fallen.’
b. elephant CL(closed 5):‘elephant_walk’
‘An elephant is walking.’
F usually denotes eyes of human referents.
noise ix1 CL(F): ‘eyes_look_at’
‘I heard a noise and I looked in that direction.’
Unspread curved open 5 can be employed as classifier for the mouth to convey, for instance, surprise or astonishment, as in the example below.
CL(unspread curved open 5): ‘astonished’
‘I am astonished.’
Handshape V, oriented downward, is usually employed to denote humans by referring to their legs. It can be used to describe a person walking, the two fingers move alternatively as legs do. It can incorporate a peculiar movement (zig-zag, straight, circle) to convey the way and the direction of the walking, as in (a). It can also be employed to denote a person lying in bed, as in (b).
a. child CL(V): ‘child_walk’
‘The child is walking.’
b. dom: CL(V): ‘person_lie’
n-dom: CL(unspread 5): ‘bed’
‘A person lying in bed.’
In the same vein, handshape G can denote a person walking by referring to the legs. It can be used when the signer wants to emphasize the way in which the person walks. It is articulated with both hands moving alternatively and oriented downward. The movement reflects the steps while walking.
child CL(G): ‘leg_walk’
‘The child is walking.’
Curved open V denotes a sitting or kneeling person while referring to the bent legs, or it denotes small animals in general. In the example below, the two hands refer to two different human referents who are sitting at a table: the dominant hand (left hand) indicates a man sitting at one side of the table, whereas the non-dominant hand (right hand) designates a child sitting at the opposite side. The classifier referring to the child is further marked by diminutive non-manuals consisting of squinted eyes and tongue protrusion (MORPHOLOGY 2.2.1).
tp
dom: man child CL(curved open V): ‘man_sit’------------------------------------------
n-dom: CL(curved open V): ‘child_sit’a
‘The man and the child are sitting (at the table).’
Handshape 3 is usually employed to denote chickens, ducks or frogs, referring to their paws. It is articulated with both hands moving alternatively and oriented downward.
chicken CL(3): ‘chicken_walk’
‘A chicken is walking.’
Flat closed 5 is usually employed to convey the walking of animals of small dimensions (dogs, cats, foxes) referring to their paws. It is articulated with both hands moving alternatively and oriented downward.
dog CL(flat closed 5): ‘dog_walk’
‘A dog is walking.’
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