A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

LIS contains a full paradigm ofinterrogativesigns. Below, we provide a non-exhaustive list of wh-signs.

 

 

 

                            wh

         a.            what

 

 

 

                              wh

         b.            which

 

 

 

                           wh

         c.            who

 

 

 

                           wh

         d.            why

 

 

 

                                  wh

         e.            when(1)

 

 

 

                                   wh

         f.             when(2)

 

 

 

                               wh

         g.            where

 

 

 

                                wh

         h.            how(1)

 

 

 

                                wh

         i.             how(2)

 

 

 

                                      wh

         j.            how_many

 

Another sign commonly found in LIS interrogatives is the one glossed q_artichoke.

 

                  

         q_artichoke

 

The meaning of q_artichoke can be recovered by looking at its role in the sentence. For example, q_artichoke corresponds to the animate subject in the following sentence, so it is naturally translated by ‘who’.

 

 

 

                                                 wh

         A:           arrive q_artichoke

         B:           gianni

         ‘Who arrived?’ ‘Gianni.’

 

q_artichoke corresponds to the inanimate subject in the following sentence, so it is naturally translated by ‘what’.

 

 

 

 

                                                wh

         A:           happen q_artichoke

         B:           gianni CL(V): ‘fall’

         ‘What happened?’ ‘Gianni fell down.’

 

q_artichokecan play other grammatical roles, as in the following sentence.

 

                                              wh

         car poss₂ break q_artichoke

         ‘Where did your car break?’

 

Another way to single out the specific meaning of q_artichoke is to look at the mouthing it is associated to. q_artichokemay be co-articulated with some vowels or consonants present in the corresponding Italian wh-word. For example, in the following sentence the mouthing reproducing the consonant [p] present in the corresponding Italian wh- phrase perché (‘why’) is produced simultaneously with q_artichoke.

 

 

 

                                    wh

                                    [p]

         ix₂ leave q_artichoke

         ‘Why are you leaving?’

 

In the following sentence, the mouthing producing the sound [ku] present in the corresponding Italian wh-phrase quando (‘when’) is produced simultaneously with q_artichoke.

 

 

 

                                    wh

                                  [ku]

         ix₂ leave q_artichoke

         ‘When are you leaving?’