A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

As anticipated previously (SYNTAX 2.6.2.1), the functions of pronoun copying are not fully related to syntax, but they seem to be correlated with various pragmatic functions, in particular with specific emphatic expressions (PRAGMATICS 4.2), as in the example below.

 

 

 

          gianni_a ix_a report done ix_3a

         ‘Gianni said these words, he did.’

 

Further pragmatic functions which are conveyed by pronoun copying are focus (PRAGMATICS 4.1) and topics (PRAGMATICS 4.2). The examples below present respectively pronoun copying referring to the corrective focus expressions cat in (a) and pronoun copying which refers to the topic mouse in (b), and is defined as topic agreement.

 

 

 

                           foc

         a.            dog_a not cat_b mouse_{c 3b}CL(spread curved open 5): ‘eat’_3c done ix_3b

         ‘It is the cat who ate the mouse, not the dog, he(the cat)!’

 

 

 

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         b.            mouse_a cat_b 3bCL(spread curved open 5): ‘eat’_3a done ix_3a

         ‘As for the mouse, the cat ate it.’

 

One of the most common pragmatic functions conveyed by pronoun copying seems to be topic agreement. Indeed, topic pronoun copying can also be considered a familiar topic occurrence, since it most commonly has the function of further specifying some information already shared between the signer and his/her interlocutor.

 

 

 

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         mother ix_a cook always for ix_1pl ix_3a

         ‘(Our) mother, she always cooks for us, she.’