A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

The pronoun copy phenomenon (SYNTAX 2.6) consists of a pronoun at the end of a sentence which relates to an argument of the sentence, as exemplified in the LIS sentence below where the final copy pronoun ix₃ refers to the subject cat.

 

 

 

         cat_a ix_a kibble like ix_3a

         ‘The cat likes the kibble, he.’

 

In LIS, the pronoun copy can be related to both the subject and the object of the clause (an example of object pronoun copy is presented below). From a pragmatic point of view, the pronoun copy can refer to constituents which fulfil different pragmatic functions, as, for example, focus or emphatic expressions, but it seems to mostly accompany topics (PRAGMATICS 4.2) as displayed by the sentence below.

 

 

 

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         mouse_a cat CL(spread curved open 5): ‘eat’ done ix_3a

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

 

In LIS complex sentences, composed of a main clause and a subordinate clause, the subordinate clause typically precedes the main clause. In this case, a pronoun copy of the main clause subject may appear at the end of the sentence, right after the main clause. The sentence below, an indirect declarative clause, demonstrates such a case where the pronoun copy ix₃ refers to mother, the subject of the main clause.

 

 

 

         m-a-r-i-a fruit eat most must mother_a say ix_3a

         ‘My mum said that Maria should eat more fruit, she (my mum).’

 

However, in object clauses (SYNTAX 3.3.2) the order between the subordinate and the main clause may be inverted, that is, the subordinate clause may follow the main clause, as shown below. In this case, if present, the pronoun copy refers to the subject of the subordinate clause.

 

 

 

         father remember ix_a sister_a adventure like ix_3a

         ‘My dad remembers that his sister likes adventures, she.’

 

In both complex sentences reported above, the indirect declarative clause and the object clause, the subject pronoun copy refers to the subject of the very last clause. For this reason, the pronoun copy strategy is not a diagnostic to discriminate between a main and a subordinate clause. However, while the pronoun copy can easily be found in complex sentences composed of a subordinate and a main clause, it is very rarely employed when main sentences are coordinated (SYNTAX 2.6.1), as shown in the example below, where no pronoun copy is used.

 

 

 

         mother_a ix_achocolate_a white adore_a ix_b father black_b

         ‘My mother likes the white chocolate and my father likes the dark one.’