A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

Comparatives correlatives are bi-clausal constructions as exemplified below.

 

 

 

                               sq           sq

                               re            re

         a.            run++ sweat++

         ‘The more you run, the more you sweat.’ (recreated from Geraci, 2007: 52)

 

 

 

                                          re

                                          sq

         b.            run++ sweat most

         ‘The more you run, the more you sweat.’ (adapted from Geraci, 2007: 52)

 

LIS signers can use two constructions to express the meaning of a comparative correlative. The first one is symmetrical, as shown in (a) above, the other is asymmetrical, as shown in (b) above. In both cases, the verb of the first clause (run) is reduplicated. The two options differ in that the verb of the second clause (sweat) is reduplicated only in (a), while in (b) a marker of quantity, corresponding to the English ‘more’, appears post-verbally. In both (a) and (b) are present special non-manuals: squint eyes and raised eyebrows. These non-manuals are spread differently in the two variants: in (a) they equally spread over the two clauses, while in (b) they only spread on the first clause. Finally, in (a) both clauses are possible in isolation, while in (b) only the second clause is possible in isolation.

         Despite their possible symmetric structure, the two clauses are not reversible: if the order of the two clauses is reversed, the meaning is not preserved.

         Comparative correlatives in LIS are sensitive to the type of predicate or modifier involved in the construction. The following examples show this feature.

 

         a.            gianni run++ sweat++

         ‘The more Gianni runs, the more he sweats.’ (Geraci, 2007: 71)

 

         b.            gianni run continue_va_va++ sweat++

         ‘The longer Gianni runs, the more he sweats.’ (Geraci, 2007: 71)

 

         c.            sea deep_[prolonged] cold increase++

         ‘The deeper the sea, the colder the water.’ (Geraci, 2007: 71)

 

         d.            hair long_[prolonged] time dry more

         ‘The longer the hair, the more time to dry them.’ (Geraci, 2007: 71)

 

In LIS comparative correlatives, while atelic verbs trigger reduplication of the verb, like in (a) and (b) above, stative verbs yield a different verbal morphology, namely intensification, whereby the movement of the sign for the predicate or modifier is different from its citation form: it is articulated slower and the muscles are more tensed (c, d). In this, asymmetric variants behave like symmetric ones, as can be seen in (d): stative predicates do not show reduplication, but intensification.

         Wh-phrases, which typically occur at the end of the sentence (SYNTAX 1.2.3.5), appear in sentence-final position also in comparative correlatives, as shown in the following example.

 

         study++ learn less who

         ‘Who is such that, the more he studies the less he learns?’ (Geraci, 2007: 74)