In LIS, a preference for the omission of the indefinite article has been detected in younger signers. Instead of the manual sign one, young signers are used to indicate the indefiniteness of a noun phrase by means of non-manual markings. The most common non-manuals are backward tilted head and mouth corners down, as shown in the example repeated below.
indef
today skier ix1 see CL(curved open V): ‘zig_zag_ski’
‘Today, I saw a skier skiing with a zig-zag pattern.’
Chiara Branchini & Lara Mantovan
© 2020 Chiara Branchini, Chiara Calderone, Carlo Cecchetto, Alessandra Checchetto, Elena Fornasiero, Lara Mantovan & Mirko Santoro
The entire grammar:
Branchini, Chiara and Lara Mantovan (eds.). 2020. A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS). 1st ed. (SIGN-HUB Sign Language Grammar Series). (http://sign-hub.eu/grammars/...) (Accessed 31-10-2021)
A Chapter:
Smith, Mary. 2020. Syntax: 3. Coordination and Subordination. In Branchini, Chiara and Lara Mantovan (eds.), A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS). 1st ed. (SIGN-HUB Sign Language Grammar Series), 230-237. ((http://sign-hub.eu/grammars/...) (Accessed 31-10-2021)
A Section:
Smith, Mary. 2020. Phonology: 1.1.1.2. Finger configuration. In Mary, Smith, Ben Smith and Carlo Smith (eds.), A Grammar of Catalan Sign Language (LSC). 1st ed. (SIGN-HUB Sign Language Grammar Series), 230-237. (http://sign-hub.eu/grammars/...) (Accessed 31-10-2021)
Smith, Mary. 2020. Syntax: 3.1.2.1.3. Manual markers in disjunctive coordination. In Mary, Smith, Ben Smith and Carlo Smith (eds.), A Grammar of Catalan Sign Language (LSC). 1st edn. (SIGN-HUB Sign Language Grammar Series), 230-237. (http://sign-hub.eu/grammars/...) (Accessed 31-10-2021)
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant Agreement No 693349.