A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

Pronouns are linguistic elements which can express co-reference (LEXICON 3.7). Co-reference occurs when two or more expressions refer to the same entity. Co-referential elements are usually composed of a full form, namely the antecedent, such as a noun, and an abbreviated form, which is the anaphoric element, for example a pronoun. Indeed, pronominal expressions are the main means of expressing co-reference in LIS. Referents are associated with certain areas in signing space, called referential loci. Pointing to a specific area in space activates the referents associated with this area. For instance, in the sentence below the referent bear is associated with locus a. Several sentences later, the signer can use the same locus a in order to refer back to the bear.

 

         bear ix_a fear […] ix_3a run away

         ‘The bear was scared […] He ran away.'

 

LIS seems to distinguish between different types of pronouns: reflexive pronouns, personal pronouns, possessive pronoun, the anaphoric pronoun pe and logophoric pronouns (LEXICON 3.7). In LIS, the differences between the types of pronouns can decide which kind of co-referentiality they bear. Specifically, reflexive pronouns appear to express co-reference between discourse referents within one clause. Other types of pronouns, like personal pronouns and possessive pronouns, behave differently and can express co-reference with discourse referents also outside the boundaries of the clause where they are placed, or in a non-local domain.

         As for reflexive pronouns, in the example below the two co-referential elements are the noun phrase maria and the reflexive pronoun self. Since the meaning of self depends on the meaning of maria, we will say that self is bound by maria.

 

 

 

         maria love self

         ‘Maria loves himself.’

 

The sign self can also be used in other contexts as an emphatic form of intensification, as shown in the example below. In cases like this, self is not really used to refer back to the personal pronoun ‘I’ (ix₁), but to communicate the idea of performing the action in an independent way.

 

 

 

         ix₁ pay self

         ‘I have paid by myself.’

 

As said before, reflexive pronouns must take their antecedent in their clause, a local context. Another example of a reflexive pronoun locally bound by its antecedent is presented below, where the reflexive pronoun self can only refer to the proper name maria.

 

 

 

         gianni report maria_a ix_a love only self

         ‘Gianni said that Maria loves only herself.’

 

There are situations when co-reference can also occur between a quantifier (LEXICON 3.10.2) and an anaphoric pronoun, such as in the examples below. In this case, since the reflexive pronoun self refers to the quantifier expression young each, the reflexive pronoun is semantically bound by the quantifier, and not simply co-referential with it. This special relation is defined ‘semantically bound’. Indeed, since the expression young each is a quantifier, it is not possible to say that young each has a specific referential pronoun.

 

 

 

         young each paint only self

         ‘Every young boy paints himself only.’

 

As anticipated before, other types of pronouns are personal pronouns and possessive pronouns. Unlike reflexive pronouns, personal and possessive pronouns behave differently. They seem to express co-reference with discourse referents which are not contained into the boundaries of the clause or into their local domain. As for personal pronouns (LEXICON 3.7.2), they are usually expressed by pointing signs, or by other means which will be discussed in the following paragraphs. An example of personal pronoun is shown below, where the third person pronoun ix_3b refers to an entity which is not locally expressed. This is the reason why marco and ix_3b are not co-indexed. Different entities which are not co-referential are indicated in the glosses with different indices, in this case with a and b respectively. In LIS, non-coreferential items are realised in different loci of the signing space.

 

 

 

         marco_a ix_{3b 3a}help_3b

         ‘Marco helps her.’

 

As shown above, in LIS co-referentiality is spatially expressed (PRAGMATICS 8). Co-referential elements are localised in the same area (as gianni and the personal pronoun ix₃ in the example below). Furthermore, the anaphoric element (which in the example below is the pronouns ix₃) can be expressed through pointing in the same area of the antecedent (in this case gianni), as in the example below. Unlike spoken languages, sign languages can resort to this spatial strategy of co-referentiality to avoid any ambiguous interpretation.

 

 

 

 

         gianni_a piero_{b a}see_b. ix_3a house go_away

         ‘Gianni saw Piero. Then he went home.’

 

The personal pronoun ix₃ clearly refers back to Gianni and not to Piero, because it is realised in the same locus of the signing space of Gianni, indicated with a in the example above.

         However, this explicit co-reference can be avoided, if there is overt verbal agreement (MORPHOLOGY 3.1), as in the example below. Here, the co-reference with lucia is yielded by the agreement of the verb hate, which is a directional verb. These cases will be further discussed in the next section.

 

 

 

         lucia_a marco_b ix_b ix_3a love_b. ix_{3b b}hate_a 

         ‘Lucia loves Marco. He hates her.’

 

Possessive pronouns, like personal pronouns, in LIS also refer to entities which are not expressed in their local domain or within the boundaries of the clause. This case is shown in the example below, where the possessive pronoun poss₃ (realised with the handshape unspread 5)refers to the proper noun gianni, because both (the antecedent gianni and the possessive pronoun poss₃) are articulated in the same referential locus, namely the signing space a.

 

 

 

         gianni_a know mario_b ix_b like love cat poss(5)_3a

         ‘Gianni knows that Mario loves his (Gianni’s) cat.’

 

Variant forms of the possessive pronoun above are the forms realised with handshape G and wrist pivoting from radial to ulnar, as in (a), or without wrist rotation, as in (b).

 

 

 

         a.            gianni_a know ix_b mario_b love like cat poss(G)_[pivoting]3a

         ‘Gianni knows that Mario loves his (Gianni’s) cat.’

 

 

 

         b.            gianni_a know ix_b mario_b love like cat poss(G)_{[non-pivoting]3a}

         ‘Gianni knows that Mario loves his (Gianni’s) cat.’

 

Other tests exist to illustrate the difference between possessive and reflexive pronouns, one of these tests is the ellipsis of the verbal phrase (SYNTAX 2.5), as shown in the sentences below. In the example below, the unpronounced reflexive pronoun in the clause with ellipsis (self) can only refer to the nearest antecedent (gianni). The sentence means: ‘Maria loves herself and Gianni loves himself’.

 

 

 

         maria_a love self. gianni_b identical

         ‘Maria loves herself, Gianni does so too.’

 

By contrast, the possessive pronoun, shown below, is more flexible in its interpretation since the unpronounced possessive pronoun (poss₃) in the clause with ellipsis (identical) can refer either to maria, or to gianni, even if gianni is the closest antecedent. Thus, the sentence can have two meanings reported below.

 

 

 

         maria_a cat poss_3a love_a. ix_b gianni_b identical

         ‘Maria loves her cat, Gianni does too (love her cat).’

         ‘Maria loves her cat, Gianni does too (love his cat).’

 

A specific case of anaphoric pronoun in LIS is represented by pe (LEXICON 3.7 and SYNTAX 3.4.2.1). pe is a pointer to the noun which is modified by a relative clause, as in the example below.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                         rel

         book_a ix(dem)_a maria loan CL(flat open 5): ‘give_book’ pe_a disappear

         ‘The book that Maria lent has disappeared.’

 

Finally, an interesting case of co-referentiality in LIS concerns the logophoricity of first personal and possessive pronouns under role shift (LEXICON 3.7.2.7) (PRAGMATICS 6). In LIS, after a character has been introduced, the signer can assume the point of view of this character, for example by moving his/her body towards the position in space associated to that character. In these cases, even though the signer points to himself, curiously, the pronoun co-refers with the previously introduced character, and it does not refer to the real signer anymore. The use of first personal pronoun ix₁ which is signed in combination with the use of role shift is shown in the example below.

 

 

 

                                                     rs

         maria know ix₁ intelligent            

         ‘Maria knows that she is smart.’

        

In the example above, the point of view of the referent maria is assumed by the signer, through role shift. Therefore, the first personal pronoun ix₃ does not refer to the signer anymore, but it refers to maria. The crucial element in the case of role shift is that the signer loses eye contact with the addressee.