A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

The signing space may also be used to convey information at a discourse level. The signing space may cover several discourse functions: i) signalling a topic which is not at-issue and deviates from the main discourse, ii) marking contrast between two or more referents, or iii) realising temporal relationships.

         In the example below, the signing space is used to establish a main topic (a play at the theatre) and a secondary topic (the information about the play’s writer). Through lateral body leans, the signer associates the main topic with the contralateral area and the secondary topic with the ipsilateral area.

                                                                                                                bl-left                                                                                                              bl-right                                                      bl-left

         yesterday theatre ix_a title which d-o-n-g-i-o-v-a-n-n-i ix_a pe_b past writer who ix_b m-o-z-a-r-t ix_b period dead before ix_3b  theatre ix_a ix₁ see beautiful-int

         ‘Yesterday, the theatre presented the play ‘Don Giovanni’, the play was written by Mozart before he died, I looked at the play, which was very beautiful.’

Alternatives can be encoded in the signing space as well. This may be done by placing two options in different locations of the horizontal plane, as displayed in the example below.

         ix₂ buy or ix_a apple_a or window_b choose ix₂

         ‘You can choose to buy an Apple Mac or a Windows PC.’

The use of signing space may also convey temporal information (PRAGMATICS 8), such as the establishment of consequential events. The anaphoric time line, which is realised through space, follows an imaginary diagonal trajectory. Anaphoric temporal references are determined within the discourse and are expressed with respect to a point of reference marked along this line. In the sentence below, the point of reference is represented by the birth of the signer’s nephew, which is signed close to the signer’s body on the ipsilateral side. The move to Bologna realises a relation of posteriority and is expressed farther from the signer’s body on the contralateral side.

         nephew be_born ix₁ bologna move

         ‘After my nephew was born, I moved to Bologna.’