A Grammar of Turkish Sign Language (TİD)

Some verbs in TİD have the same morphological form (see conversion, [Morphology – 2.1.2.1 & Morphology - 2.2.4.]) whether they are transitive or intransitive. Such verbs are known as labile verbs. break is such a verb in TİD. It indicates both the event in which someone breaks something or the event in which something breaks on its own.

 

h1: person_a               ıx_a                              pen                                                               break

h2:                                                                                                                                    break

“A person broke that pen.”

(Kayabaşı in progress)

 

h1: wood                 extend                        self                                                         break

h2:                            extend                                                                                        break

“The wood(en) stick broke by itself.”

(Kayabaşı in progress)

 

be_born and give_birth_to also show an intransitive-transitive labile alternation, i.e., without a morphological handshape change. In the sentence below, ‘a baby was born’. So, the sentence is intransitive.

 

elder_sister pregnant. baby born. world_a come_a. ix₁ aunt become.

‘My sister was pregnant. The baby was born. S/he came to this world. I became an aunt.’

(http://tidsozluk.net/en/Do%C4%9Fmak?d=0316)

 

The following sentence, on the other hand, is transitive, as it indicates the person giving birth to the baby.

 

ix₁ baby give_birth_to. mother become. very happy.

‘I gave birth to a baby. I became a mother. I am very happy.’

(http://tidsozluk.net/tr/Mutlu?d=0237)

 

One can have an argument structure alternation with a whole & entity-handling classifier handshape pair. These handshapes provide an unaccusative and a transitive argument structure, respectively. Below, the first instance of open is unaccusative since it is used with a whole entity classifier. The second instance of open is transitive since it is used with a grabbing handling classifier handshape.

 

h1: door                                       openCL(w):'open_the_door'

h2: door                                       openCL(w):'open_the_door'

“The door opened.”

 (Kayabaşı in progress)

 

h1: woman          door                              openCL(6):'open_the_door'             closeCL(6):'close_the_door'

h2:                                                               door         look

“The woman opened the door, looked inside and closed the door."

(Kayabaşı in progress)

 

One can also use a whole entity classifier and a contact handling classifier pair to sign a transitive-intransitive alternation. A contact handling classifier is a subtype of handling classifiers where an object is touched without grabbing.

 

h1: boy                        ball                             bounceCL(>):'bounce_the_ball'

h2:                               ball

“The boy is bouncing the ball.”

(Kayabaşı in progress)

 

h1: floor           ball                    red                                                bounceCL(?):'bouncing_ball'

h2: floor

“The red ball is bouncing on the floor.”

(Kayabaşı in progress)