The Catalan Sign Language (LSC) corpus of the Catalan Academy of Sciences and Humanities, which is under development, includes annotated data from three different age groups of signers, and allows for the study of microdiachronic change, namely language change across generations. In this… read more
This paper investigates the morpho-phonological differences between the members of related noun-verb pairs in Catalan Sign Language. Like parallel investigations in other sign languages, our experimental work provides evidence that the major differentiating factors between related nouns and… read more
Bringing together the areas of dynamic semantics and signed discourse, this article focuses on the dynamic potential of referring expressions, such as semantic and limb classifiers, and role shift constructions. On the basis of the Catalan Sign Language version of the Aesop’s fables, a qualitative… read more
This paper examines backgrounding strategies for human agents in Catalan Sign Language, that is, constructions featuring human agents that are non-referential. We identify and analyze four types of agent-backgrounding strategies: subjectless constructions, indefinite pronouns, the impersonal… read more
This article presents the first results of a pilot project aiming at analyzing how European sign languages realize a syntactic domain that is very solid, likely to be grammaticalized in any language but very poorly described or not described at all for sign languages: the imperative. Our… read more
Although certain facial nonmanual articulations in sign languages have been analyzed as overt markers of a syntactic domain or semantic scope, an alternative view defends that they genuinely signal prosodic domains. Moreover, they have been claimed to convey discrete general meanings. I address the… read more
In this paper we offer an overview of existing analyses of argument structure that sets the stage for further inquiry into this domain. The particular structure of the lexicon in sign languages (SLs) is introduced, with special attention to the agreement patterns found in lexical predicates, as… read more
The existing syntactic accounts of null arguments typically rely either on the specific licensing conditions for different types of empty categories such as pro and (topic-)bound variables, or else on different kinds of ellipsis. In trying to address the radical argument drop character of Catalan… read more