Cover not available
Part of
Advances in Sign Language Corpus Linguistics
Edited by Ella Wehrmeyer
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 108] 2023
► pp. 155–191

Chapter 6
Verb classes in South African Sign Language

A corpus-driven approach

| North-West University

This chapter presents a pioneer exploration of verb categories in South African Sign Language (SASL), using a corpus of authentic naturalistic narrative data. The paucity of linguistic descriptions of SASL meant that a theoretical basis for the study was derived using models developed for other sign languages, in particular those of Padden (1986, 1988, 1990), Johnston (1991), and De Beuzeville et al. (2009). The study also sought to explore whether verb classes can be distinguished in terms of gaze, head turns, body turns, location shift, nature of movement, emotive facial expressions, and explicitation of arguments, and how these parameters change during role-shift. The study finds that De Beuzeville et al.’s (2009) categorization provides the closest description for SASL verbs, but with a split in their ‘directional verbs’ category into agreement and motion verbs. A typology for SASL verbs is proposed and reflected upon in terms of teaching objectives.

Keywords: South African Sign Language, verb classes, plain verbs, agreement verbs, verbs of motion, depicting verbs, corpus-driven research
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Padden’s verb typology
  • 3.Alternative verb typologies
  • 4.Other properties associated with verbs
  • 5.Method
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Plain verbs
    • 6.2Agreement verbs
    • 6.3Verbs of motion
    • 6.4Depicting verbs
  • 7.Discussion
  • 8.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 3 April 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.108.06weh
References
Aarons, Debra & Akach, Philemon
2002 South African Sign Language: One language or many? In Language in South Africa, Rajend Mesthrie (ed.), 127–147. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Akach, Philemon
1997 The grammar of sign language. Language Matters 28: 7–35. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bahan, Benjamin, Kegl, Judy, Lee, Robert G., MacLaughlin, Dawn & Neidle, Carol
2000 The licensing of null agreements in American Sign Language. Linguistic Inquiry 31(1): 1–27. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baker-Schenk, Charlotte & Cokely, Dennis
1981 American Sign Language. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar
Barberà, Gemma
2014 Use and function of spatial planes in Catalan Sign Language (LSC) discourse. Sign Language Studies 14: 147–74. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cormier, Kearsy, Fenlon, Jordon & Schembri, Adam
2015 Indicating verbs in BSL favour motivated use of space. Open Linguistics 10: 684–707. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Costello, Brendan
2016 Language and Modality: Effects of the Use of Space in the Agreement System of Lengua de Signos Española (Spanish Sign Language). PhD dissertation, University of Amsterdam and University of the Basque Country. [URL] (30 June 2022). DOI logo
Crasborn, Onno & Sloetjies, Han
2008 Enhanced ELAN functionality for sign language corpora. In Proceedings of the 3rd Workshop on the Representation and Processing of Sign Languages: Construction and Exploitation of Sign Language Corpora (LREC 2008), Onno Crasborn, Thomas Hanke, Eleni Efthimiou, Inge Zwitserlood & Ernst Thoutenhoofd (eds), 39–43. Paris: ELRA. [URL] (27 March 2022).
De Beuzeville, Louise, Johnston, Trevor & Schembri, Adam
2009 The use of space with indicating verbs in Australian Sign Language: A corpus-based investigation. Sign Languages & Linguistics 12(1): 53–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Emmorey, Karen
1996 The confluence of space and language in signed languages. In Language and Space, Paul Bloom, Mary Peterson, Lynn Nadel & Merrill Garret (eds), 171–207. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Engberg-Pedersen, Elisabeth
1993 Space in Danish Sign Language. Hamburg: Signum Press.Google Scholar
2003 From pointing to reference and predication: Pointing signs, eyegaze, and head and body orientation in Danish Sign Language. In Pointing: Where Language, Culture and Cognition Meet, Sotara Kito (ed.), 269–92. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fenlon, Jordon, Schembri, Adam & Cormier, Kearsy
2018 Modification of indicating verbs in British Sign Language: A corpus-based study. Language 94(1): 84–118. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Geraci, Carlo
2012 Hands in space. On the grammatical use of space in sign languages. Paper presented at Sign Language Colloquium, Radboud University, Nijmegen.
Goswell, Delia
2011 Being there: Role shift in English to Auslan interpreting. In Signed Language Interpreting: Preparation, Practice and Performance, Lorraine Leeson, Svenja Wurm & Myriam Vermeerbergen (eds), 61–68. Manchester: St Jerome.Google Scholar
Herrmann, Annika & Steinbach, Markus
2012 Quotation in sign languages: A visible context shift. In Quotatives. Cross-Linguistic and Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives, Isabelle Buchstaller & Ingrid van Alphen (eds), 203–230. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hou, Lynn & Meier, Richard P.
2018 The morphology of first-person object forms of directional verbs in ASL. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics 3(1): 114. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Huddleston, Kate
2017 A preliminary look at negative constructions in South African Sign Language: Question-answer clauses. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics 48(1): 93–104.Google Scholar
2021 Negative and polar question-answer clauses in South African Sign Language. Sign Language & Linguistics 24(1): 63–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Janzen, Terry
2004 Space rotation, perspective shift, and verb morphology in ASL. Cognitive Linguistics 15: 149–174. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Johnston, Trevor
1991 Spatial syntax and spatial semantics in the inflection of signs for the marking of person and location in Auslan. International Journal of Sign Linguistics 2(1): 29–62.Google Scholar
2010 From archive to corpus: Transcription and annotation in the creation of signed language corpora. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics 15: 104–129. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2019 Auslan corpus annotation guidelines. [URL] (2 February 2022).
Kiingi, Kibuuka
2013 A classification of language signs. Luganda Scientific (February). [URL] (8 June 2022).
Koulidobrova, Elena
2017 Elide me bare: Null arguments in American Sign Language. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 35: 397–446. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leeson, Lorraine, & John Saeed
2012 Irish Sign Language: A Cognitive-Linguistic Account. Edinburgh: EUP.Google Scholar
Liddell, Scott K.
1990 Four functions of a locus: Re-examining the structure of space in ASL. In Sign language research: Theoretical issues, Ceil Lucas (ed.), 176–98. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar
Liddell, Scott
2000 Indicating verbs and pronouns: Pointing away from agreement. In The Signs of Language Revisited: An Anthology to Honor Ursula Bellugi and Edward Klima, Karen Emmorey & Harlan L. Lane (eds), 303–320. New York NY: Psychology Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2003 Grammar, Gesture and Meaning in American Sign Language. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2011 Agreement disagreements. Theoretical Linguistics 37: 161–172. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Liddell, Scott & Metzger, Melanie
1998 Gesture in sign language discourse. Journal of Pragmatics 30: 657–697. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lillo-Martin, Diane
1986 Two kinds of null arguments in American Sign Language. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 4: 415–444. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1991 Universal Grammar and American Sign Language: Setting the Null Parameters [Studies in Theoretical Psycholinguistics 13]. Dordrecht: Springer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2012 Utterance reports and constructed action. In Sign Language: An International Handbook, Roland Pfau, Markus Steinbach & Bencie Woll (eds), 365–387. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lillo-Martin, Diane & Meier, Richard P.
2011 On the linguistic status of ‘agreement’ in sign languages. Theoretical Linguistics 37(3–4): 95–141. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lutalo-Kiingi, Sam
2014 A Descriptive Grammar of Morphosyntactic Constructions in Ugandan Sign Language (UgSL). PhD dissertation, University of Central Lancashire.
McBurney, Susan
2002 Pronomial reference in signed and spoken language: Are grammatical categories modality-dependent? In Modality and Structure in Signed and Spoken Languages, Richard Meier, Kearsy Cormier & David Quinto-Pozos (eds), 329–369. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
McKee, Rachel, Schembri, Adam, McKee, David & Johnston, Trevor
2011 Variable subject presence in Australian Sign Language and New Zealand Sign Language. Language Variation and Change 23: 375–398. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meier, Richard P.
1990 Person deixis in ASL. In Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research, Vol. 1: Linguistics, Susan Fisher & Patricia Siple (eds), 175–190. Chicago IL: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
2002 The acquisition of verb agreement: Pointing out arguments for the linguistic status of verb agreement in sign languages. In Directions in Sign Language Acquisition [Trends in Language Acquisition Research 2], Gary Morgan & Bencie Woll (eds), 115–141. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meir, Irit
1998 Thematic Structure and Verb Agreement in Israeli Sign Language. PhD dissertation, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Meir, Irit, Padden, Carol, Aronoff, Mark & Sandler, Wendy
2007 Body as subject. Journal of Linguistics 43: 531–563. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Metzger, Melanie
1995 Constructed dialogue and constructed action in American Sign Language. In Sociolinguistics in Deaf Communities, Ceil Lucas (ed.), 255–271. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar
Neidle, Carol, Kegl, Judy, McLaughlin, Dawn, Bahan, Ben & Lee, Robert
2000 The Syntax of American Sign Language. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Oomen, Marloes & Kimmelman, Vadim
2019 Body anchored verbs and argument omission in sign languages. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics 4(1): 42. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Oomen, Marloes
2017 Iconicity in argument structure: Psych-verbs in Sign Language of the Netherlands. Sign Language and Linguistics 20(1): 55–108. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Padden, Carol
1986 Verbs and role shifting in American Sign Language. In Proceedings of the Fourth National Symposium on Sign Language Research and Teaching, Carol Padden (ed.), 44–57. Silver Springs MD: National Association of the Deaf.Google Scholar
1988 Interaction of Morphology and Syntax in American Sign Language. New York NY: Garland. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1990 The relation between space and grammar in ASL morphology. In Sign Language Research: Theoretical Issues, Ceil Lucas (ed.), 118–132. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar
Padden, Carol, Meir, Irit, Sandler, Wendy & Aronoff, Mark
2010 The grammar of space in two new sign languages. In Sign Languages [Cambridge Language Surveys], Diane Brentari (ed.), 570–592. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Penn, Claire
1992 The sociolinguistics of South African Sign Language. In Language and Society in Africa: The Theory and Practice of Sociolinguistics, Robert Herbert (ed.), 277–284. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.Google Scholar
Perniss, Pamela
2012 Use of sign space. In Sign Language: An International Handbook [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science], Roland Pfau, Markus Steinbach & Bencie Woll (eds), 412–431. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pfau, Roland & Quer, Joseph
2010 Non-manuals: Their prosodic and grammatical roles. In Sign Languages [Cambridge Language Surveys], Diane Brentari (ed.), 381–402. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Poizner, Howard, Klima, Edward, & Bellugi, Ursula
1987 What the Hands Reveal about the Brain. Cambridge MA: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Quer, Josep
2011 Reporting and quoting in signed discourse. In Understanding Quotation, Elke Brendel, Jörg Meibauer & Markus Steinbach (eds), 277–302. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sandler, Wendy & Lillo-Martin, Diane
2006 Sign Language and Linguistic Universals. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Supalla, Ted
1982 Structure and Acquisition of Verbs of Motion and Location in American Sign Language. PhD dissertation, University of California, San Diego.
Sutton-Spence, Rachel & Woll, Bencie
1999 The Linguistics of British Sign Language. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Thompson, Robin, Emmorey, Karen & Kluender, Robert
2006 The relationship between eye gaze and verb agreement in American Sign Language: An eye tracking study. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 24: 571–604. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2009 Learning to look: The acquisition of eye gaze agreement during the production of ASL verbs. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 12: 393–409. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wehrmeyer, Ella
2015 An annotation system for signed language interpreting corpora. Hermeneus 17: 279–317.Google Scholar
2019a Linguistic interference in interpreting from English to South African Sign Language. In English in Multilingual South Africa: The Linguistics of Contact and Change, Raymond Hickey (ed.), 371–393. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2019b A corpus for signed language interpreting research. Interpreting 21(1): 62–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wulf, Alyssa, Dudis, Paul, Bayley, Robert & Lucas, Ceil
2002 Variable subject presence in ASL narratives. Sign Language Studies 3(1): 54–76. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zeshan, Ulrike
2003 Indo-Pakistani Sign Language grammar: A typological outline. Sign Language Studies 3(2): 157–212. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zipf, George
1949 Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort. Cambridge MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar