Squibs
A negation-tense interaction in Georgian Sign Language
We describe an intriguing interaction of negation and tense in Georgian Sign Language (GESL), a sign language which to date has
received close to no attention by linguists. GESL verbs that employ an irregular negation strategy in the present tense (modal
verbs and the verb know) require double marking in the past tense, i.e. the irregular negative form combines with the
negative particle not, which is not used in the present and future tense with these verbs. The GESL data thus provide us with direct
evidence for an active contribution of the feature tense in the grammar of GESL – in contrast to most other sign languages
previously studied. We also offer a cross-linguistic perspective on the data by discussing instances of Negative Concord reported
for various sign languages as well as tense-negation interactions attested in spoken languages.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Negation in Georgian Sign Language
- 3.Interaction of negation and tense
- 4.Cross-linguistic perspective
- 4.1Negative Concord in sign languages
- 4.2Interaction of negation and tense
- 5.Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- Notes
-
References
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Cited by (3)
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2022.
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Almeida, Luiz Gustavo Paulino de & André Nogueira Xavier
2021.
A negação nas línguas sinalizadas.
Revista da ABRALIN ► pp. 1 ff.
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