Article published in:
Impersonal human reference in Sign LanguagesEdited by Gemma Barberà and Patricia Cabredo Hofherr
[Sign Language & Linguistics 21:2] 2018
► pp. 284–306
R-impersonals in Hong Kong Sign Language
Felix Sze | The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Gladys Tang | The Chinese University of Hong Kong
This paper discusses R-impersonals in Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL). As evidenced in our questionnaire and
conversation data, R-impersonals in HKSL typically make use of null forms, the non-specific indefinite determiner (i.e.,
onedet-path
(someone)/onedet-path
(anyone)), distinguished by non-manual markers),
and, occasionally, the Chinese character sign human/person. HKSL does not show impersonal uses of personal pronouns
(e.g., they, you) which are commonly found in spoken languages. The nominal strategies are determined by the
contexts and the referential properties of the impersonal referents, and they differ in the use of space in representing the
impersonal referents in subsequent discourse. R-impersonal referents encoded by onedet-path
(someone)/onedet-path
(anyone) are associated with an area of the upper part of the ipsilateral side
of the signing space, but they can still be assigned to a specific locus if the subsequent discourse requires locative
information. Impersonal referents introduced by null forms or the Chinese character sign human/person are typically not
spatially anchored.
Keywords: Hong Kong Sign Language, R-impersonals, indefinite determiners, null arguments
Published online: 22 March 2019
https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.00021.sze
https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.00021.sze
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