Special issue articles
R-impersonals in Hong Kong Sign Language
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.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Research questions and methodology
- 3.Findings
- 3.1Findings of the questionnaire data
- 3.1.1Existential plus episodic contexts
- 3.1.2Existential contexts that are generic or involve a generalizing/habitual predication
- 3.1.3Universals
- 3.1.4Others
- 3.2Findings of the conversation data
- 4.Use of space in impersonal constructions
- 5.Discussion and conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
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Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
Rissman, Lilia, Laura Horton, Molly Flaherty, Ann Senghas, Marie Coppola, Diane Brentari & Susan Goldin-Meadow
2020.
The communicative importance of agent-backgrounding: Evidence from homesign and Nicaraguan Sign Language.
Cognition 203
► pp. 104332 ff.
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