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Article published In:
Sign Language & Linguistics
Vol. 25:2 (2022) ► pp.163–204

Hong Kong Sign Language numerals

Interaction of syntactic processes and the movement-parameter

ORCID logo | The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Syntactic processes trigger changes in the movement-parameter of Hong Kong Sign Language (HKSL) numeral signs. Though HKSL cardinal numerals by default do not contain movement and are produced in neutral space, under specific circumstances, the movement-parameter can be altered from [∅] to specifications for both path- and hand-internal movement. This creates four types of numerals: (1) event numerals, (2) transfer numerals, (3) conjunction numerals, and (4) list numerals. I analyze the syntactic structures of these four numerals as follows: Firstly, event numerals quantify the number of times an event denoted by V has occurred and in syntax the numeral is located in a FreqP in Spec,VP. Secondly, transfer numerals show transfer of ownership and are within the DP complement of V0. Thirdly, the conjunction numeral indicates that all items of a set are included and the numeral is located within ConjP. Finally, the list numeral is the head of a NumeP with a [list]-feature within DP.

Keywords: agreement, conjunction phrase, Hong Kong Sign Language, movement-parameter, numeral morphology, verbal classifiers
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Hong Kong Sign Language
    • 1.2HKSL numerals
    • 1.3Syntax of numerals
    • 1.4Hypothesis
    • 1.5Contents of this paper
  • 2.Methodology
  • 3.Event numerals
    • 3.1Event numeral interpretation
    • 3.2Quantification of verbal events
    • 3.3FreqP in Spec,VP
  • 4.Transfer numerals
    • 4.1Transfer numeral interpretation
    • 4.2Spatial agreement
    • 4.3Complement to V0
  • 5.Conjunction numerals
    • 5.1Conjunction numeral interpretation
    • 5.2Inside ConjP
  • 6.List numerals
    • 6.1List numeral interpretation
    • 6.2[list]-feature on Nume0
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Note
  • References
Published online: 30 September 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.21007.koe
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