Unlike most spoken languages, German Sign Language (DGS) does not have a single means of reciprocal marking. Rather, different strategies are used, which crucially depend on phonological (one-handed sign vs. two-handed sign) and morphosyntactic (plain verb vs. agreement verb) properties of the underlying verb. Moreover, with plain verbs DGS shows dialectal variation. Altogether there are four different ways of realizing reciprocal marking in DGS. In this paper, we compare a rule-based analysis for the reciprocal data (based on Brentari’s 1998 feature hierarchy) to an optimality-theoretic analysis. We argue that an OT-account allows for a more straightforward explanation of the facts. In particular, we show that the different strategies as well as the variation can be accounted for by the interaction of four, independently motivated constraints.
Brentari, Diane, Susan Goldin-Meadow, Laura Horton, Ann Senghas & Marie Coppola
2024. The organization of verb meaning in Lengua de Señas Nicaragüense (LSN): Sequential or simultaneous structures?. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 9:1
2016. Modality and meaning: Plurality of relations in German Sign Language. Lingua 170 ► pp. 69 ff.
Pfau, Roland & Markus Steinbach
2023. Morphology in Sign Languages. In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Morphology, ► pp. 1 ff.
Steinbach, Markus
2011. What do agreement auxiliaries reveal about the grammar of sign language agreement?. Theoretical Linguistics 37:3-4
Steinbach, Markus & Edgar Onea
2016. A DRT Analysis of Discourse Referents and Anaphora Resolution in Sign Language. Journal of Semantics 33:3 ► pp. 409 ff.
van Boven, Cindy, Silke Hamann & Roland Pfau
2023. Nominal plurals in Sign Language of the Netherlands: Accounting for allomorphy and variation. Glossa: a journal of general linguistics 8:1
Wienholz, Anne, Derya Nuhbalaoglu, Nivedita Mani, Annika Herrmann, Edgar Onea, Markus Steinbach & Philip Allen
2018. Pointing to the right side? An ERP study on anaphora resolution in German Sign Language. PLOS ONE 13:9 ► pp. e0204223 ff.
Östling, Robert, Carl Börstell & Servane Courtaux
2018. Visual Iconicity Across Sign Languages: Large-Scale Automated Video Analysis of Iconic Articulators and Locations. Frontiers in Psychology 9
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 june 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.