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- Volume 13, Issue, 2010
Sign Language & Linguistics - Volume 13, Issue 1, 2010
Volume 13, Issue 1, 2010
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The interaction of eye blinks and other prosodic cues in German Sign Language
Author(s): Annika Herrmannpp.: 3–39 (37)More LessAs an interface phenomenon, prosody interacts with all components of grammar, even though it is often subsumed under the broad area of phonology. In sign languages, an equivalent system of prosody reveals interesting results with regard to modality-independent notions of language structure. This paper presents data from a study on German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache, DGS) and investigates prosodic cues on the basis of annotated video data. The focus of the study was on eye blinks and their use in prosodic structuring of signed utterances. Systematic methodology, annotation, and statistical evidence provided the basis for a thorough analysis of blinking behavior in DGS. The results suggest a consistent use of certain eye blinks as markers to indicate prosodic phrase boundaries. A constant 70%/30% ratio of prosodic and non-prosodic blinks further indicates the efficient use of this device. Even though some aspects of blinking are subject to inter-signer variation, the prosodic use of blinks is intriguingly similar across signers. However, blinks are not obligatory boundary markers in DGS. I propose an analysis that takes into account various factors such as syntactic constituency, prosodic structuring, and particularly the interplay of various nonmanuals such as eye gaze, head nods, and facial expressions. The fine-grained distinction of blinks resulting from a modified categorization for eye blinks and additional statistical computations give insight into how visual languages realize phrase boundaries and prosodic marking and to what extent they use the system consistently.
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Expressions of causation in Danish Sign Language
Author(s): Elisabeth Engberg-Pedersenpp.: 40–67 (28)More LessThe paper presents lexical and syntactic means of expressing causation in Danish Sign Language (DTS). Labile verbs are verbs that can be used both intransitively with an inchoative meaning and transitively with a causative meaning without a change in form and irrespective of the type of classifier predicate that they may relate to. Labile verbs in DTS denote common, well-known types of events, often of direct causation. DTS also has a syntactic causative construction with a general causative verb arbejde ‘make, do’ followed by a stative verb denoting the resulting state. forandre ‘change’ can also be used to express causation, but with a more specific meaning than arbejde and also followed by dynamic verbs. In narrative style signers describe sequences of events without explicitly coding any causal relation between the events. The causal relation is left to pragmatic inference in accordance with the narrative style’s emphasis on vivid representation rather than explanation.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 27 (2024)
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Volume 26 (2023)
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Volume 25 (2022)
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Volume 24 (2021)
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Volume 23 (2020)
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Volume 22 (2019)
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Volume 21 (2018)
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Volume 20 (2017)
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Volume 19 (2016)
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Volume 18 (2015)
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Volume 17 (2014)
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Volume 16 (2013)
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Volume 15 (2012)
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Volume 14 (2011)
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Volume 13 (2010)
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Volume 12 (2009)
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Volume 11 (2008)
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Volume 10 (2007)
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Volume 9 (2006)
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Volume 8 (2005)
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Volume 7 (2004)
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Volume 6 (2003)
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Volume 5 (2002)
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Volume 4 (2001)
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Volume 3 (2000)
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Volume 2 (1999)
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Volume 1 (1998)
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Rethinking constructed action
Author(s): Kearsy Cormier, Sandra Smith and Zed Sevcikova-Sehyr
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The ASL lexicon
Author(s): Carol A. Padden
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