czwartek, 2 grudnia 2010

Class notes for December 2, 2010 (Intro to ASL syntax)

Here are the notes for today.

There will be another version below the jump (click where it says czytaj więcej) but spacing and typographical issues may make it hard to see right.





 ME STUDY #S-Y-N-T-A-X HIT WOW HARD: Introduction to syntax in Sign Languages

transliteration conventions  First person – ME, MY, MYSELF

Non-first person
handshape – function
d               G - absolute             
b               B – possessive
aP           Å - ('reflexive')        
                                                   
locations
C  (first person (chest))
R (non-first person to the right)
L (non-first person to the left)
F (non-first person in front)
Ø (neutral space)

                                  
definitions
absolute:
'reflexive' : actually an emphatic and not a true reflexive, best translated as I myself ( ja sam in Polish )

Terminology

Subject – Noun phrase acting as grammatical subject
Object – Noun phrase acting as grammatical object
Predicate – Verb phrase

Basic features

S                P                   O

ME            HAVE          BOOK                                            I have a book.


Modifiers occur either before or after Heads

RED BOX                                       BOX RED                               red box

MY MOTHER               MOTHER MY                               my mother

Non-first person pronouns may be Modifiers

MAN G-R                      G-R MAN                                      that man, the man he...

G-L WOMAN HAVE MY BOOK G-L                              That woman has my book.

A reduced version of the third person pronoun produced in neutral space in which the direction of movement isn't important can function somewhat like a definite article.

G-Ø WOMAN HAVE MY BOOK                                                 The woman (mentioned previously) has my book.




Time adverbials include:

NOW, NOW-NOW (TODAY), RECENTLY, BEFORE, LONG-AGO, YESTERDAY,
AFTER-A-WHILE, WILL, LATER, FUTURE, TOMORROW

They are placed sentence initially or finally (before repeated/final pronoun)

YESTERDAY ME WORK ME.                                          I worked yesterday. I was working yesterday.

ME WORK YESTERDAY ME

Once a time adverbial is established, it applies to all verbs/predicates until a change is indicated with a new adverbial.

ME WILL SELL MY CAR,                                                 I'm going to sell my car,
"N ME NOT BUY NEW CAR,                                           I won't buy a new one,
ME WALK WORK ME.                                                      I'll walk to work.

YESTERDAY ME NOT WORK,                                        I didn't go to work yesterday,
TODAY ME WORK ME.                                                    I will today.

The perfective marker FINISH occurs directly before or after the verb.

ME FINISH SEE MOVIE.
                                                                                               I saw the movie.
ME SEE FINISH MOVIE.

Fronting objects is common with the topic marker "T_____ (eyebrows raised)

"T TEA  ME LIKE.                                                               I like tea.

"T G-R BOOK GIRL HAVE.                                              The girl has that book.         

Modal verbs CAN, SHOULD, MUST, MAYBE occur before the verb, at the end of the sentence (before final subject pronoun) or in both.

"T TELEPHONE-NUMBER WOMAN R-GIVE-ME SHOULD G-R                              The woman should
                                                                                                                                              give me the telephone
"T TELEPHONE-NUMBER WOMAN SHOULD R-GIVE-ME G-R                              number.

"T TELEPHONE-NUMBER WOMAN SHOULD R-GIVE-ME SHOULD G-R

Negative modals CAN'T, NOT-YET, REFUSE, NEVER must co-occur with "N__

"N ME DANCE CAN'T ME                                                I can't dance.

Numbers as modifiers appear before or after nouns with the palm facing the signer. (FOUR-in). MANY,
A-FEW, SEVERAL are also modifiers.

ME HAVE BOOK THREE-in                                             I have three books.

ME HAVE THREE-in BOOK




Numbers as time or age appear after the noun with the palm outward.

BREAKFAST TIME EIGHT-out                                        breakfast at eight o'clock

DAUGHTER G-L AGE THREE-out G-L                           His daughter is three years old.

Mass quantifiers SOME, A-LITTLE, PLENTY occur before a mass noun or at the end of the sentence

NONE occurs before a noun

"N ME SEE PEOPLE NONE ME                                       I didn't see anyone at all.

NONE may also become a suffix after a verb.

"N ME SEE~NONE ME                                                      I didn't see anything at all.

The meanings of this kind of construction are often unpredictable

TASTE~NONE                                                                     not (my) taste at all

NOTHING occurs after a verb.

"N ME SEE NOTHING ME                                                I don't see anything. I didn't see anything.


Sentence types

Sentence types are indicated by non-manual markers. That is facial expressions and head and shoulder movements.

Simple statements: have no special markers but often end with a head nod. Final repeated pronoun are obligatorily accompanied by a head nod (neither is noted here).


Yes/No questions are accompanied by "?___________ (eyebrows raised, head tilted forward)

"? G-L MAN LIKE WORK G-l                                           Does he like work? Does he like his job?

"? G-F REMEMBER MY NAME G-F                                Do you remember my name?


Affirmative answers to yes/no questions are accompanied by "Y____________ (head nod throughout answer)

"? G-F REMEMBER MY NAME G-F

"Y YES, ME REMEMBER ME


Negative statements must be accompanied by "N__________, (eyebrows are furrowed with a headshake)
no other overt negative marker is required

"N ME REMEMBER GIRL ME                                          I remember that girl.



NOT may appear before P or at the end of sentence (before repeated pronoun)

"N ME NOT REMEMBER GIRL ME                                I don't remember that girl.

"N ME REMEMBER GIRL NOT ME

Some verbs have negative incorporation (the verb ends with an outward twisting motion) they must be accompanied by "N________ but NOT may not co-occur with these forms

"N ME KNOW-DON'T WOMAN ME                                I don't know that woman.

"N WANT-DON'T MONEY G-R                                        I don't want any money.


WH-questions are formed with the use of  "WH__________ (eyebrows furrowed, head tilted forward)
Often no particular wh-word will be in the sentence (though translations will supply them)

"WH B-R NAME                                                                  What's his/her name?

"WH BATHROOM                                                              Where's the bathroom?

WH-words like WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, WHICH, HOW, FOR-FOR, HOW-MANY, HOW-MUCH may also be used sentence initially, sentence finally or repeated.

"WH HOW G-F KNOW                                                      How do you know?

"WH BUY NEW CAR WHO                                              Who bought a new car?

"WH WHERE MY CAR WHERE                                      Where is my car?


Negative questions must be accompanied by "?N________________

"?N G-F EAT G-F                                                                 You're not eating?

"?N G-R TIRED G-R                                                           Aren't you tired?


Imperatives are accompanied by "!__________, subject pronouns are usually omitted

"N NOT LIKE ME, "! STOP-IT                                           I don't like that. Stop it!


"T PICTURE, "! G-F-SHOW-ME                                        Show me that picture!


Combining sentences

FINISH is used as a conjunction like 'then' to link verbs in a time sequence.

ME DRIVE-R SEND FINISH R-DRIVE-L                       I drove there and sent a letter then drove
FOOD STORE BUY FINISH L-DRIVE-T HOME.          to the grocery store, shopped then drove home.



The verbs WANT, WANT-DON'T, KNOW, KNOW-DON'T, LIKE, LIKE-DON'T KNOW-IT FEEL, DECIDE, HOPE, SEE DOUBT and TEND can be preceded by a topicalized clause.

"T G-L AGAIN LATE, "Y ME KNOW-IT                         I know he's late again.

Topicalized sentences can also be used with a conditional meaning, the signs SUPPOSE or #IF are optional.

"T TOMORROW SNOW, ME STAY HOME.                   If it snows tomorrow I'll stay home.

"T AIRPLANE LATE, ME MAD ME.                                If the plane is late, I'll be mad.

Rhetorical questions (clefts) include a WH-word but with "?___________

SISTER GO-THERE COLLEGE                                        My sister went to college, where? Gallaudet. /
"? WHERE GALLAUDET.                                                 Gallaudet is where my sister went to college.

A restrictive relative clause can also be indicated by "T_________ or

"R____________ (eyebrows raised, upper lip raised)

"R WOMAN FORGET PURSE                                           The woman who forgot her purse
GO-THERE SEARCH.                                                        went there to look for it.


Some verbs can be used as conjunctions, with specific meanings

WRONG – without warning, suddenly
FRUSTRATE – malefactory (to the subject of the sentence preceding FRUSTRATE)
HIT – unexpectedly turn out that
FIND – find out that
HAPPEN – happen that, turn out that

ME WALK WRONG RAIN.                                               I was walking when it suddenly started raining.

I DRIVE-R FRUSTRATE G-R NOT HOME.                    I drove there, but unfortunately she wasn't home.

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