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In this paper, we present a comparative study of mouth actions in three European sign languages: British Sign Language (BSL), Nederlandse Gebarentaal (Sign Language of the Netherlands, NGT), and Swedish Sign Language (SSL). We propose a typology for, and report the frequency distribution of, the different types of mouth actions observed. In accordance with previous studies, we find the three languages remarkably similar — both in the types of mouth actions they use, and in how these mouth actions are distributed. We then describe how mouth actions can extend over more than one manual sign. This spreading of mouth actions is the primary focus of this paper. Based on an analysis of comparable narrative material in the three languages, we demonstrate that the direction as well as the source and goal of spreading may be language-specific.

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The Swedish Sign Language Corpus (SSLC) was compiled during the years 2009-2011 and consists of video-recorded conversations with 42 informants between the ages of 20 and 82 from three separate regions in Sweden. The overall aim of the project was to create a corpus of Swedish Sign Language (SSL) that could provide a core data source for research on language structure and use, as well as for dictionary work. A portion of the corpus has been annotated with glosses for signs and Swedish translations, and annotation of the entire corpus is ongoing. In this paper, we outline our scheme for gloss annotation and discuss issues that are relevant in creating the annotation system, with unique glosses for lexical signs, fingerspelling and productive signs. The annotation guidelines discussed in this paper cover both one-and two-handed signs in SSL, based on 33,600 tokens collected for the SSLC.

This article deals with L2 acquisition of a sign language, examining in particular the use and acquisition of non-manual mouth actions performed by L2 learners of Swedish Sign Language. Based on longitudinal data from an L2 learner corpus, we describe the distribution, frequency, and spreading patterns of mouth actions in sixteen L2 learners at two time points. The data are compared with nine signers of an L1 control group. The results reveal some differences in the use of mouth actions between the groups. The results are specifically related to the category of mouthing borrowed from spoken Swedish. L2 signers show an increased use of mouthing compared to L1 signers. Conversely, L1 signers exhibit an increased use of reduced mouthing compared with L2 signers. We also observe an increase of adverbial mouth gestures within the L2 group. The results are discussed in relation to previous findings, and within the framework of cross-linguistic influence.