Constituent order in Flemish Sign Language (VGT) and South African Sign Language (SASL)

Vermeerbergen, Myriam; Herreweghe, Mieke Van; Akach, Philemon; Matabane, Emily

doi:10.1075/sll.10.1.04ver

Cited by 38 publications

(23 citation statements)

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“…Specifically, Aarons and Morgan (2000;2003) examine the syntax of classifier predicates in SASL, while Vermeerbergen, van Herreweghe, Akach and Matabane (2007) look at the word order of SASL, comparing it with that of Flemish Sign Language (VGT).…”

Section: South African Sign Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

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A preliminary look at negative constructions in South African Sign Language: Question-Answer clauses

Huddlestone

2018

SPIL

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How negation is expressed by means of manual and/or non-manual markers has been described in a wide range of sign languages. This work has suggested a split between sign languages requiring a manual negative element in negative clauses (manual dominant sign languages) and those where a non-manual marker only can be used (non-manual dominant sign languages) (Zeshan 2006;2004). To date there is only one published study on negation in SASL which describes SASL as a non-manual dominant language (De Barros and Siebörger 2016). However, Oomen and Pfau (2017) have recently indicated that such a typological split is too radical. They show that larger data sets are necessary to identify the range of expressions used within one sign language to express negation. This paper will contribute to this typological debate by considering some preliminary data from South African Sign Language (SASL), highlighting a particular construction, known as a polar Question-Answer clause, which is not generally mentioned in the literature on negation in sign languages. The paper will conclude with a reflection on the implications of these observations for a typology of negation in sign languages.

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Section: South African Sign Languagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…9 However, it is not clear whether any of the observed negative sentences in the study contained post-verbal material (other than the manual negator when it was present). Following Vermeerbergen et al (2007), De Barros and Siebörger (2016) assume that the word order of SASL is SOV or OSV.…”

Section: Negative Constructions In South African Sign Language: Questmentioning

confidence: 99%

A preliminary look at negative constructions in South African Sign Language: Question-Answer clauses

Huddlestone

2018

SPIL

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“…For example, Aarons and Morgan (2003) have researched the nature of classifier constructions in SASL and their role in syntax as well as in discourse genres such as storytelling. Vermeerbergen, van Herreweghe, Akach and Matabane (2007) have compared Flemish Sign Language (VGT) word order with that of SASL, finding that SASL has strictly a verb-final word order. However, there is little research on the phonological nature of SASL.…”

Section: A Brief Overview Of Saslmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A transitional movement is inserted into these repeated signs to allow the hand to move from the coda location of the syllable back to the onset location in order for the syllable to be repeated. In addition to lexical signs, SASL makes extensive use of classifier constructions (Vermeerbergen et al 2007), which do not conform to the same phonological rules as lexical signs. In this article, we concentrate on the phonology of lexical signs.…”

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confidence: 99%

A Perfect End: A Study of Syllable Codas in South African Sign Language

2017

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South African Sign Language (SASL) is an understudied language with a rich and interesting phonology. For instance, while the language allows onsetless syllables, it does not allow codaless syllables, except in a small class of signs which do not include path movement. This article identifies and defines possible constraints on syllable codas in SASL. Using a video dictionary as data, we have coded handshapes at locations occurring at the onset and coda of the more common signs in the lexicon. In handshape, it has been found that the selected fingers may move to create different handshapes in the coda position, but that these coda handshapes are often . Furthermore, the joint specification for the selected fingers can also vary in the coda position, but there appear to be strict limitations on which joint combinations are permitted in the onset-coda relationship. There are also constraints on coda location. The major body region can change within a single syllable, and the preferred body regions in the coda position are [body] and [H2]. It is evident not only that handshape and location constraints occur at the coda position, but that these constraints show patterns similar to coda neutralisation in many spoken languages.

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“…This historical relation might partially explain the fact that the vocabularies of LSFB and VGT, the sign languages of the French and Flemish speaking parts of Belgium, seem to show a high degree of similarity. In fact, according to Vermeerbergen et al (2007) there is not enough evidence to decide whether the differences between LSFB and VGT are large enough to talk about separate languages. Anecdotal evidence suggests that these two sign languages share as much as 70% of their lexical items.…”

Section: Sign Languages In Belgium and The Netherlandsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mutual intelligibility among the sign languages of Belgium and the Netherlands

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Haesenne³

et al. 2015

Linguistics

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Abstract:In an exploratory study of mutual intelligibility between the sign lan guages of the northern part of Belgium (Flemish Sign Language, VGT), the south ern part of Belgium (French Belgian Sign Language, LSFB), and the Netherlands (Sign Language of the Netherlands, NGT), we tested the comprehension of VGT by signers of LSFB and NGT. In order to measure the influence of iconic structures (classifier constructions and constructed action) that linguistic analyses have shown to be similar across different sign languages, two genres were compared: narrative and informative signing. To investigate the effect of the overlap between the spoken languages surrounding the Dutch and Flemish Deaf communities, videos were presented in two conditions: first without and subsequently with mouthings. As we hypothesized, both LSFB and NGT signers understood narra tives better than informative signing, showing for the first time that iconic struc tures facilitate comprehension of foreign signing. Furthermore, the results at least partially confirm our hypothesis that NGT signers benefit more from mouth ings than LSFB signers, uncovering a source of intelligibility that is unique to sign languages.

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Constituent order in Flemish Sign Language (VGT) and South African Sign Language (SASL)

Cited by 38 publications

References 0 publications

A preliminary look at negative constructions in South African Sign Language: Question-Answer clauses

A preliminary look at negative constructions in South African Sign Language: Question-Answer clauses

A Perfect End: A Study of Syllable Codas in South African Sign Language

Mutual intelligibility among the sign languages of Belgium and the Netherlands

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