Carol Padden's Dissertation

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

San Di ego

Interaction of Morphology and Syntax

American Sign Language

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the

requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

in Linguistics

by

Carol A. Padden

Committee in charge: Professor David M. Perlmutter, Chair Professor Ursula Bellugi Professor Sandra l. Chung Professor Michael Cole Professor Edward S. Klima Professor Alan Timberlake

1983

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

San Otego

Interaction of Morphology and Syntax

1n

American Sign language

A dlssertatlon submitted tn partial satisfaction of the

requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

in linguistics

by

Carol A. Padden

Committee 1n charge: Professor Oavid M. Perlmutter. Chair Professor Ursula Bel1ugi Professor Sandra l. Chung Professor Michael Cole Professor Edward S. Klima Professor Alan Timberlake

19B3

Copyri ght by Carol A. Padden

1983

The dissertation of Carol A. Padden is approved. and it is acc~ptable in quality and form for pUblication on microfilm:

University of California. San Diego

1983 I

iii

To my parents who gave me the language and mucn more.

1v

1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4

2

2.1 2.1.1 2.1.2 2.1.2.1 2.1.2.2 2.l.2.3 2.2 2 " 2.3.1 2.3.1.1 Z. 3. 'l 2.3.2.1 2.3.2.2 2.4

3

3.1 3.1.1 3.1.2 3.1.3 3.1. 4

4

Table of Contents

Notational Conve.ntions ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• list of Figures •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Ac~nowledgements ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• V1ta. Publications and Fields of Study ••••••••••••••• Abstract of the Dissertation •••••••••••••••••••••••••

Introduct1on •••••••••••••••••••••• , •••••••••••••• 0 •••

Relational grammar •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Basic concepts ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Cl ause structure ••••••••• , •••• o ••••••••• o ••••••••••••

Constructions, rules. and laws ••••••••••••••••••••••• Why relational grammar? •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Verb cli1sses. ~ ••••••••••• , •••••••••••••••••••••••••••

!nflecting ... erbs ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Person agreement ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Number agreement ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Oua 1 •••••••• .- •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• E)(,haustive ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• M.Jltiple ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Pl ilin verbs •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Spatial verbs •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Arguments against person agreement for Spatial ... erbs. Reciprocal .......................................... . Ar9um~nts against number agreement for Spatial verbs. Multiple •••••••••••••••••• ~ •••••••••••••••••••••••••• E1t!lJUsti ... e ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Test caSes: Wlrregular verbs" •••••••••••••••••••••••• Footnotes to Chapter 2 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Embedded structures ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Arguments for embedded structures •••••••••••••••••••• Subject pronoun copy ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• liegative marking ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Topical ization ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Conjunctions/Discourse markers ••••••••••••••••••••••• Footnotes to Chapter 3 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Predicates •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

v

Page

v111 xl

xlv xvi

xvO

5

5 5 1

11

13

13 16 18 19 21 22 24 21 28 31 33 33 34 31

'42

69

69 11 13 15 17 81

82

.~ ..

4.1 4.1.1 4.1.2 4.1.3 4.2 4.2.1 4.2.1.1 4.2.1.2 4.2.2

4.2.2.1 4.2.2.2 4.2.2.2

5

5.1 5.1.1 5.1.2 5.1.3 5.2 5.3 5.3.1 5.3.2 5.4 5.5 5.5.1 5.5.2 5.5.3 5.5.4 5.5.5

6

Distinctions between grammatical categories •••••••••• Adjectives ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• liouns •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Verbs ............................................... . ~?redicate~ as a gral'lmat leal re 1 at ion •••••••••••••••• Argurnents for predicat!"!hood ........................ .. Sp.ntential complements .............................. . Short anslOcrs •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••• Distinction between predicate and attributive adjectives ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Resultative inflection ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Adverbs •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Facial adverbs ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Footnotes to Ch~Pter 4 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Subjecthood •••• I ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Verb agreement ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Two analyses of verb agreement ...................... . Agreement marker omission •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• FORCE-type verbs ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• An alternative analysis •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Hoda Is ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Arguments for stating the rule In terms of "subjectn. ArgL!r,lents for modals as predicates .................. . SELF pronouns •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Test c~ses: Sentence-initial nominals ••••••••••••••• Modals ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• SELF pronouns •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Subject agreement •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Ambiguous sentences •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Possible analyses •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Footnotes to Chapter 5 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Verb agreem~nt •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

6.1 Arguments against the source.goal analysis of verb agreement ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

6.1.1 Backwards verbs ..................................... . 6.1.2 The class of Inflecting ... erbs •••••••••••••••••••••••• 6.2 Stating the verb agreement rule ..................... . G.2.1 Arguments for the advancement analysis ••••••••••••••• G.2.1.1 An argument for final 2-hood: Sign Order •••••••••••• G.2.1.2 An argument for initial 2-hood: locus shifting ...... 6.2.1.2.1 An argument against a thematic analysts of locus

shifting ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 6.2.1.3 The indirect object relation •••••••••••••••••••••••••

Footnotes to Chapter G •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

82 8; 86 8~ 90 9[ 95 n

100 101 le3 106 109

113

114 115 111 120 123 117 [28 131 m 137 139 gO 1'[ !42 [43 [46

149

[51 152 154 155 153 158 16[

167 111 113

ClaSsifiers and Indices .............................. 174

vi

7.1.1 7.1.2 7.1.2.1 7.1.2.2 7.1.2.3 7.1.3

7.2 7.2.1 7.3 7.3.1 7.3.1.1

7.3.1.2

7.3. I. 3 7.3.2 7.4 7.4.1

7.4.1.1 7.4.1.2 7.4.2 1.4.3

Arguments for clausehood of Noun + Class:ifier sequences •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• ,...... 177 Sentential complements. ••••••••••••• •••• ••••••••••••• 178 Arguillents for predicatehuod of classifiers ........... 179 Short answers............................ .•.•.•••.••• 179 linear position of verbs •.•••••.•••••••••.•••••.••••• 181 Facial adverbs ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 182 An argument for l~hoOd of the sentence-initial nominal: Modals ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 183 Sign order.... .•••.•••••••••.•••••••••••••••.•••••••• 184 Discourse ordering constraint........................ 186 Other complex classiffer sequences ••••••••••••••••••• la9 Other "locat ive object-subject~verb" sequences....... 190 An argument against 2-hood of sentence-initial nominal: Locus shifting.............................. 190 An argument against sentence_initial nominal as oblique: Topicalization ............................. 191 A proposed account .......... : •••••••••••••••••••••••• 194 "S-O-V" :iequences.................................... 197 Indices.............................................. 199 Arguments for the clausehood of some Noun + Index sequen(~s.. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 201 Sentential complements ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 201 Short answers..... •••••••••••••• ••••••• •••••••••••••• 202 An argument against predicatehood of some indices.... 204 519n order........................................... 207 footnotes to Chapter 7............................... 210

Appendix A........................... •••••••••••• •••• 212

. Aptlendix B... ••••••• ••••••••••••••• ••••••••••••• ••••• 213

Appendix C.. ••••• •••• •••••••••• •••••••••••••.•••••••• 214

References.... ••• •••••• ••• •••••••••••••••• ••••• ••• ••• 215

vii

Notational Convent tons

Since there is not yet a standJrd transcription system for ASL. the following notational conventions are used:

1) Signs are represented with English glosses in capitalized letters, e.g. CAT ('cat'), WOMAN ('woman'). When more than one English word 15 needed to represent a single sign, hyphens appear betneen them, e.g., DON'T-KNOW ('don't know').

2) fingerspelled words are represented with hyphens between the fingerspelled letters, e.g., C-A-R-O-l ('Carol').

3) Non-manual features "l'ihich appear simultaneously with the manual segment are represented in the overltnes. e.g. ---t--- (topic mar~ing) in the following example!

-t-{a} CAR. WOMAN BUY.

'A car. the woman bought.'

Other non-manual ~ymbols are:

(b) ---q--- yes-no question marking

(e) --whq-- WH-question marking

(d) ---n-- negative marking

(e) --when-- temporal clause marki ng

(f) --if -- conditional clause marking

(,) --hn-_ head nod

(h) --rc-- relative clause marking

4) A comma is used to represent a break in phrase timing, characterized by a ~ause and/or a hold on the preceding Sign.

5) For signs which involve articulation in a given locus position, the pOSition of the sign is indicated with a subscript whiCh prec~des the sign. These include the personal and locative pronouns (INDEX)' possessive (POSS) and reflexive (SElf) pronouns as well as certain nouns which can be marked in a particular locus pOSition. Iperson marking is indicated with the 1 subscript. the 2person marking. the 1

viii

subscript. and either locative points or 3person marking with letter ~ h ~ .... etc. For example:

(a) IINOEX ('I')

(b) 2POSS ('your')

(c) ISElF ('himself')

(d) IINOEX ('there')

(e) ICHAIR ('this chair there')

6} Agreement markers on verbs are rep,resented by subscrlpts~ For example. the lperson subject agreement marker on a verb like HATE takes the form of a subscript before the gloss, and the 2person object agreement marker. a subscript after the gloss:

ta) IHATE2 ('I~hate-you')

7) locative affixes on a class of verbs are indicated by subscripts. For example, the form of the verb GO moves between two locative points. The first locative pOint Is indicated by the subscript before the gloss and the second point, the subscript after the gloss:

(a) jGO j ('here-go-there')

8) Some verbs have only a single agreement marker or a single locative affix. In these cases, only a single subscript indicating the agreement m~rker or the locative affix appears before the gloss:

(a) tWANT ('she-wants! want(s)_1t')

9} Other symbols representIng lexical items or affixes include:

(a) CL: classifier

(b) D: derivational form

Example: Cl:3 ('classifier for vehicles')

Example: D:SJT[+noun] (derived noun)

(c) mult ('multiple plural Inflection')

(d) exhaus ('exhaustive plural inflection')

eel du (dual inflection)

(f) r (reciprocal inflection)

(g) pI (plural)

(h) fAg (Agentl,e suffix)

1x

10) Some symbols are combined, e.g.:

(a) rl.ZG1VE ('you-and-I~glve-to-each-other')

(11) Certain sequences in ASl Involve simultaneous articulation of one sign with one hand and a different sign with the other hand. Sb;/ns

"articulated with the left hand dominant appear on th'e line marked: "lhand", and those articulated with the right hand dominant appear on the line marked "R-hand":·' The representati on al so scherndti ca 11y i nd; cates the temporal sequencing of the two hands relative to the otherj for example, In (a) below, the two hands articulate PUT simultaneously. (An illustration of (1) appears in Figure 15.) In (b), the sign, i CL :4 appears following articulation of FENCE and Is held (d~picted by the

.dotted Hne) for the duration of the sign sequence: CAT jCl:V-CfWUCH.

(a) l-hand:

R-hand: ROCK 1 pur j'

'-The rocks were put nE!xt to each other.'

(b) l-hand: ICl : 4 _______________ _

R-hand: FENCE CAT jCl:V-CROUCH.

'The cat sat by the fence.'

,

list of Figures

Page

Figure 1: 1G1VEj •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 43

2G1 VEi •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 43

IGIVE 2•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 44

jGIVE j ..••••••••••.••••.••••••••.•..•.•••.•••••••••••• 44

IGIVE 2du •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 45

IG1VEi.exhaus •••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••• 45

i.dUG1VEl ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 46

Figure 2: DOG i INDEX... ••••• •••• ••• •••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••• 47

i DOG.................................................. 47

Figure 3: IINOEX iASKj.......................................... 48

lAS'1 2100EX. ••• •••• ••••••••••••••••••••••••• •••••• ••• 46

Figure 4: IASK i •du •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 49

Figure 5: i .duASK1.... ••• •••••• ••••••••••• •••••••••• ••••••• ••••• 50

Figure 6: ri ,J INFORM... •••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••• •••••• ••• 51

(alternate form of rec1procal) •••••••••••••••••••••••• 51

(alternate form of reciprocal )........................ 51

xl

Figure 7: OGIFTj.exhaus •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.• 52

Flgure 8: OGIFT1 oGIFTj oGIFTk................................... 53

Figure 9: oGIVE1.mult ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 54

Figure 10: OGIFT11.mult .......................................... 55

Figure 11: lINDEX KNOW jINDEX •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 56

jINDEX KNO'"" 1INDEX ••••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••• 56

Figure 12: OFORGETt.exhaus....................................... 57

Figure 13: lINDEX 11WAlKl........................................ 58

F1gure 14: IINOEX jWALKj ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 59

lINOEX jWALKk ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••• 59

IINOEX kWAlKl......................................... 60

Figure 15: L~hand: kPUTj

R-hand: i PUT j........................................ 61

L-hand: kPUTI

R-hand: 1PUTj........................................ 61

xli

l

l-hand: j'UT1

R-hand: l'UTj ........................................ 62

Figure 16: tCL:C~SlIOEj.......................................... 63

kCL'C-SUOE1............... ••• ••••••••••••• ••••••••••• 63

FIgure 17: OGIFTt.exhaus......................................... 64

(alternate form of exhaustive)........................ 64

Figure 18: tPUT jPUT kPUT........................................ 65

1 'UT lUT 1 'UT.. •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• •••••••••• •• •• •• 65

Figure 19: i1GIVEj ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 66

Figure 20: jCARRY-Sy-HANOj ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 67

Figure 21: DRIVE ••••••••••••• 0 ........... , ... 0 ......... 0......... 68

tDRIVE-TOj............................................ 68

Figure 22: RED ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 111

RED[+intenslveJ ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 111

REO(+emph.tltl •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• llZ

x111

Acknowledgements

lowe a great deal to several individuals and must in some small

way express my gratitude for their support through some of the ~ost

harrowing times of my lHe. This final culmination of five years of Iny

lHe "efl,ects In more ways than they realize. the impact of their

contributions.

First, 1 wish to thank two ind1viduals who were p~obably most

responsible_ for my coming to San Diego and for sl'stdining the ty[)e of

environment crucial for serious in-depth work In ASl research: Ursula

Hellug! and Edward Klima. Their constant demand for highly defined and

rigorous work In ASl has produced a generation of linguists of which I

am proud to be a part.

When I first arrived at UCSD, a nervous graduate student who

used a strange language. an excellent faculty tn tile Oepartmer,t of

Linguistics rose to the challenge and gave generously of their time and

wisdom. 1 am grateful for an uniformly competent and demanding faculty.

It is difficult to llAagine what my yelrs of gradUate study "ould

have been like without David Perlmutter. H1s influence on my thinUng

about the nature of human language and 1anguage structure Is clear

throughout these pages. His many unexpected and delightful ruminaf:ions

about ASl have led me into fruitful areas of research, and enriched my

understanding and appreciation for the tight complexity of human

languages. Above all. I must thank him 'for his several qualities ...-hlch

xlv

made all the difference for me: his honesty, unrelenting insistence on

clearer and better work, and unflagging support.

The following comrades, along with good cheer and excellent

ccnversation, turned consultant sessions into a refreShing break: Ben

Bahan, Carlene Canady-Pedersen, Venita Driscoll, Sue Hays, leslie

Jamison Hanaumi, Ella lentz. Pat Richey, Dennis Scherllenauer. Sam Supalla

and Jamie Tucker. For friendly commisseration and helpful advice on

aspects of my work. I thank Rick lacy, Ruth Loew, Richard Meier and

laura PettHo. In addition to members of my committee. Scott Liddell and

Robert Johnson reviewed earlier drafts of the dissertation and gave

valuable critical conunents.

Illustrations are by Frank. Paul, and display his usual clarity

and consistency.

I yratefully acknowledge financial support from the Salk

Institute. fellowships granted from the University of California, San

Diego, the National Science Foundation and the ford Foundation through

Hichael Cole and the laboratory for Comparative Human Cognition.

And finally, for reaSSuring me that eventually it would make

sense and that

therapist, and

I would survive, I thank my husband., best friend. . '

favorite entertainer, Tom Humphr1es.

XV

VITA

April 3, 1955 - Born - Washington. D.C.

1978 - B.A •• Georgetown University 1980 - M.A •• University of California. San Diego 1981 - C.Phil •• University of California, San Diego

PUBLICATIONS

Focusing on the non-manual components of American Sign language. (authored with Charlotte Baker). Understanding lan,uage ~hrou9~ ~ 19~Buase Research. edt by Patricia Slple. New lor: Aca em)c ress. •

A Basic Course in .American SiSn language (authored with Tom Hu~,phries and - lerren~o'U'rke). Sliver prlng. MD: TJ Publishers, Inc •• 1980.

Some arguments for syntactic patterning in Mierican Sign languillje. SiQn language Studies, 32, 239-259. Silver Spring, MO: linstok Press. ~.

Major field: linguistics Syntax:

FIELDS OF, STUOY

Studies in Professors langacker.

David Perlmutter, Sandra Chung, Edward Klima and Ronald

Studies 1n Phonology: Professors Matthew Chen. Jeffrey Elman and Sanford Schane.

Studies in American Sign Language linguistics: Professor Edward Klima

xvi

ABSTRACT OF TIlE OISSERTATIOH

Interaction of Morphology and Syntax 1n American Sign language

by

Carol A. Padden

Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics

University of Cal1fornia, San Otego, 1983

Professor David H. Perlmutter, Chair

This study explores basic clause structure 1n American Sign

language {ASL}, a visual-gestural language used by Deaf people 1n North

Amerlca. Three major classes of verbs: Plain, Inflecting and Spatial,

are identified on the basis of differences 1n morpholog1cal form and

their interaction with various sYntactic phenomena including verb

agreement and s1gn order.

Previous analyses of ASL verbs have noted that verbs differ

markedly with respect to which morphology can be added to the verb stem.

However. no clear criteria have been offered for distinguishing between

Inflecting and certain forms of Spatial verbs whiCh have highly similar

/I'.orphology. The present analysis distinguishes between person and number

agreement morphology. which can be added only to Inflecting verbs. and

other morphological forms such as manner and location. This study

proposes that for Inflecting verbs (those that inflect for person and

xvii

number}. the verb agreement rule is best stated 1n terms of grammatical

relations.

The present investigation uses the framework of relational

grammar as developed by Perlmutter & Postal (1914. 1911. 1983) in which

grammatical relations such as ·subject·. Nd1rect object". etc. are ta~en

as primitives of lingu1stlc theory. Additionally, grammatical relations

are represented in this framework at more than one level of syntactic

representation. The multfpl~_ l~vels crucially interact with certain

grammatical phenomena. As well as accounting for facts about verb

agreement. the proposed structures provide, means for capturing other

syntactic and morphological generalizations in the grammar of ASl.

In relational grammar, upredlcate~ 15 a relational rather than

categorial notion. USing various diagnostics of predicatehood, cerl~in

adjectives and nomina1s as well as verbs are shown to bear the predicate

relation. In addition, these diagnostics show that some index1c forilis

and classifier elements are also predicates. Stating the slyn order rule

In terms of ·predicate" instead of "verb" c<!ptures a generalization

about the position of elements which bear the ?redicate relation. As a

consequence, s1gn order in ASL is demonstrated to be less fleKible than

previously thought.

xviii

r Introduction

Recent investigations into verb morphology In American Sign

languagE! (ASl). a visual-gestural language used by members of the Deaf

community in North America. have shown that verbs are among the most

complex and varied forms in the language (Fischer & Gough 1978, Bellugl

& Kl ima 1979, Supalla 1982). What is interesting is not only the

variety of verb affixes contained In different morphological categories:

person, number, aspect. locative. noun class. manner. among others, but

also that verbs differ with respect to which of the categories of

affhes can be added. Friednlan (1975). and others have proposed that

verbs can be grouped into classes on the basis of which affixes can be

6dded to them. For example. verbs like GIVE, HATE inflect for person and

number, but other verbs llke KNOW, LIKE do not. Supalla (1982) has

detailed the morphological structure of a class of verbs which he terms

·v'erbs of motion and location", these include verbs like CL:3-GO

('vehicle- move') and CL:I-WAlK ('person-walk') which mark for noun

class and manner among other categories.

Previous analyses of clause structure 1n ASl have characterized

clause structure and syntactic phenomena on the basis of verb

mor~holo9Y. In clauses containing verbs with person and number agreement

milrkf!rs, e.g. HATE. gram:natlcal relations such as "subject" and "direct

object" are determined by the fOrm of the markers that appear on the

vef'b (Friedman 1976). Kegl (1976) suggested that in clauses containin9

verbs ~hich inflect for person and number, sign order is more flexible

1

than in clauses containing verbs which do not. In the case of clauses

with verbs which lack agreement markers. e.g. KNOW, grammatical

relations are determined by sign order (Fischer 1975, Kegl 1976). Thus

according to these analyses, determining what is "subject" and ~direct

object M In a clause depends on verb agreement with respect to one class

of verbs and sign order in another class. And in cases of verbs of

motion and location, e.g. CL:3-GO ('vehicle- move') using either of

these criteria to determine grammatical relations is problematic since

these verbs also lack agreement markers and it appears that sign order

In clauses containing these verbs Is unl1ke that tn 'claus(!s containing

other verbs (Liddell 1917, McIntire 1980, Supalla 1982). As a solution,

some have proposed that thematic relations are mor~ appropriate as an

account of verb morphology and clause structure (friedman 1975).

The present study examines various cases of interaction of

morphology and syntax in ASl and proposes an account which differs trom

previous analys~s 1n that clause structure and sy~tactic phenomena 3re

not dertned in terms of verb agreement. or sigo order. ,but in terms of

grammatical relations_. Using the. fra1l1ew9rk of relational grammar

develop.ed by Perlmutter & Postal (lgH, 1977. 1983) in which grammatical

relations Such as "subject", "direct object". etc. are taken as

primitives of linguistiC theory, facts about syntactic phenomena,

including verb agreement .and s1gn order are accounted for in. a general

way.

Th1s approach has several cons_equences. First, by referencing

2

-----------~-------------

grarrmatlcal relations such as "subject" and "direct object" rather than

thematic notions, facts about the sYntactic behavior of nominals can be

generalized across clauses containing verbs of different classes.

Second. the notion of "predicate" as a grammatical relation allows for I

general statement of rules with regard to the similar behavior and

distrf'bution of predicate norninals. adjectives and verbs. These

arguments also point to a distinction between adjectives which bear the

prpdlcate relation and those that do not, a distinction which has not

been made In previous investigations. Third. the present investigation

argues that In order to state generalizations about verb agreement and

other phenomena In ASl, representing grammatical relations in more than

one level of syntactiC structure is necessary. An analysis which refers

to a Single-level notion of "direct object~ prov~s less insightful than

one which distinguishes between "lnitiaP and "final" direct object. And

finally. on the basis of arguments for the notions of "subject M•

"predicate u• and "initial direct object". 1 examine clauses which have

flexible or dtfterent sign order and show that facts about Sign order In

these clauses as well as other syntactic phenomena can be accounted for

by the same set of rules needed for other clauses.

This study IS organized In the following way. Chapter 1 presents

an overview of the framework central to this investigation, relational

9ra~nar. Chapter 2 contains certain preliminary Information about the

distinction between embedded and coordinate structures needed for

arguments in later chapters which crucially depend on the analysis of

certain multi-clausal structures as embedded. nQ.t coordinate. Chapter 3

3

reviews the case· for grouping verbs into different classes on the basis

of morphological features. introduce several criteria for

distinguishing between agreement morphology and other types of

formationally similar morphology. Since in Chapter 5 agreement

morphology is used in arguments for the notion of Msubject~. these

criteria are essential in identifying the correct cases for the

argument. Chapter 4 reviews the"categor1al distinctions betw~en wnoun·,

"adjective" and "verb". ~nd presents 'arguments for the notion of

"predicateM as a relational. not categorial notion. 'Chapters 5 and 6

detail the verb agreement data in ASl and present arguments for a verb

agreement rule wh1ch refers to "final" grall\'!latical relcltions. Chapter

analyzes clauses containing Inflecting and Spatial verbs.

r Chapter 1

Relational Grammar

The present study adopts the framework of relational grammar as

diSCUSSed by Perlmutter (1978, 1979), Perlmutter & Postal (1974,1977),

and a number of other works which are c1ted throughout the study. Basic

elements of the theoretical framework are outl ined below; only those

portions of the framework which bear on the grammatical description in

this study are discussed.

1.1 Basic concepts

The fundamental goals of linguistic theory are to characterize

the \.,alS languages are alike and the ways they differ. A major claim of

relational graflvnar is that generalizations about grammatical

constructions within a particular language and across the class of human

lanSuages are best stated 1n terms of grammatical relations.

Gral1~nat1cal relations are conceived of as primitives; they are not

defined in terms of other features such as word order. case marking or

phrase structure conflgurations. but ratper. determine these featUres.

1.2 Clause structure

In this theory, a clause involves a set of I1ngulst1c elements,

the grJmmatlcal relations these elements bear to the clause and the

level(s) at which the elements bear grammatical relat10ns to other

elements.

5

The inventory of grammatical relations include: the Predicate

relation, represC!nted with the "P" R-s1gn. "subject" ("1"). "direct

object" ("Z"). "indirect object" ("3"). The latter three relations are

called ~ relations. The 1 and 2 relations together comprise the

~ relations. Nonterm relations include the oblique relations

such as "Goal", "locative", "Benefactive", "Instrumental", etc.} and the

"Chomeur" relation. Finally, there Is the set of overlay relations, one

of which is discussed In Chapter 7: "Topic".

In order to highlight these features of clause structure, the

following elements are used:

(a) a set of nodes which represent primitive linguistic elements

(b) III set of "R~signs" representing the names of grammatical relations

(c) a set of coordinates which indicate the levels at which elements

bear grammatical relations to other elements

An "arc" consists of an ordered pair of nodes, one R-sign. and a

non~nul1 sequence of coordinates. ' It 15 a formal representation of the

grammatical relation ~ a given el:ement-! bears to another element

b at a certain level. S.:. Element' ,!.'is called the "head- of the

arc, and 2,. the tal1:

(1 )

GRx

a

As a concrete example, consider the follOWing representation: in

(2). the element ~ which bears the subject relation to clause ~.

·heads· a subject arc. with the R-sign. MIM. 1n that clause. Further.

WOMAN bears the 1 relation to the clause at level ~

(2)

A clause is the set at arcs which have a common clause node as

tail. In the following clause, (3). WAlT heads a Predicate arc (.pM),

and ~OMAN. a 1 arc. In the following representation, the elements have

the same coordinate. ~ or 1n other words, the structure contains a

single level or ·stratum·.

(3) WOMAN WAIT.

'The woman is waiting.'

A WA.f'f WOH-AN

Some structures contain more than one stratum. as in for example.

an "advancement" structure discussed in a later chapter. (4) is termed

a "3·2 Advancement" structure and involves elements which bear relations

to the clause 1n two different strata: c1 and c2. GIVE bears the

predicate relation to the clause 1n both the c1 and c2 strata; WOMAN

likewise heads a 1 arc 1n both strata, but BOOK and MAN head two arcs,

each in different strata. BOOK bears the 2 relation in the c11 or

~ stratum. and the Chomeur relation 1n the next, c2 stratum,

or the ~~. MAN heads a 3-arc in the initial stratum, and a

7

2-arc in the ttnal stratum. The representation 1n (4) 15 called a

"relational network".

(4) WOMAN jGIVE j HAN BOOK.

'The woman gave the· man a book.'

(5) below, termed a "stratal diagram" provides an equivalent

representation of (4) 1n an abbreviated form. Instead of noting the

coordinates at which an element bears a grammatical relation, the

representation of levels is shown with a visual analog. Other ele.;lents

in the clause such as adverbs, aspectual markers, etc. are not l~cluded

in the diagrams in order to highlight the relevant elements. For the

most part, diagrams such as (5) will be used throughout this study:

(5) WOMAN jGIVEj MAil BOOK.

'The woman gave the man a book.'

HhN

1.3 Constructions, rules and laws

Previous investigations within the relational grammar framework

have proposed a set of "well-formed" relational networks. or the set of

possible grammatical constructions 1n human languages. These include

B

Passive constructions (Perlmutter & Postal 1977). 3-2 Advancement

(Aissen 1979. Crain 1979, Chung 1976), and Inversion (Harris 1981.

Davies 1981) among others. The grammars of specific languages state

which subset of the range of possible constructions are found in the

language. For example, since there 1s no ev1dence for the Passive

construction in ASl, but evidence for 3-2 Advancement. only the latter

construction ;s included in the subset of well-formed constructions in

the gl"ammar of ASl.

Rules in a grammar are well-fonmedness conditions on relational

networks. For example, the condition on antecedents of SELF pronouns in

ASl, snown below in (6), slates that only relational networks which meet

the conditiOn are wel1-fonmed.

(6) ~ pronouns

Only nomlnals which head a I-arc may be antecedents of SELF pronouns.

In addition to language-specific rules, ~ are fonmulated as

wel1-formedness conditions on the class of possible relational networks.

The la,,;s which bear on the present 9ra~atlcal description of ASL are

discussed b~low. These are:

(.) (bl (c

Stratal Uniqueness law Mutivated Chomage law Fina 1 1 law

The Stratal Uniqueness law (Perlmutter & Postal 1977. 1983) 05

stated below infonmally. rules out constructions such as (8) 1n which

two nominals head subject arcs in the same stratum:

9 10

(7) ~ Uniqueness ~

At most one nominal can bear a given term R-s1gn in a given stratum.

'0

(8)

c.

Returning to the earlier example of a multi-stratal structure,

(4), repeated below. we See that the nominal bearing the 3-relation at

level 'I advances to bear the 2-relation at the next level, c2-

Since this would violate the Stratal Uniqueness Law, the nominal which

bears the direct object relation at level c1 cannot bear this relation

at level '2' but instead must be placed "en chomage"; it bears the

~ relation. The following law restricts the domain of the

chomeur relation to certain contexts.

(4 )

The Motivated Chomage law (Perlmutter & Postal 1977, 1983), stoClted

informally, reads as follows:

(9) Motivated Chomage law

If a clause contains a nominal a which heads an arc with the tenn R-sign n in stratum c1 and-a ChoRleur arc in stratum c1+I, then tnere must be a nominal ~ which heads an arc with R-s go ~ in c1+1 o where all arcs have the same tan.

The effect of (9) Is to rule out cases such as (10) In which the

nominal BOOK heads a direct object arc In stratum c1 and a Chomeur arc

In c1+1" but there 1s no nominal which heads the direct object arc In

that stratum. Thus. the law restricts the occurrence of the chomeur

relation to only those contexts where there would otherwise be a

violation of the Stratal Uniqueness law.

(10 )

According to the Final 1 Law (Perlmutter & Postal. 1983) as

stated below. (12) is not a well~fonned relational network:

(11) £.!!!.!l 1 law

Every basic clause"must contain I l-arc In the final stratum.

(\2 )

1.4 Why relat10nal grammar?

A primary goal of the theoretical approach of relational grammar

Is the formulation of universal properties of human languages. A central

concept of relational grammar is that generalizations about syntactic

structure within individual languages and across languages are best

captured in terms of grammatical relations. Much of the work

~ ..

11

contributing to this goal Is based on examination of a variety of

typologically diverse languages. From thts data, specific proposals have

been made within the framework concerning those properties which

languages share, and the ways languages differ.

Relational grammar provides a means for examining ASl syntax in

at least two ways: first. the characterization of clause structure 1n

terms of gralMlatical rel'ations facilitates comparison bet~leen ASl Clnd

other languages with different language-particular featur~s. including

different modality (i.e., spoken or signed). Second, ..... hile the theory

brings out new problems 1n the analysis of ASl syntax. the theory also

leads to poss1ble solutions for syntactic phenomenon in ASl. As an

example. it has been noted that some ASl sentences lack verbs, but other

constituents in the sentence behave in certain respects Mlike verbs". In

"elat10nal grammar. the not10n of "Predicate" as a grammatical relation

has provided a means of capturing significant generalizations about the

similar behavior of verbs and other constituents 1n certaln sentences.

In this way, the theory points to a solution for syntactic phenom~non in

ASl as well as to depict the ways in which phenomenon in ASl resemble

those in other languages.

fORC(, l(AS(, l(ACH, SE.ND. AS'!:.. iE.ll. "

" A c.onta 1fIS verbs like: GIVE. thiS cl asS are

fl£FE~!". BLAME .. BORROW. COPY. and

HlVllE. ("Ppend u "

crl.!

\2

Chapter 2

Verb Classes

Previous analyses of ASl verbs have noted that verbs differ

markedly with respect to which morphology can be added to the verb stem

{Friedman 1976. Fischer & Gough 1978. Klima & Bellugi 1979. Supalla

19HZ}. Inflections for person and number are added only to certain verb

stems, markers for location and manner can only be affixed to another

set of verb stems, and verbs of yet another set are more restricted in

the range of possible affixation. The present study re~examines ASl verb

morphology and identifies three major classes of verbs on the basis of

gener;;l morphological characteristics.

Chapter 2 discusses the morphology of the three verb classes:

~!nflecting·. ·Spatial· and uPlain-. Inflecting verbs, unlike the other

two classes, mark for person and number. Spatial verbs mark for

location and position, and a sub~class marks for path and manner of

movement. In contrast, Plain verbs do no~ mark for these categories.

Chapters 4·7 discuss in further detai 1 the syntactic characteristics of

verbs in these classes, inclUding verb agreement on inflecting verbs and

shifting ot nominal locus pas1tion in inflecting and spatial verbs.

2.1 Inflecting verbs

Verbs of this class inflect for perSon and number. Included in

13

this class are verbs 11ke: GIVE. SEND, ASK, TELL. FORCE. TEASE, TEACH,

SElL, DEFEAT. BLAME, BORROW. COPY, and INVITE. (Appendix A contains

additional examples.)

As can be seen from the illustrations of verb forms in sentenc~s

(1-2), the position of the beginning point of the sign varies depending

on whether the person of the subject of the clause is Iperson (I) or

2person (2) and in sentences (2-4) the end point of the sign also varies

in pos1tion depending on the person of the object. In {5-7}. it can be

seen that- as the number of the subject and object varies. tne beginning

and end points likewise change in form. (Illustrations of verb forms

appear in Figure 1.)1

(I) IINDEX IG1VEj BOOK.

'I gave him the book.,'

(2) 21NOEX pVEj BOOK.

'You gave, her the book.'

(3) IINDEX IGIVE2 BOOK.

'1 gave you the book.'

(4) jlNDEX iGIVEj BOOK.

'She gave him the book.'

I'

k .

'I gave you both the book.'

(6) IINOEX 1G1VE"exhaus BOOK.

'I gAve each of them the book.'

(7) l,dulNOEX l,duGIVEI BOOK.

'The two of them gave me the book.'

---Figure 1---

These verb forms cons1st of a linear movement (the stem). with

agreement markers at either end; the beginn1ng point of the s1gn 1s the

subject agreement marker, and at the end point. the object agreement

marker.

Not all inflecting verbs contain a linear movement between two

distinct points of locat1on. Certain inflecting verbs. for example.

WANT, FLUNK, ARREST inflect for either the subject (WANT) or the direct

object (FLUNK. ARREST. WANT). [n these cases, tne form of the verb lacks

a linear movement, and the sign 1s articulated in a single location

(Fischer & Gough 1978. Heier 1982). Despite these differences.

morphologically these verbs behave as inflecting verbs except that

agreement 1s expressed with only one nominal. 2

Inflections for person and number. as we will see in the

following discussion, consist of discrete and specific morphological

15

forms which are added to the verb stem.

2.1.1 P.erson agreement

The forms of. the person agreement markers are as follows:

Iperson: near signer's body 2person: in direction of addressee as determined bY3eye contact

with addressee. either real or discourse-marked 3person: the agreement fIlarker will have the Sil(l1e 10cus ;>oint t in

neutral space as the assigned 3person nominal locus point I·

While the form of the Iperson marker 1s fixed (a position near

the body of the signer). 2person and 3person markers pote.'\lial1y ha'/e an

Infinite number of possible locations. hi addressee can be positioned

in any location relative to the signer. accordingly a 2person dgreement

marker 15 likewise variable. As for 3person. the particular agreement

marker form used is dependent on a number of conditions, only a few of

which will be discussed here. For example. in (8-9). the ~ub';Qct is

followed by an INDEX to a particular locus point (il. as such. is

"assigned" that locus point. Subsequent agreement wah the subject win

have the same locus point. A noun such as DOG in (10) can be articulated

1n a particular location in place of an INDEX, and the object a'Jree~lerlt

marker in FEED has the same locus point as DOG. (Note: In the glosses.

the subscripts, .!.z. h.h ... are used to specify any distinctive locus

point in sign space. Henceforth, elements with the same subscript have

the same locus point.)

(B) WOMAN ,INDEX, ISEII01 FLOWER.

16

'That woman there, she sent me flowers.

(9 ) 'DOG jlNOEX i81TEj CAT.

'That dog there bit the cat. I

~t--

(10) 100G, iBlTEj CAT.

'That dog there bit the cat.'

The selection of a particular locus point for a 3person UmEX 1s

determlnpd by several factors. among them: the real, or supposed

location of the 3person referent, e.g. the woman being referred to in

(9) normally occupies an office 1n the general vicinity of locus point

(i), or an arbitrary locus point is chosen. Selection of a locus point

for 3person agreement is constrained as follows: coreferential nominals

are assigned the same locus point. Consequently. non-coreferential

nominals are usually assigned. different locus points.

The possibility of more than a frw 3person agreement markers 1s

not unusual for human languages. Southern Tlwa, for example, has

nUlTn:!rous 3person forms (Allen & Frantz. 1978). But what is perhaps

unique in the case of ASl 3person agreement is the potentially enormous

number of possible agreement forms. i.e •• any point in the signing space

around the signer's body 1s available for 3person agreement. However. no

more than possibly four or five dlfferent 3person locus points are used

at one point in the COnversation and new 3person locus points are

17

selected when the topic of the conversation changes, or the time

reference of the event changes. Additional discussion of some other

interacting conditions which determine selection of locus points for

3person agreement can be found 1n Chapter 6.

Although both 2person and 3person agreement forms have available

any locus point within s1gning space, distinctions between 1. 2 and

3person agreement forms are clear. as outlined above. Sentences in which

an inflecting verb's marking does not agree with the subject or object

are ungrammatical as in (11) where the SUbject is Iperson, but the

agreement marker is 3person and (12) where the direct object 15 2person

but the agreement marker is Iperson.

-----hn----(II) *IINDEX JASKj WHERE, WILL IINOEX.

'I'll ask where 1t 1s.'

-----n----(12) ·CAREFUL. MAYBE iASKl 21NOEX, NOT I1NDEX.

'Be carefull He might ask ~. not me.'

2.1.2 Number agreement

Number agreement may be either unmarked. for singular or

collective plural as 1n (13-14). or marked for dual. trial (three) or

more than three. In number marked forms. distinct morphological units

for number which take the form of characterist1c movements are added to

1 18

the stems as shown in the following sections 4(Kl1ma & Bellug1 1919}.

(13) II"DEX IASK, SISTER ZI"DEX GO.

'I asked ~ sister if she was going.'

. (14) 'pi INDEX ,HATEj jpIINDEX.

'They hated them.'

2.1.2.1 Dual

The dual number mark1ng has either one of the following two

forms:

(i) The verb stem is executed tw1ce. with the inflected end poInt displaced the second time.

or: (il) The verb stem 1s doubled to a two-handed form and executed either: (a) simultaneously or (b) twice 1n sequence.

-------t-------(15) SISTER. BROTHER, lASK i •du '

'I asked my sister and brother.'

---Figure 4---

While either form 1s poss1ble for dual objects, only the second

form (il) is possible for dual subjects.

(16) BOTH CIIILOREN '.duASKI SIMULTANEOUSLY.

'Both of the children asked me at the same time.'

19

---Figure 5---

Sentences like (17-lS) 1n which the number of the subject 1s

greater than two but the agreement marker 1s dual. are ruled out •

(17) *5 CHllDRErC 1•duASK1 SIHU,lTANEOUSlY.

'The children asked 'me all at'"the same time.'

----t----(18) 'CROWO DOG, IFEEO"du'

II fed scads of dogs.'

Another form of the dual 1s the reciprocal; the basic

morphological form ts similar to the dual with the following

distinction:

Reciprocal

The doubled dual form in which the end po1nts of each one-handed form either (a) are adjacent. or (b) have the same agreement Darker as the other's beginning point.

-----1f------------(19) ,'APPEN APPEAR EVENT, TWO-TIIEM r"jINFORM.

'If something comes up. they'll keep each other posted.'

(20) (alternate form of reciprocal)

(21) (alternate form of reciprocal)

20

2.1.2.2 Exhaust ive

The exhaustive inflection shall be described as follows:

Exhaustive ('each of more than 2')

The verb stem Is executed a~ least three times with/the inflected end pOints displaced.

(22) PAST CHRISTMAS, C-O OGIFTj ,exhaus jpllNOEX WORKtAg

TURKEY. 5

'The company gave each of the workers a turkey last Christmas.'

---figure 7---

Although surface forms may be similar, verbs inflected for

eKhaustive are to be distinguished from ~seriated verb construct1ons M•

as in (23). {23} contains a string of repeated verbs in a multi-clausal

construction. The subject of each subsequent clause 1s understood to be

the same as the subject of the first clause:

(23) llNDE< oG1FT" oG1FTj , DG1FTk'

01 gave one to him, then her. then him,'

---figure 8---

While both the exhaustive inflection and the seriated verb

sequence involve repetition, the fonms are in fact distinct. In the case

of the inflected form. there is repetition of the verb stem. and 1n the

21

seriated verb construction, repet1tlon of the entire verb. In a ser1ated

verb construction. number Is marked on the individual repeated

predicate, but the exhaustive inflection is added to a single predicate

to mark for any number greater than two. The fact that the surface form

of the exhaustive inflection involves three iterations of a single end

point is inconsequential to the range of possible numbers which can be

marked. As can be seen from (24). the plural indirect object may exceed

a number of three.

-~~--t----- . (24) 20 CHILDREN, oGlfTi.exhaus BALLOON.

'I gave each of 20 children a balloon.'

2.1.2.3 Multiple

In contrast to the exhaustive inflection. the multiple plural

inflection does not involve repetition, but only displacement:

Multiple ('them')

The end point marking direct object contains a sweep arc displacement 1n the horizontal plane.

(25) PRESIDENT STANO-UP, olNFORMj,mult.

'The pres1dent stood up and tol~,them about the news,'

(26) llNDEX F1N1SN OG1FTj ,mult LETTER.

'I already gave them their letters.'

\ 22

There are several d1stributional restr1ctions on the mult1ple

inflection: (1) the inflection cannot be used for subject agreement. as

in (27) below and (2) verbs w1th certain phonological shapes.

specifically, verbs which have repeated stems such as FLATTER.

CRITICIZE. FINGERSPELL-TO. TEASE cannot take the multiple inflection.

(All verbs used here as examples have single-movement stems, e.g. GIVE.

SEND, INfORM.)

(27) *lpl1NDEX FINISH 1.multSENOi LETTER.

'We've already sent the letters to him.'

The description of the multiple inflection g1ven above states

that the displacement takes the form of a horizontal sweep movement.

The fact that the inflection is restricted to this partiCular plane can

be seen from the following example 1n which a sweep arc in a different

plane, fOr example. vertical. results 1n a nonsensical form.

{la} *lINDEX OGIFT11.mult FINISH.

'I already gave it to them.'

As we have seen in the preceding sections, inflectional

morphology for person and number consists of specifically defined

move~ent units and positions added to the verb stem. Person marking

determines the end point of the sign and must agree with the person of

23

the marked nominal. Number agreement forms include those dtscuS5Pd

here: dual and plural (three or more). and these likewise are restricted

to defined movement units added to the verb stem.

In the following sections, 1 examine different types of verbs and

show that distribution of the above described inflectional morphology is

restricted to verbs of this class.

2.2 Plain verbs

In the earlier section, the form of inflectional morphology for

person and number was described as pOSitions and movements in space which

are added to the verb stem. As will be shawn In subsequent sections. this

morphology 1s restricted to verbs of the Inflectin9 class. Another class

of verbs. Plain verbs. including verbs like: THINK. liVE. CELEBRATE, LIKE,

LOVE. EXERCISE. REQUEST (see Appendix B) do not inflect for person or

number.

Verbs of this class have been characterized elsewhere as

"immutable" or "body-anchored" (Friedman 1976) in the sense that while the

form of Inflecting verbs 15 mutable depending on the person and number ot

particular nomlnals in the clause. the form of Plain verbs does not vary

1n sfmllar ways. However. the term "body-anchored" is inaccurate since it

suggests a phonological basis for the irranutabl1fty of verbs of this cJt,ss.

that they involve contact with the body, or are ~anchoredw to a location

on the body. this cannot be true because not all Platn verbs involve

2S

contact with the body (e.g. CELEBRATE, EXERCISE, REQUEST), but all are

lm~utable in one particular sense: they do not vary with respect to person

dnd number of the subject and object. The illVTlutahil ity of Plain verbs can

be seen from the following sentences in which the person of the subject

and object are varied. but the verb form rema1ns the same. Addition of a

person marker on any of these verbs produces impossible forms. as 1n (33):

(29) 1 i/10EX Kt'tOW i INOEX.

'J know her.'

(30) I [tlOEX KNOW 1 INDEX •

• She knows me.'

(31 ) 21 NOE X KtW/iI 1 INOE X.

'You know me.'

(3Z) IINDEX KNOW 2HIOH.

'J know you.'

'I kn<.w you ••

---Figure 11---

It should be noted here that the sense In which Plain verbs are

·PlainM or Mimmutable M ts limited to restrictions on person and number

16

inflectional morphology. Plain verbs, like Inflecting verbs may inflect

for aspect, including habitual. incessant. continuative, iterative, etc.

(Kl1ma & Bellugl 1979). Thus. distribution of verbal ilspect morphology 1s

general to both classes whereas distribution of person and number

morphology 1s restricted to only Inflecting verbs.

As In the case of person agreement In (29-33), we see from (34-35)

that varying the number of the subject and direct object does not affect

verb form. To further illustrate that verbs of this class cannot accept

number inflections, if a number inflection is added to a Plain verb oS in

(36). the resulting forms are unacceptable. 6

(34) IINDEX FORGET THREE BOOK, SHOULD ;BRING j CLASS.

'I forgot the three books I was supposed to bring to class. I

(35) jp1lNDEX FORGET BOOK, SHOULD jBRINGj CLASS.

'They forgot the book they were supposed to bring to class.'

-----t-----(36) *THRE£ BOOK. 1 INDEX DFORGET l,exhaus'

'I forgot the three books.'

---Figure 12---

The above comparisons of Inflecting and Plain verbs provide a

contrast between two different verb systems in ASl. Plain verbs. like

Chinese do not mark for the inflectional categories of person and number

(but do mark for aspect). Inflecting verbs, on the other hand, are highly

27

inflected; they inflect fo~ both the subject and object of the sentence.

and as such resemble hner1can Indian languages like Southern Tiwa (Allen &

Frantz 1978) and SWah11i which likewise mark for agreement with both

arguments. And a third class of verbs. Spatial verbs. provide yet another

contra'st to tt1l'!se two classes; unlike Inflecting verbs. Spatial verbs do

.not inflect for person and number but include verbal morphology unique to

verbs of this class.

2.3 Spatial v'!rbs

Spatial verbs include signs like GO-TO. DRIVE-TO. MOVE. MOVE

AWAY. PUT. BRING/CARRY (see Appendix C) and the class of verbs described

elsewhere as "verbs of motion and location" (Supalla 1982) such as!

CL:V-WALK (Iperson- walk ' ), CL:3-PASS ('veh1cle-pass-by'). CL:VV-WALK

('four-legged animal-walk'). The latter verbs, glossed MCL:_" are

·classifier verbs~ in which the noun class of Mperson" (CL:V-),

·vehicle" (CL:3-) or "four-legged animal" (Cl:VV-), etc. 1s specif1ed by

the handshape of the sign. Supalla (1982) has analyzed this particular

class of verbs of motion and location as having complex morphology.

containing richer combinations of roots and affixes compared to other

verbs. (For a detailed description of motion and location verb roots and

affixes, the reader is referred to Supalla. 1982.)

On first appearance. many spatial verbs very closely resemble

Inflecting verbs and in fact. the distinction between Spatial and

Inflectfng has not been clearly made in previous treatments of ASL verb

.'....-/": « <

morphology (Friedman 1975). Many Spatial verbs have a characteristic

~linear movement" Which begins at a specific locus point in neutral

space and moves to another end pOint distinct from the 1nitial potnt.

like Inflecting verbs. Other Spatial verbs lack a linear sten and

contain only one locus point which may likewise vary. and in this

respect resemble the small group of Inflecting verbs such c'lS RUTNED or

ARREST which also have the same form. It can be shown howeier. that

Spatial verbs are distlnh from Inflecting verbs in several important

respects. namely: the movement and positional forms observed in Spatial

verbs fail to exhibit the same morphological characteristics of p~rson

and number inflections.

2.3.1 Arguments against person agreement for SpaUIll ver~s

Some forms of Spatial verbs closely reseml>le Inflecting verbs

which are marked for person agreement with the subject and object. In

(37). the beginning point of the Spatial verb, 1, Is the same ,1S the

locus position of the 3person subject pronoun, l. and as such. appears

to "agree" in person with the subject. In (38). the beginning point of

the verb appears In the same locus as the Iperson subject pronoun, and

as in (37) appears to "agree" with the subject.

(37) jINDEX ;WALKjo

'He walked over there.'

<.-/<

28

r 'I walked over there.'

And in (39), the locus of the endpoint of Spatial verbs coincides

with the locus of the locative index, 1:

--------------q----------------(39) 2INOEX ?2WALKl iINDEX NEW.YORK.

'You walked to New York?'

The question now arises as to whether Spatial verbs inflect for

verson agreement. If it were the case that Spatial verbs inflect for

person then the facts establ ished 1n Section 2.1.1 about person

inflection should hold true. We would predict that sentences (40.41)

with Spatial verbs should be bad. as are (11.12) with Inflecting verbs

(repeated below}; however. (40-41) are perfectly acceptable.

--------hn---(11) ·lINDEX iASKj WHERE, WIll IINOEX.

'I'll ask where it is.'

----0----(12) ·CAREfUl, MAYBE iAS'1 21NDEX, NOT IINDp.

'Be careful I He might ask ~. not me. I

~--hn-~----(40) IINDEX iWAlK2 Will IINDEX.

'I'll walk over there.'

--q--(41) 2INDEX iCOMEI YESTERDAY, RIGHT?

'You came here ye~terday. right?'

29

As can be seen from the following examples and accompanying

illustrat1ons. the beginning point of the Spatial verb may appear in any

locat1on 1n neutral space although the subject is Iperson. a

characteristic not true of Inflecting verbs.

(42) IINDEX iWAlKj'

'I walked from here to there.'

(43) IINDEX jWAlK,.

'I walked from there to there.'

(44) IINDEX ,WAlKI •

'I walked from there to there. I

---Figure 14---

Thus in sentences like (42) where the beginning point of the

Spatial verb occupies a location near the signer's body, and

superficially resembles Iperson ,ag~eement. the beginning point 1s

actually a locative marker. Although (42) is often translated 1n a

simple form as "I walked there", the translation 15 more accurately: "I

went from a location near myself to another one over there." Ukf;:wi!.e.

sentences like (39), with the locus of the beginning point of the verb

near that of the 2person subject are more accurately translated as: ·You

walked!.!:2!!!. a location!!!!!:.~ to another location."

30

Another example of the person~locat1ve distinction can be seen in

compar1sons of the person and locative pronouns. In contrast to the

distal locative index, 'there'. which is directed at potnts away from

the signer's body, the proximal locative 1ndex. 'here', 15 articulated

near the signer's body. While person and locative markers have available

the same range of spatial points around the signer's body. and may have

homophonous forms (e.g. Iperson and proximal location: 'here') from

sentences like the follow,ing. it can be seen that the person and

locative pronouns are distinct from the fact that the person pronoun can

be followed by a locative pronoun at any location other than near

Iperson.

'I'll be here.'

(46) IINOEX jTHERE.

'I'll be there.'

On the basis of sentences like (40-46), we can conclude that

Spatial verbs do not mark for person.

2.3.1.1 Reciprocal

Earlier, the reciprocal inflection was described as a dual form

Min which the end points of each one handed form are either adjacent or

icentical to the other's beginning point. K Globally, the form can be

31

described as two hands approaching or crOSSing each other

simultaneously, terminating at some point adjacent or past each other,

with several acceptable variants on the position of the end points of

the two hands (see figure 6).

Several forms of Spatial verbs resemble these variants of the

reciprocal form, but in contrast to a synonymous reading for (19-21)

above, the similar forms bf Spatial verbs 1n (33~35) are not synonymous,

but have very different meanings .. as follows:

R~hand: ROCK lINDEX ;PUTj •

'I put the rocks next to each other.'

(48) L-hand: kPUT 1

(49 )

R-hand: ROCK IINDEX iPUTj'

'I put the rocks behind each other.'

l-hand:

R-hand:

jPUT I

ROCK IINOEX jPUTjo

'I put the rocks in the other's place. I

As {47-49} show, the distance between the end points of the

two-handed form marks relative locative distance. whether adjacent

31

('near'), at some distance from each other ('behind'), or in the same

location as the other's ('in each other's place'). In contrast, the

reciprocal variants of Inflecting verbs, as shown 1n (19.21) do not vary

in meaning, for example. Mto inform directlyM, Mto miss informing each

other", etc. 7 Crucially, what translates as distinctive locative

points for Spatial verbs is instead phonological variation for

Inflecting verbs.

In addition to providing a means for Identifying whether a verb

may mark for person, the above e~amples point to the different ways in

which Inflecting and Spatial verbs exploit the spatial dimension.

Inflecting verbs vary the pOSition of the beginning and end points of

the sign depending on the person agreement, an inflectional category to

which Spatial verbs are oblivious. Instead, Spatial verbs access a more

detailed plan~ of spatial points and mark for location. The following

arguments reinforce this distinction between Inflecting and Spathl

verbs.

2.3.2 Arguments against number agreement/for Spatial verbs

From surface appearances, there are forms of Spatial verbs which

resemble number agreement on Inflecting verbs. However, as the following

arguments show, these forms of Spatial verbs cannot be analyzed as

inflected forms.

2.3.2.1 Multiple

33 '-..../.

~.'

Inflecting verbs which take a multiple inflection add a

characteristic sweep arc movP.ffient in the horiZontal plane, but a sweep

arc of a different form. for example in a vertical plane, is judgcoj

nonsensical. e.g. (28). If Spatial verbs inflect for multiple, the Silll'le

restriction should apply. But. as (50-51) show, either a horizontal or

a vertical sweep arc movement is possible for Spatial VErbs 1 ike:

Cl:C-SLIOE. The vertical sweep form 1s not a nonsensical form but means

'to slide an object down' (say, a magnet on a refrigerator). In fact,

Spatlal verbs of this type, including WRITE, W.~PE. TRACE may have s •• eep

movement 1n many dlfferent directions, in sharp. contrast to the

restricted form of the multiple inflection.

(50) IINOEX jCL:C-SLlOE j "

'I slid a small object to the side,'

(51) IINDEX kCL:C-SLIDE1"

'I slid a small object down.'

.... -:-Figure 16---

The above examples provide further evidence of the morphological

differences between Inflecting and Spatial verbs, despite some surface

similarities in form.

2.3,2.2 Exhaustive

~ ••..••......................

in Section 2.1.2.2. a distinction was made between a ser1ated

verb construction. or a string of repeated predicates. and the

exhaustive inflectional form which Is added to the verb stem to mark for

-each of more than two M• In the case of a serlated verb construction.

nu~ber Is marked individually on each predicate. The 11lustratlon of

the verb in sentence (22). repeated below shows that although the actual

form of the exhaustive inflection contains three repetitions of the end

point. the number marked 1s not spec1f1cally "three", but any number

greater than two.

-----t--------(22) PAST CHRISTMAS, C-O OGIFTj.exhauS jpl1ND£X WORK.Ag

TURKEY.

'The company gave the workers turkeys last Christmas.'

However. the above facts about the exhaustive inflection do not

hold true for Spathl verbs. The form of the Spathl verb 1n the

follow1ng s~ntence (see Figure III marks for specifically three

different locattons with relatively equal distance between them. This

form cannot have a reading of "any number of locations greater than

two", but only a number equal to the number of repetitions. (52), then,

1s analyzed as a. seriated verb construction, not an inflected form.

--t---(52) CANDLE, IINDEX tPUT, ;PUT, kPUT •

'J put candles here. there and there.'

35

A further distinction between seriated verb constructions such as

(52) above and the exhaustive inflection can be seen from the following

Illustrations of possible phonological variation 0" the form of the

exhaustive. The distance between the inflected end points can be eQual

or unequal.

~--·-t-----(53) 20 CHILDREN. OGIFTt.exhaus BALLOON.

'I gave each of 20 children a balloon.'

{54} (alternate form of exhaustive)

___ Figure 17---

36

However, similar variants with Spatial verbs do not yield

synonymous readings. but indicate very different locative relationships.

---t--(55) CANDLE, IINDEX tPUT, lUT, ,PUT,

'I put three candles about equal distance from each other.'

---t--(56) CANDLE, ,INDEX t PUT, lUT, 1 PUT.

'I put one candle here, another one next to it and another waY,over there.'

___ Figure 18---

If Spa'tlal verbs inflect for exhaustive. then the same facts

about exhaustive inflection for inflecting verbs should hold true: the

putative P1nflected- form should mark for any number greater than two

and not specifically "three w • and phonological variants in the form of

the inflection should not be distinctive. The above examples show that

these facts do not hold true for Spatial verbs. and thus argue against

I:!xhaustive inflection for Spathl verbs.

Number 1nflection in ASl involves the addition of a

characteristic form to the verb root. and marks the verb for number of

the subject dnd object. There are forms of spatial verbs which appear.

in form, to resemble inflected verbs. but upon closer examination. these

prav!:! not to be number 1nflections. On the basis of the fdilure of

Soatial verbs to exhibit the same characteristics of number inflections,

we can conclude that these verbs do not mark for this category.

2.4 Test cases: Klrregular verbs K

Earlier sections have presented arguments distinguishing between

verbs of three major classes: Plain. Inflecting and Spatial. There are

a number (jf forms, however, which appear to be "irregular". for example.

the form shown in Figure 19 below. This particular form appears

identical to the Inflect1llg verb, GIVE; the hand configuration is

identical and this form contains a linear stem movement, as does GIVE,

but does not display the same morphologic~l characteristics of

Inflecting verbs. In (57), we see that although the subject is Iperson,

the beginning point does not inflect for Iperson j but for a 3person

location. As an apparent counterexample to prev10us eKamples with GlVE.

the form in (57) is judged grammatical.

(57) IINDEX jlGIVEj TELEPHONE NUHBER.

II gave him the telephone number.'

37

--·F1gure 19---

J show here that instead of an apparently ~lrre9ular· form. there

are instead two verbs: GIVE which is Inflecting. and a similar. but

morphologically distinct verb, more accurately glossed as CARRY-BY-HANO

which 1s Spatlal. And upon closer examination. there are in fact

formational as well as morphological differences between the two verbs.

First. 1t can be demonstrated that while GIVE inflects for person

and number. CARRY·8Y·HANO does not. In (58) the subject agree~ent

marker on GIVE does not agree in person with the subject of the clause,

and as ear11er demonstrated with (11·12). the sentence is ungrilln;natical

as expected. However. an otherwise identical sentence containing

CARRY.BY.HANO. (59) 1s perfectly acceptable, and the translation is

slightly different.

(5B) *lINDEX iGIVEj TELEPHONE NUMBER.

'I gave him the telephone number.'

(59) IlNDEX iCARRY-BY-HANOj TELEPHONE NUMBER.

'I handed over to him the telephone number.'

Further, CARRY·BY·HAND does not inflect for multiple. While only

a horizontal sweep form is possible for GIVE, CARRY·BY·HANO can have a

sweep movement in nearly any direction. (60) contains an example of a

possible form with CARRY·BY·HANO which would be ruled out for GIVE.

----t-----------(60) TELEPHONE NUMBER, llNOEX 1CARRY-8Y-HANOj ,

II waved (a paper with) the telephone number in the air.1

These examples demonstrate that while the two verbs appear

similar 1n form. they belong to different morphological classes: GIVE is

an Inflecting verb. but CARRY·BY.HANO 1s Spatial. Consequently.

CARRY-BY-HAND does not inflect for person or number. but instead marks

for location In a manner exclUsive to Spatial verbs. In addition to a

morphological distinction. the two forms are different forrnatlonal'y tn

one respect. Although both forms have identical handshapes and identical

linear movern~nts, the orientation of the hand in the two forms 1n

(58-59): tGIVEj and iCARRY-8Y-HANOj is different. In

iG1VEj' the palm is oriented from the direction of the 3person

locus. 1. whereas with the CARRY-BY-HANO form. the palm 1s or1ented

from the direction of the Iperson locus. In both these examples, the

palm 1s oriented from the direction of the subject of the sentence. From

these and similar examples. it can be seen that palm orientation plays a

role 1n verb morphology. an observation which has been made by oth~rs

with different examples (Fischer & Gough 1978. Meier 1982). Since this

Is a potentially interesting area of verb morphology which I do not

treat here. I mention 1t as an area for further investigation.

Another pair of formational1y similar verbs: DRIVE and DRIVE-TO

39

.~'

carl also be demonstrated to be dissimilar morphologically. DRIVE-TO is

Spatial but DRIVE exhibits none of the characteristics of Spatial verbs.

1nstead 1s morphologically Plain. DRIVE (see Fig·ure 21) cannot add

person or number inflections. nor can it indicate spatial location.

---1f--(61) MY-TURN, llNOEX ORIVE_

'If you'll let me. I'll drive~'

(62) llNOEX HURRY 1DRIVE-TOj' jARRIVE ON-TIME_

'I rushed to drive over there and arrived just 1n time.'

---Figure 21---

These pairs of formatlonal1y similar but morphologically distinct

verbs point to a tripartite system of morphological verb classes: Plain.

Inflecting and Spatial. Although two verbs may be quite similar in

form. their morphological class limits the range of possible affixes.

The above characterization of differences between Plain.

lnqecting and Spatial verbs point to an 'Important feature

d1stinguishing the three classes: the different ways tn which verbs of

each class exploit the spatial dimension in sign. Plain verbs occupy an

articulatory space. the sign is articulated in a fixed location. e.g.

CELEBRATE: neutral space. THINK: on the forehead. LIVE: on the chest.

In contrast. Inflecting and spatial verbs vary their location in space,

but fn significantly different ways. Inflecting verbs vary their

10cat10n 1n space depending on the categor1es of person and number of

40

'-.:...:,;..-

the subject and object, categories to which Spatial verbs are oblivious.

Instead, Spatial 'Ierbs mark for location, exploiting a more detailed

spatial dimension in which all spatial points around the signer's body

are avallable.

~l .-J.

Footnotes

1 The terms "subject" and "(direct/indirect) object" are useD here only as labels to facilitate description of the 'Ierb forms. A5 mentioned 1n the ~ntroduction to the chapter, a syntactic account of verb morphology. including grammatical relations and 'Ierb agreement 1s d1scussed 1n Chapter 4-7.

2 I will not attempt here to characterize beyond an informal description the morphophonological structure of the different Inflecting 'Ierbs; Meier (l980) and Liddell (1982) discuss several cmalyses of these verbs.

3 In direct speech. e.g. "So t said to him: 'What do you want?''', the signer can address an imaginary 2person referent.-other than the "real II or "present" 2person addressee. In these cases, the 2person form 1s eye contact directed toward an imaginary addres~ee.

4 Se'leral rnarkings for plurill are not discussed in the sections below, including: apportionative, seriated and allocative (Klima & Bellugi 1979}: as with the number forms discussed below. each have distincti'le forms added to the verh stem. for the present purposes of examining number inflectional marking on ASL verbs, it will be sufficient to limit our discussion to the following number forms: dual, reciprocal, exhausti'le, and multiple.

5 When 'Ierbs are_ inflected for plural object, subject agreement markers are typically omitted (indicated by the 0 subscript). further discussion of omitted subject agreement markers can be found in Chapter 5.

6 It is possible to accompany a Plain verb with a simultaneous index, and shift the body 1n the direction of each index, e.g.: e.g. :

(1 ) L-hand: t JUDEX

R-hand: FORGET

j INDEX k ~tl~~X ,

FORGET FORGET.

'He forgot and she forgot and he forgot (too).'

These forms appear not to be "inflected" but rather, a type of seriated verb construction in which the indices are used Simultaneously with the verb. Tests for number inflection discussed in this chapter involve fixed body pOSition and no simultaneous index.

7 Liddell (1977:15D-152) has made a similar observation regarding the distinction between verbs which 1 term here as "Inflecting M and MSpatiaP.

IG1VEj

(I) IINDEX IGIVEj BOOK.

'I gave him a book.'

ZGIVE j

(Z) ZINDEX ZGIVE j BOOK.

'You gave her the book.'

Figure 1

43 44

IG1VEZ

(3) lINDEX IGIVEZ BOOK.

II gave you the book.'

i GIVE j (4) tINOEX tGIVEj BOOK.

'She gave him the book.'

Figure 1 (continued)

45 46

IGIVE 2du (5) lINOEX IGIVE 2du BOOK.

II gave you both the book.'

i,duG1VEl

(7) l,dulNDEX i,duGIVEj BOOK. 'The two off them gave me a book.'

IGIVE; .exhaus

(6) jINOEX jGIVEi, •• haus BOOK.

'I gave each of them the book.1

Figure 1 (continued) Figure 1 (continued)

DOG tiNDEX

(9) DOG tiNDEX tBITEj CAT.

'That dog there bit the cat,'

--t--i DOG

--t--(10) tDOG. tBrTEj CAT.

'That dog there bit the cat,'

Figure 2

47

IINDEX

(11) 'lINDEX tASKj WHERE. WILL liNDEX.

'I'll ask where it is.'

·~-n------(12) 'CAREFUL. MAYBE tASKl 2INOEX. NOT liNOEX.

'Be careful! He might ask l£!!.. not me,'

figure _3

49

50

-------t------- i ,duASKl (15) SISTER, BROTHER, lASKi,du' (16) BOTH CHILDREN i,duASKl SIMULTANEOUSLY.

'I asked my sister and brother.' 'Both of the children asked me at the same time.'

Fi gure 4

Figure 5

-----~~~~----~----------

rl,j INFORM

_. ______ if ________ _

(19) HAPPEN APPEAR EVENT, TWO-THEM INFORM.

'If something comes up. they'll keep each other

posted .•

(20) {al ternate (21) (alternate

form of reciprocal} form of reciprocal)

Figure 6

51

oGIFTj,exhaus

(22) PAST CHRISTMAS, C·O oGIFTj,exh.us jp1INDEX

WORK +Ag TURKEY.

'The company gave each of the workers a turkey

last Chrtstmas.·

Figure 7

52

r

oGIFT;" oGIFT j • OGIFT k

(23) IINDEX OGIFT j • OGIFT j • oGIFT k·

'I gave one to him. then her. then him.'

Fi gure 8

53 \ ............. 54

oGIFT; .mult

(26) IINDEX FINISH oGIFTj.mult LETTER.

'I already gave them their letters.'

Figure 9

r _ .....

oGIFT?i .mult

(28) '1INoEX .GIFT11 ,mult FINISH.

'I already gave it to them.'

. Fi gure 10

55

57

KNOW

(31) 21NoEX KNOW IINDEX.

'You know me.'

KNOW

(32) ,INDEX KNOW 2INOEX.

'I know you.'

Figure 11

56

,INDEX

58

57 .--, 5S

FORGET o i .exhaus lINOEX ?lWALK i

·----t----(36) *THREE BOOK. lINDEX oFORGETi.exhauS·"

(38) lINO(X ?lWALK .

• I wa 1 ked over there".'

'I forgot the three books.'

Figur~ 12 . Fi gure 13

IINDEX

(42)

lWALKj

IINDEX lWALKj'

I I wa 1 ked from here to there. I

IINDEX jWALKk

(43) IINDEX jWALKk'

• J wa 1 ked f,:om there to here.'

F1 gure 14

59

. \

IINDEX

(44)

kWALKl

IINDEX kWALKl'

'I walked from there to there.'

F.Igure 14 (contInued) •

6D

t,:

1:

I I j

L-hand: kPUTj

R-hand: jPUT j

(47) L-h.nd: kPUTj"

R-hand: ROCK IINOEX ,PUTj "

~I put the rocks next to each other.'

L-h.nd: kPUT 1 R-nand: iPUTj

(46) L-hand: kPUTj" R-hand: ROCK IINOEX JPUT j "

'I put the rocks behind each other.'

Figure 15

6\

(49 )

62

L·hand: /UT j R-hand: ;PUT j

L-hand: lUT j R-hand: ROCK \INOEX jPUTj"

'I put the rocks in the other's place.'


(50)

iCL:C-SllOEj

lINDEX fCL:C-SLIDE j •

'I slid a small object to the side.'

kCL :.c-SllDE 1 (51) IINDEX kCL:C-SLIDE1'

'I sl1d a small object down.'

Figure 16

63 64

[Q

~ .. GIFT o t .exhaus

-----t-----(53) 20 CHILDREN, oGIFTi,exhaus BALLOON.

'I gave each of the 20 children a balloon.'

{54} {alternate form of exhaustive}

Figure 17

--t---(55) CANDLE, lINDEX JPUT, JPUT, kPUT.

'I put three candles about equal distance from

each other.'

~ .~~

--t---(56) CANDLE, IINDEX lPUT, JPUT, lPUT.

'I put one candle here. another one next to

it and another one way over there.'

Figure 18

65

l1GIVEj

(57) lINDEX l1GIVEj TELEPHONE NUMBER.

'I gave him the telephone number.'

Fi gure 19

66

jCARRY-BY-HANoj _. ______ t ______ _

(60) TELEPHONE NUMBER. IINOEX jCARRY-BY-HANOJ •

'I waved (a paper with) the telephone number

in the air.'

Figure 20

61

ORIVE

---if--(61) MY TURN. IINOEX ORIVE.

'If you'll let me. I'll drive.'

jORIVE-TOJ (62) llNOEX HURRY jORIVE-TOj jARRIVE-ON-TIME.

'I rushed to drive over there and arrived just

in time.' Figure 21

66

'-'--- .

Chapter 3

Embedded Structures

Complementizers or conjunctions are rarely present in ASl

sentences thus obscuring whether clauses are embedded or conjoined.

Chapters 4-7 contain arguments which crucially depend on the analysis of

certain ~tructures as embedded. In this chapter. I present a number of

arguments showing that although surface evidence 1s absent. there are

other grounds for analyzing thes~ structures in ASL as embedded

structures.

3.1 Arguments for embedded structures

At first glance. the first three sentences below are identical in

structure to the next three; all six contain two clauses. The

tl'ilt\slaUons of the first predicates in ,these sentences suggest they may

be complement structures containing embedded clauses. There is however.

no overt mar~ln9 of the relationship of the second constituent to the

first: no complementizer or conjunction is present. and the second

predicate 1n these sentences is not marked differently from the f1rst.

nor is there anything like infinitival morphology.

(1) IFORCEI MAN jGIVE j BOY lOSS BOOK.

69

)!Q%@jL J.t

'J forced the man to give the boy his book.'

(2) jPERSUADE 1 BUY JPOSS CAR.

'He persuaded me to buy his car.'

(3) IINDEX HOPE j INOEX COME VISIT WILL.

'I hope he will come to visit.'

(4) jGIVE 1 MONEY, lINOEX GET TICKET.

'He'll give me the money then I'll get the tickets.'

(5) HOUSE BLOW-UP, CAR jCL:3-FLIP_OVER.

'The house blew up and the car flipped over.'

(6) MAN jTAKE i PAPER. TEAR-UP.

'The man took the paper: and tore it up.'

From a brief evaluation of the paucity of surface markers of

clause structure. it could be concluded that embedding is nonexist2nt in

ASl. Sentences could De composed of either Simple or polysentential

clause structures. Such a proposal has been entertained by Thompson

(1977). However, arguments presented in the following sections will

show that sentences containing matrix predicates such as DECIDE. HOPE,

FORCE, PERSUADE. TELL, WANT as in (1-3) must be analyzed as embedded

structures but (4-6) are not.

70 l

............... ~ .. j

t_ ....................... .

3.1.1 Subject pronoun copy

As the following sentences and their translat10ns illustrate, a

pronoun copy of the subject is tagged onto the end of the sentenc.e as a

confirmation by the speaker. The copy may also be used to add an

emphatic meaning. (II) shows that clause length 15 not limited. and

copies may follow sentences of cons1derable length.

(7) 1 INDEX GO-AWAY 1 INDEX.

'I'm going. far sure (1 am) ••

(B) flliOEX AC~lESCE 1 INDEX.

'She didn't say anything after that.'

P _____ q ___________ _

(9) 21NOEX STAY 21NOEXl

'You'll stay?'

(10) MOTHER FINISH EXPLAIN JINOEX.

'My mother already explained about ttl she did.'

(11) MAN HAVE BLACK SHOE PLUS BROWN HAT jINOEX.

'The man has black shoes and a brown hat. he does.'

11

The rule for pronoun copy can be stated 'Very 1nformally as follows:

(12) Subject ~ Copy

A pronoun copy of subject f appears at the end of the clause of which ..!. is subject. -

In structures where a copy of the subject of clause! appears

at the end of a clause of which! is not subject.' Le •• a :'IOn-e"1bedded

clause!. the resulting sentences are ungrammatical, as the following

sentences illustrate.

(13) 'jGIVE J MONEY, jGIVE{ FLOWER j INOEX.

'He gave me money. but she gave me flowers. he did.

(14) 'IHIT!, jlNOEX TATTLE MOTHER IINOEX.

'I hit him and he told his mother, I did.

(15) 'jINOEX jSIT, jlNOEX jSTANO, jINOEX.

'He sat there and she stood there, he did.'

If, however. pronoun copies of subjects of clause ~ and clause

l appear following their respective clauses. the sentences are

allowed, as (16-11) show:

(16) jGIVE I MOIlEY JINOEX, jGIVE I FLOWER jINOEX.

'He gave me money, he did, but she gave me flowers. she did.

(17) IHITj IINOD, jlllOEX TATTLE MOTHER jlllOEX,

'I hit him. 1 did and he told his mother, he did.

But in structures where clause £. 15 embedded in clause !. a

pronoun copy of the subject of clause! can appear following clause

b. (In these sentences, clause.! contains one of the following

predicates: FORCE, PERSUADE. DECIDE, TELL. ASK, ENCOURAGE, COMMAND.)

(IS) {ORCE j MAO iG1VEj BOY lOSS BOOK lIHOEX.

'I forced the man to give the boy his book, 1 did.'

(19) lINDD DECIDE iIMDH SHOULD iORIVEj SEE CHILDREN lINDEX.

'I decided he ought to drive over to see his children. I did.'

(20) MOTHER SINCE ;PERSUADE j SI STER JCOME i j INDEX.

73

'My mother has been urging my sister to come and stay here. she has.'

(21) i iNDEX C-O iCOMMANOI JMOVE j j INDEX.

'The company has ordered me to move, it has,'

The rule for pronoun copying of the subject thus provides

ev1dellce for the distinction between c%rdinate and embedded clauses 11'1

ASL.

3.1.2 Negative marking

One form of negation in ASL is a non-manual signal used

concurrently with manual signs. The signal 1s a facial configuration of

squeezed ,eyebrows. tensed upper lip and a head shake which co-occurs

with the manual segment. The rule is stated 1nformally as follows:

(22) Negative Marking

The negative marking occurs throughout the negated clause.

If clause ~ 1n the following sentences is a member of clause

.!.. negating clause! 101111 result in a negative marking which appears

throughout clause E. as well as clause!" On the other hand, if

clause ~ is not embedded in clause .!.. a negative marker applied to

negated clause! cannot extend aver clause k as well. If the marker

did extend over both clauses. the meaning would be different. i.e •• buth

clauses would contain negatives and 1n this way would not be equ1'lalent

to (23-24). Sentences (23-24) support the first prediction. and (25-26)

confirm the second. ___________ n _____________ _

(23) lINOEX WANT jlNOEX GO-AWAY.

'I didn't want him to leave.'

________ 1'1 --------

(24) 2TELLI STAY ALL-DAY.

'You didn't tell me to stay for the entire day.' ______ 1'1' _______ _ ________ hn ____ _

(25) 1100EX TELEPHONE. jlNOEX WIlL LETTER.

'I didn't telephone but she sent a letter.'

-----1'1---- ________ hn ____ _

(26111NOEX SEE. jlNOEX UNDERSTAND.

'He didn't see it but she understood.'

Another argument has been provided 11'1 which one set of sent~nces

but not the other must be analyzed as having embedded structures. The

fact that in non~embedded struct~res a negative marker only appears

throughout negated clause! or .!!. follows from this analysis.

3.1.3 Topfca11zat1on

The subject or direct object of a clause may be top1cal1zed for

thE' purpose of focus or emphasis {Uddell. 1971, Coulter. 1979).1

Topic marking involves raised eyebrows used concurrently with the manual

segment throughout the top1cal1zed constituent.

(27) Toplcallzat1on

A topical1zed constituent appears w1th topic marking in clauseinit1al position.

tn (28), an example appears of a toplcallzed subject, and in

(29-30). e~amples of toplcal1zed direct objects. (28-30) 1llustrate that

sentence length can vary from short to relatively longer simple clauses.

-- t --(28) BICYCLE STEAL.

'The bicycle. it was stolen.'

-- t -(29) nCKET, J INDEX GET FINISH.

'Those tickets. I got them.'

--- t----(30) THAT BOOK, SISTER ,POSS HUSBAND jPOSS FR1ENO SEE klNDEX STORE.

'That book. my sister's husband's friend saw it in a store.'

Since in embedded structures. the embedded clause 1s wholly

contained within another clause. !. a subject or direct object of an

75

embedded clause! may appear in initial l?os1t1on 1n the sentence.

MM __ t ___ _

(31) ,POSS CAR, ,PERSUADE 1 BUY, INDEX.

'His car. he persuaded me to buy. he did.'

···t·· (32) nCKET, llNDEX lTELL2 2GlVEi'

'Those tickets, I told you to give to him.'

-----,t-----(33) lPOSS HOUSE, ,FORCE1,POST S·A·L·E.

'My house. they've forced me to put it up for sale.'

From the following sentences, it can be seen that a top1cal1zed

constituent of a clause at any level of embedding can appear 1n initial

pos1t1on. 2

.. •. t (34) EXERCISE CLASS, llNDEX HOPE SISTER SUCCEEU PERSUAOE

MOTHER TAKE·UP.

'The exercise class. I hope my sister manages to

persuade my mother to take it.'

--t--(35) MOTHER, llNOEX HOPE SISTER SUCCEED PERSUADE TAKE·UP

EXERCISE CLASS.

'My mother, I hope my sister manages to persuade her to

take the exercise class.'

--t--(36) SISTER, lINOEX HOPE SUCCEED PERSUAOE flOTHER TAKE·UP

EXERCISE CLASS.

'My sister. 1 hope she manages to persuade my mother to

take the exercise class,'

76

If these structures were not embedded, but rather coordinate.

they would violate a universal constraint proposed by Ross (1967) in

which constituents cannot be moved out of coordinate structures:

(31) Coordinate Structure Constraint

In a coordinate structure, no conjunct may be moved, nor may any elemen contained in a conjunct be moved out of that conjunct. (1967:89)

In contrast to (34-36l, a toplcalizcd constituent of the second

clause in (38-40) cannot appear in initial position. While this

provides same· support for analyzing such structures as "coordinate",

additional arguments are needed before such structures can be identified

as coordinate rather than poly-sentential, an issue which 1 do not treat

in this present work.

---t--(3.8) "FlOWEU. 2GI VE 1 MotlEY, jGl VE 1"

'Flowers, he gave me money but she gave me. I

---t--(39) "MOTHER. IHIT 1 SI STER. j INDEX TATTlE k•

'His mother. I hit my sister and he told.

---t--(40) "MCoIlO, e-o iG1FTj TROPHY, OTi-iER e-o kGIFTj'

'Money. one company gave him a trophy and another gave him.'

Topical ization provides yet another argument for the distinction

between err,bedded and non-embedded structures in ASL: a topical ized

subject or direct object of an embedded. but not a non-embedded clause

may appear in initial position.

3.1.4 Conjunctions/Discourse markers

Certain lexical items such as BUT, MlO, FINISH ('then'), \rIElL

('so'). PLUS ('and') and other non-manual markers such as ---head nod

--- ('and then') cannot appear between a matrix and embedded clause.

While many of these Signs translate as conjunctions in English,

additional evidence distinguishing between coordinate and poly

sentential structures will determine whether these are mare

appropriately termed conjunctions or discourse markers.

(41) *lPERSUAOE 1 BUT CHANGE MIND.

'I persuaded her but to change her mind.'

(42) 'PERMIT j FINISH WASH CAR.

'I let her then wash the car.'

However, there are sentences similar to (41-42) which are judged

gralTlAlatical, shown below as (43). In cases of sentences I ike (43), the

sentences have dHferent non-manual markers. A pau~e typically ajJpear~

between the clauses and the second clause may be preceded by a sharp

head shake.

(43) lERSUADE p BUT CHANGE MIND.

'I persuaded her to do it but then I/she/he changed my mind.'

(44) IINDEX PERMIT i • FINISH WASH CAR.

'I permitted her to do. it then I/she/he went to wash the car.'

1

J

t ............................. .

It can be shown with any of the above arguments that (43-44) are

not embedded structures; (45-46) shows that when clause! is negated.

a negative marking cannot appear over both clauses for the same

meaning. As discussed in Section 2.1.2. the fact that a negative

marking cannot appear over both clauses in (45-46) demonstrates that

they are not embedded structures.

---n---(45) PERMIT1 fINISH WASH CAR.

'I didn't let her do it so then she went to wash the car.' ______ n __ _

(46) IPERSUAUE l BUT CHANGE MIND.

'1 didn't talk her into anything but she changed her mind

(anyway) •

Additionally. a subject pronoun copy of the first clause cannot

appear following the second clause in these sentences.

(47) 'I'ERMIT1 fINISH lINDEX WASH CAR IINDEX.

'I let her so then she went to wash the car. I did.'

(4B) 'ZPERSUADE 1 BUT iINDEX CHANGE MItlD ZUIDEX.

'You talked her into it but she changed her mind. you did.'

Further, 1n sentences like (49~50). the subject or d1rect object

of the second clause cannot be topicalized and appear 1n lnitial

position. an additional argument against the analysis of these

\ ,--,.

79 80

structures as embedded.

_~t-

(49) 'CAR, PERMIT1 FINISH 1 INDEX WASH.

'The car. I let her so then she washed it.'

--t--(50) 'HOUSE, 2'ERSUADE 1 BUT IItlDEX BUY.

'The house, you persuaded me but I bought it anyway.'

With four dlffere~t arguments. we have thus far demonstrated the

existence of embedded structure's In ASl. Apart from the information

this provides about interna) structure of ASl sentences wllleh lilek

su.rface markers. the tests are essential in determining clause structure

of bi-clausal sequences in ASl.

.1

i\

.1

I I 'I

Footnotes

1 The discussion of topicalization 1n this section ;s limited to the issues of the argument; further discussion can be found 1n Chapters 6 and 7.

2 Although the examples used for the argument include only those 1n which the topicalized constituent appears in sentence-initial posit1on of an embedded structure. some signers will allow topicaltzed nomlnals in clause-initial position at any level of embedding. e.g.:

---- t ------(i) IINDEX HOPE SISTER SUCCEED PERSUADE MOTHER EXERCISE CLASS,

MOTHER TAKE.UP.

HI

'I hope my sister manages to persuade my mother. the exercise class. to take it.'

3 A nur.lber of non-manual features appear to mark boundaries between claus~s. such as a pause and movement of the head. It is unclear to me whether specific features can be identified as preceding only embedded as opposed to conjoined clauses. Further description of non-manual components 1s necessary before these markers can be used as arguments d1stir.~uishing one structure froln another.

Chapter 4

Predicates

The preceding chapter discussed morphological properties of one

grammatical category of s1gns 1n ASL: verbs. In this chapter.

properties of -nouns·, ~verbs·1 and N adjectlves· are examined. and

several characteristics emerge which determine category merr,bership of

s1gns. These are discussed in Section 4.1. Sections 4.2 and 4.3

examine data wh1ch show that category membership alone cannot account

for cases of signs which are members of different categories, but

display similar syntactic characteristics. 1 argue that in order to

account for this data, the not10n of "predicate~ as a grammatical

relation is needed. Several arguments are brought to bear on the

distinction between grammatical category and-grammatical reldticn,

showing: (I) some rules refer to category only. (2) others refer to

grammatical relations and (3) yet others refer to both category and

grammatical relations. This chapter addresses the question of

morphological and syntactic properties of ASL as well as interaction of

both.

4.1 Distinctions ~etween grammatical categories

Determining whether a lexical item is. for example, a ·noun K as

opposed some other category such as ·verb- or -adjective- involves

identifying properties 1nherent to nouns which are not shared by members

82

of other classes. These properties of category membership are

determined to be invariant; lexical items which are "nouns" exhibit the

same properties of "nouns" regardless of which clause they appear in.

With respect'to ASl. distinctions have been made between

semantically related pairs of nouns and verbs. e.g. CHAIR - SIT-DOWN,

AIRPLANE _ FLY. etc. (Supalla &- Newport. 1978) on the basis of

differences in surface movement forms: while verbs can have either

single or repeated movement. the noun counterpart of the pair 1s always

repeated and restrained. Klima & Bellug1 (1979) have also identified

movement differences between nounS and derived adject1ves. However.

determining category membership on the basis of form alone is

inconclusive in contexts where differences 1n form between certain

verbs, nouns and adjectives become neutral lIed. This problem 1s similar

to relyln9 exclusively on the appearance of the '-1ng' inflection to

distinguish between verbs and adjectives in English. In addition.

derivational nlorphology 15 not found on many s1gns. thus a contrast

between different categories is absent.

Consequently some other determinant of category membership is

needed which 1s not dependent on form alone. In the following section,

several determinants of category membership are examined which support a

distinction between the grammatical categories of noun, verb and

adjective in ASL. Although the present study Is limited to distinctions

between these three categories. this is not to say that other categories

such as adverbs and prepositions do not exist In ASL. but In the

~- .. ~.~---"-----------

83

interests of focus. Identifying properties of these categories 1s

postponed to a later study.

4.1.1 Adjectives

Only adjectives may inflect for the -Intensive- aspect ('very').

The form of the inflection Is the addition of a characteristic movement

s~quence to the stem: a 10n9 tense hold at the beginning of the sign and

~ very rapid release to a final hold. For example. the uninflected SICK

has a short lax movement toward the head. but when inflected for

intensive. the form changes to a larger movement as described above.

(I) LAST-WEEK IINOEX SICK.

'I was sick last week.'

(2) LAST-WEEK IINOEX SICK[+intenslve).

II was very sick last week.'

All the underlined signs in the following sentences may b~

1nflected for 1ntensive aspect, thus they are argued to be ·adjectives~.

(3) UP-TO-NOW WOMAN SICK/SICK[+intenslve].

'The woman has been s1ck/very s1ck for some time.'

(4) BOOK HAVE BLUE/BLUE[+;nt.n,!,.) ON-BACK-SURFACE.

'The book has a blue/bright blue cover.'

I

J

(5) GIRL THIN/TIIlN[+intenslve].

'The girl was thin/very thin.'

(6) LAND ilNOEX FLAT/FlAT[+intensiveJ.

'The land there 1s flat/very flat.'

The configuration of the intensive inflection 1s not to be

confused with other modulations on base forms which also involve

addition of a (+tense] feature, such as emphatic stress. The emphatic

form can be distinguished from the intensive in the following respect:

emphasis is added to the surface form. but not to the stem, as in the

case of the intensive. Compare the surface uninflected, non-emphatic

form of REO in (7) with (8) and (9) below; (8) involves the

characteristic movement contour of the intensive form: a single sharp

release from a tense beginning to a final hold, in (9) REO has

tenseness, but the repetition of the surface form remains and tenseness

is distributed evenly across the execution of the movement, tn contrast

to the sequence described for intensive ~spect.

(7) IINDEX BUY TOP-GARMENT RED.

'1 bought a red top.'

--when-(B) SUN-SET. SKY RED[+lnt.nslv.]_

'Wh1le the sun was setting. the sky was bright red.'

~-------n--------(9) ZINDEX UNDERSTAND. IINDEX WANT RED[+emph.tic].

ZGIVE I BLACK.

'You don't understand, I want the red one but you've given me the black onel'

---Figure 22---

As (10-11) show, addition of the intensive inflection to nouns or

verbs produces nonsensical forms: l

(11) *CAR 1Cl:3[+intensive].

(12) *2INDEX HAVE CHAIR[+intensiveJ.

Thus adjectives can be d1stingu1shed from nouns and verbs on the

basis of their abi11ty to inflect for intensive.

4.1.2 Nouns

Nouns can be modified by quantifiers which include numbers, e.g.

2, 3, 4, 5, etc., and measurement for count and mass nouns, e.g. SCADS,

LINE.QF, SMALL- AMOUNT. etc.:

(13) SISTER HAVE SCADS CAT.

'My sister has many cats.'

(14) IINDEX SMALL-AMOUNT WINE.

'That's jtJst a little wine.'

(IS) SEEM 5 PEOPLE DIE.

'It looks like five people died.'

In contrast, verbs and adjectives cannot be modified by these

quantifiers. Attempts to use quantifiers such as these. AS 1n (16.17)

results 1n unacceptable sentences:

(16) 'SISTER SCAOS HAVE CAT.

(17) "I UIDEX SMALL-AMOUNT RIDICULOUS.

(IB) 'IINOEX 5 WAIT.

(19) 'SISTER llliE-OF HAPPY.

87

Derived forms identified by Supalla & Newport (197S) ~s "derived

nouns~ should be able to take ~uantiflers. and (20·23) demonstrate that

while derived nouns can appear with quantifiers, their verb counterparts

cannot.

(20) l,p1 lNOEX SCAOS O:[+noun]SIT.

'There's lots of chairs over there.'

. (21) *1 ,pi INOEX SCAOS SIT.

(22) l,p1

lNDEX SCADS O:[+noun]OPEN-WINOOW.

'There's lots of windows, here.'

(23) *I, p1 INDEX SCAOS OPEN-WINOOW •.

Testing for use with quantifiers provides a way to distinguish

nouns from verbs and adjectives, as well as ,to determine the s.tatus of

derived forms.

4.1.3 Verbs

Chapter 3 discussed properties of verbs within sub-classes, but

at least one property can be identified which holds true for verbs

acrosS different sub. classes: verbs c~nnot be attributive. that ls.

cannot modify nouns within a noun phrase.

(24) * IINOEX SIT WOOAN.

(25) '11NDEX PLAN PERSON.

'He's an organized person.'

(26) ·I,J,duINOEX FIGHT BIRO.

88

'Those are fighting birds (roosters).'

(27) *iINOEX WOMAN HIT(ihabltual] WIFE.

'The woman is an abused wife, I

There are additionally. other morphological characteristics which

are specific to verbs. but do not include all verbs. For example. the

reciprocal inflection may only be ildded to verbs. but additionally. only

to inflecting verbs.

(28) i ,j ,duINOEX i ,j •rec1pGIFT BADGE.

'They gave each other badges.

(29) *l,j.duINOEX 1,J,recipHAPPY.

'They're happy for each other.'

The Agent suffix inclUding: TEACH ... Ag ('teacher'). LEARN ... Ag

('student'), ADVISE ... Ag ('counselor'), SELL+Ag ('salesman'). etc.,> with

one exce~tion: AMERICA ... Ag ('American') which 1s possibly lexlcallzed.

can(lot be added to nouns. Although JIJ'oIERrCA ... Ag is possible, the suffix

cannot be used for other nGtionalities: *RUSSIA ... Ag, wFRANCE+Ag,

*GERMANy ... Ag, etc. However, use of the suffix is limited, and is not as

productive as noun derivational morphology, e.g. D:("'noun]aASY KEEP

('babysitter'). D:[+noun]SUPERVISE ('supervisor'), and D:[+noun]TEACH

(·teach~r·).

Evidence has been presented showing that ~noons~, Mverbs~ and

Madjectives· display different morphological characteristics. and tnat

there Is basis for supporting distinct10ns bet ... een these grammotical

categories in ASL. Only adjectives can be inflected for intensive

aspect, only nouns can be modified by quantifiers and verbs cannot be

attributive. USing these properties. cases of verbs with noun and

adjective derivational morphology were shown to be indeed nouns and

adjectives, and not verbs. In the next sections, we examine interaction

of category and syntax.

4.2 MPredicate" as a grammatical relation

We have determfned categorial notions such as "nOun" and ·verb·

on the basis of certain properties which are shared by members 'Of the

grammatical category. For example. nOuns but not verbs or adjectives.

may be modified by quantifiers. Additionally. category membership is not

different in different clauses. In contrast. the grammatical relation an

element bears to a clause may be different in different clauses, that

1s, a nominal could be ~subject" in one clause. but "direct object" in

another. Included in the inventory of grammatical relations, in

addition to notions such as "subject". "direct object", and "indirect

object~. Perlmutter (1979) has proposed the notion of ·predicate" as a

grammatical relation.

Data from ASL sentences provides further support for the notion

of ·predicateM as a relational. not categorial notion (as are ·verbs").

In this sectlon. I present data trom ASL clauses show1ng that in order

to capture generalizations about similar behav10r of certain elements in

the clause, the rules cannot be stated in terms of category membership,

but must be stated 1n terms of the predicate relat1on. The form of the

a~guments used 1n this chapter 1s similar to arguments for other

gra!m1at1cal relat10ns which w1ll be discussed 1n Chapters 5-7. namely:

syntactic behavior of constituents can be shown to be independent of

category membership.

While the arguments presented here for pred1catehood are based on

ASl. similar arguments supporting Mpred1cate" as a grammatical relation

have been made for other languages such as Choctaw. Japanese, Russian.

Cebuano and Pahuan (Perlmutter 1979). In these lan9uages. nominal~ and

adjectives ~hlch bear a predicate relation along with verbs have been

shown to behave alike with respect to rules which refer to the notion of

Npredicate".

4.2.1 Arguments for predtcatehood

The status of the underlined constituents 1n the following

sentences has never been clear. With respect to sentences like (30·32).

Fischer (l97B) notes -an implicit verbal feel N about the underlined

constituents although. as she observes from sentences like (33-34), it

can be shown that the underlined constituents are nouns _ they can be

preceded by quantifiers.

''--..-.'

91

(30) IINOH WOMAN .QQ£.T.2!. 'The woman is a doctor.'

(31) IINOEX OOCTOR~.

'The doctor 1s a Worn"". I

(32) I INOEX~.

'That's a cat.'

(33) WOMAN SELF 2 ~OCTOR.

'The woman Is two doctors 1n one.'

(34) l,pllNOEX SCADS CAT.

'Over there's scads of cats.'

In pairs of sentences like (30·31) there appears to be little or

no difference in the noun forms whether they appear in in1tial or fi~al

position. Copulas are absent in such sentences. On the basis of f~cts

about category membership. sentence (30) for example. could be analyzed

as a simple sequence of two nouns with their relationship determined tn

pragmatiC terms that 1s. the second noun is some attribute of the first.

In this analysts. the facts are accounted for by morphological category

and pragmatic or semantic features. but not syntactic structure.

Accordingly. {30·32} would be represented in some means as

follows:

(3,) NP --> (Oct) Iloun - Noun

A similar analysis would likewise account for adjectives which

appear either before or after the noun as in (36-31). From surface

appearances, adjectives 1n either position are indistinguishable tn

form. In fact. previous analyses of adjectives 1n ASl have suggested

that position of the adjective 1s optional. with ·preferred" order

following the noun.

(36) ilNDEX BLUE CAR.

'That's II blue car.'

(37) ilNOEX CAR BLUE.

'That '~r 1s blue.'

Under an ana-lysiS ,of adjective posit1on as optional, the

structure of the noun phrase can be represented in the following form:

(38) NP --> (Det) (Mj)~ Noun (Adj)~

. As with the earlier sentences with nouns. the facts about

adjectives are adequately accounted for 1n terms of grammatical category

and no additional statement 1s needed about the syntactic structure of

strinys such as (36~37).

1 present evidence from other sentences in ASL ~hich argue

against the preceding analyses of the underlined nouns and adj~ctives.

and show that the although the underlined constituents are mt~bers of

different categories. they. like verbs. are all "predicates". That is.

I propose that the structure of sentences like (30) is ,,'follow,,2

(39) ilNDEX WOMAN ~OCTOR.

'The woman is a doctor.'

and sentences like (36.37) have different syntactic structures,

spec1ficdlly. in (37). the adjective is not contained 1n the noun

phrase. but bears a predicate relation to the clause:

(40) ilNOEX BLUE CAR. (41) ilNDEX CAR BLUE.

. 'That's II blue car.' 'That car is blue.'

and order of constituents in sentences (39~41) is: Subject - Predicate.

The following arguments show first, that (30~34). (36~37) are

clauses. not strings of isolated elements or phrases. and then tr,at

there are grounds for positing a predicate relation for the underlined

constituents. Flna"y. I show that constituents in these sentences are

not freely ordered. but constrained to: Subject - Predicate.

4.2.1.1 Sentential complements

THINK takes only clausal direct objects. as shown 1n (42-43).

Sentences like (44) below 1n wh1ch a non-clausal d1rect object follows

THINK are ruled out:

(42) IINOEX THINK IINOEX TELL 2•

'I thought I told you.'

(43) ,INDEX THINK 21NOEX jGO, TOMORROW.

'She thought you were coming tomorrow'

(44) *}INDEX THINK SISTER. 3

(42) 1s represented below as (45). and (44), as (46). As can be

seen, the structure (46) 1s starred for ASL:

(45 }11NDEX THHIK IINOEX TEll2•

'I thought I told you.'

. ~

~9FS"T'~T\)fr;c;. . •••••...

(46) *IINOEX THINK SISTER.

95

If (30-34) were analyzed as a simple noun phrase. then (47-49)

below should be bad sentences. that ls. they would be ruled out slnce

their structure would be that of starred (46). But since they are

allowed. they must then be clausal.

(47) IINOEX THIN' ,INDEX Wll<AN DOCTOR.

'I think the woman is a doctor.'

(48) IINOEX THINK ,INDEX DOCTOR WOMAN.

'I think the doctor 1s a woman. I

(49) IINOEX THINK ,ltlDEX CAT.

'I think that's a cat.'

With respect to adjectives. the question 15 the same: if either

sequence of: Noun + Adjective or Adjective + Noun as 1n (36-37) were

non-clausal noun phrases. then they should not be able to appear as

d1rect objects of THINK. But as (50) shows. the sequence of Noun +

Adjective is permitted as direct object. but not the sequence of

Adjective + Noun. (51).

(50) IINOEX THINK CAR BLUE.

'I think the car is blue.'

(51) *IINOEX THINK BLUE CAR •

95

On the basis of the grammatical (50), the scqut!nce of Noun +

Adjective is determined to be clausal, but the sequence of Adjective +

tloun in (51) is not. Thus. an analysh of Adjective + Noun as nominal

would be adequate but would maKe wrong pr~dlctlons about sentences like

(50).

Having determined the sequences of Noun + Noun 1n (30) and Noun +

Adjective in (36) to be clauses, properties about certain elements

within the clause can be determined. With respect to the predicate

r~latlon. Perlmutter (1979) has proposed the following as a universal:

(52) Predicate Uniqueness law

Every stratum of every basic clause node contains exactly one

Predicate-arc.

The following sections address the question of which constituent

in these clduses bears the predicate relation. In arguing that the

underlined constituents bear the predic.ate relation, 1'11111 show that by

referring to a -predicate- relation. certain facts about similar

behavior of elements across different clauses can be accounted for 1n a

general way. and that predicates 1n clauses are constrained 1n order:

~Ibject - Predicate.

4.2.1.2 Short answers

In response to the following Yes-No questions;

••••••••• q ••••••••••••••

(53) 2lNDEX KNOW jlNDEX Wa~AN

'Do you know the woman?'

• •••••••••• q •••••••••• (54) 21NDEX MEET IPOSS AUNT

'Did you meet my aunt1'

the form of the affirmative short answer is as follows:

------hn--------(55) YES, IlNOEX KNOW.

'Yes. 1 do.'

--------hn------(56) YES, IlNOEX MEET.

'Yes. 1 did.'

A short answer containing only the verb. as _1n (51 p SU). i!> cc,mr.,on

following a general condit1on· that allows deletion of the subject when

it is understood from previous sentences or from the cooteAt.

---hn----(57) YES, KNOW.

'Yes, 1 do. '

----hn---(58) YES, MEET.

'Yes, I did.'

Accordingly. the condition 00 short answers is stated thus:

(59)~~

A short answer contains the subject and predicate.

If the structures for (GO-51) are as follows:

(60) jl"OEX WCI.AN DOCTOR.

'The woman 1s a doctor.'

(61) jlNOEX wOO" SICK.

'The woman is sick.'

where the predicate relation is borne by DOCTOR in (GO) and SICK in

(Gl). then {62b-63b} should be possible short answers to (62a-63a). but

(62e-63c) would be inappropr1ate. 4 As the following show. the claim 1s

supported:

----q--------------(62a) 1 WOE X WOHAN DOCTOR.

'Is that woman a doctor?'

~~~ ____ hn--------~--(6Zb) YES. (I INDEX) DOCTOR.

'Yes. she is.' _____ hn ___ _

(62c) *YES. wOMAN.

--------q-------(63.) jlNOEX WOMAN SICK.

'Is the woman sick.?'

"

99

100

MMMw __ hn __________ _

(63b) YES. (jINOEX) SICK.

'Yes. she is.' _____ hn ___ _

(63,) 'YES. WOMAN.

If however, WOMAN bears the predicate relation, as in (64a). the

response (64b) should be acceptable, but not (64c):

-------q---------~--(64.) jl"OEX DOCTOR WOMAN?

'Is that doctor awoman1'

?\ ____ hn ___ _

(64b) YES. WOMAN.

'Yes. she is.' _____ hn ____ _

(64,) ·YES. DOCTOR.

The predicatehood of the underlined constituents in (30) and (36)

can be demonstrated by showing that they appear in short answers to

Yes-No questions. Despite the fact that what needs to be accounted for

w\th respect to possible short answers refers to elements of different

categories: nominals, adjectives and verbs, an analysis in termS of

grammatical relations. specifically the "predicate" relation provides

the more general statement.

4.2.2 Distinction between predicate and attributive adjectives

To briefly recapitulate, two analyses are possible for adjectives

in ASl: (1) in the analysis represented in (65), adjectives appear in a

noun phrase and either of two pOSitions, before or after the nOun is

possible, or (2) tn (66), the adjective Is not a nominal. but heads a

predicate arc.

(65) IlP-'i (Det) (Adj) N (Adj)

(66) i 1 "DEX CAR BLUE-

'The car 1s blue,'

A number of arguments can be brought to b~ar on these analyses.

showing that in order to account for facts about certain inflections

and distribution of adverbs; a distinction must be made between

attributive ~nd predicate adjectives in ASl, that is, the analysis which

is supported by this data Is (66) since (65) Is inadequate as an account , of adjectives in ASl.

4.2.2.1 Resultative inflection

The "resultative" inflection ('become'), as described in Klima &

Sel1ugi (1979). is characterized by the addition to the stem of a

movement sequence which Mhas a tense motion •••• starts slowly and with

101

restraint and accelerates to a long final hold N (1979:261). The

inflection can only be added to adjectives: (68-69) .:Ire starred:

(67) LINDEX EAT FISH, D:(idomatic)WRONG, SICK[+resultat1ve].

II ate some fish and suddenly became ill.'

(68) '*1INDEX STUDy[+continuatlve] YEAR[+plural]. FINISH. NOW

DOCTOR[+resultatlve].

'He studied non-stop for years, then became a doctor,'

(69) *l,jduINDEX DATE[+habitualJ SINCE 2 YEAR, RECENTLY

MARRY[+resultatlve].

'They dated for two years and recently got married.'

However, not all adjectives can take the inflection, in

particular, adjectives ordered before the noun cannot, but the same

adjective ordered ~ the noun can!

(70) *2INOEX HAVE TAN[+resultative] SISTER.

'You have a turned-tan sister.'

(71) SISTER CL:V:lIE:ODWN 5-U-N. TAN[+resultatlve].

'My sister sunbathed and became tan.'

In an analysis such as (65) where there is no relational

distinct10n between adjectives which appear after the noun and those

102

that precede the noun. f.e •• both appear 1n nominals. an ad~hoc

statement about the resultatlve inflection would be needed to account

for (70-11). If. however. there were grounds for positing a relational

distinction between the two adjectives. the facts about (70-71) would

follow from this distinction.

Having shown that adjectives which precede and follow the noun do

not beha~e alike with respect to affixation of the resullatlve

inflection, we tUrn now to further arguments which support the structure

presented in (66) as an account for (71).

4.2.2.2 Adverbs

The adverbs, including! FAST ('quickly') EASY, ALWAYS precede

verbs 1n a verb phrase, but not nouns:

(72) MOTHER ALWAyS HOPE 1,jduiNOEX MARRY.

'Their mother is always hoping they'll marry.'

------t~ __________ _ (73) KrmW lPOSS 8ASEMENT, WATER FAST SEEP-THROUGH-WALL.

'You know, 1n my basement, the water very quick.ly gets

through the walls.'

--------t-----------(74) "K"OW IPOSS 8ASEMENT, FAST WATER SEEP-THROUGH-WALL,

(75) HORSE FAST EAT-Orr-SURFACE GRASS.

103

'The horse quickly ate all the grass.'

(76) -HORSE EAT-ON-SURFACE FAST GRASS_

In the following pair. of sentences, EASY can precede the

adjective in (77), (79) but not in (78), (80):

(71) ilNOEX MAN ALWAYS MIND-WARPED.

'The man 15 always crazy.'

(7S) • t INDEX ALWAYS MIND-WARPED MAN.

'He's a continually crazy man.'

(79) i,plINOEX PEOPLE ALWAYS HUNGRY.

'Those people are always hungry.'

{SO} *1,PlINOEX ALWAYS HUNGRY PEOPLE.

'They're continually hungry people.'

If (7S) and (77) are analyzed as having the following structure,

1n which the adject1ve bears a predicate relation:

IN

J

(81) HORSE FAST EAT-ON-SORFACE GRASS.

'The horse quickly ate all the grass,'

(82) ;INDEX HAN ALWAYS MINO-WARPED.

'The man is always crazy,'

1\ HINO- • n.JOE"1-. HI'-.N WMtPE"O L

and order of const1tuents in the ASl sentence is ordered: Subject _

Predicate, then an account of the grammatical and ungrammat1cal strings

in (72-80) as well as (70-71) can be accounted for by the following

statement:

(83) Adverbs

Adverbs precede any constituent but nomlnals.

The statement effectively exclUdes nominals, including those containing

attributive adjectives such as (78) and (80). but under an analysis of

adjectives in (77) and (79) as predicates, the fact that the statement

does not exclude adverbs from preceding predicate adjectives 1s

correctly predicted by the structures. (81-82) and the s1gn order'

105

constra1nt.

4.2.2.3 Facial adverbs

A certain set of facial expressions, illustrated below along with

their notation symbols. appear concurrently with a specified range of

manual segments. As can be seen from the Hlustrations, each facial

expression can be .identified by particular configurations of the mouth

area, eyebrows. and head position. L'iddell (l978) has demonstrated that

the appearance of these facial expressions 1s not a "comment- by the

Signer about her feelings or emotions concerning the content of

discourse, but instead are grammatical modifiers which he calls -faClal

adverbs".

---th--- 'carelessly. without attention'

---mm--- 'leisurely. without effort'

---em--- 'c~reful1y. with attention'

The range of manual segments with which facial adverbs co-occur

is 11mited 111 the f.ollowing ways. fi,rst. while they can co-octur with

verbs. they cannot with nouns:

--mm-(84) liNDEX DRIVE.

'J was driving along easily.'

106

107

--~--t----- ----th----(as) NEW CLOTHES. DAUGHTER DEPOSIT1.exhaus'

'MY daughter throws around her new clothes.'

--th-(86) *1INOEX BUY CHAIR BREAk.

'I bought a badly broken chair.'

And they co-occur only with adject1ves which follow the noun. not

those that precede the noun:

----th-----(87)TENOENCY jPOSS. BOY MISCHIEVOUS.

'The boy Is known for getting In trouble.'

----th-----(a8) ~lINOEX MISCHIEVOUS BOY.

'He's a mischievous boy.'

An analys1s which posits a predicate relation for the adjective

In (a7), but not for (a8) needs no additional statement to account for

the different distribution of the facial adverbs In (87-88). These

sentences would be accurately predicted by the earlier statement about

adverbs. repeated below:

(89)~

Adverbs co-occur with any constituent but nom1nals.

The favorable outcome of this analYSis contrasts with the

alternative analysis 1n which adjectives. regardless of position. are

contained 1n nominals. Such an analysis would incorrectly predict (87)

to be ungralMlattcal and the additional statement needed to account for

the grammatical sentences would obscure a larger generalization about

the behavior of predicates.

The preceding arguments show there are grounds for distinguishing

between attributive and predicate adjectives in ASl despite the fact

th~t In many sentences. their forms are virtually indiSt1nguishable.

Predicate adject1ves. unlike attributive adjectives may affix the

resultatlve inflection. and they can be preceded by adverbs or co-occur

with facial adverbs. In these respects. predicate adjectives behave

similarly to verbs. a generalization captured 1n an analysis which

pOSits a pred1cate relation for both pre~icate adjectives and verbs.

108

Footnotes

In some cases, the distinction between emphatic and the intensive fnflection 1s not clear, as in verbs like: WANT, LIKE. There is a possible variation on WANT or LIKE that resemble the intenSlve inflection form, and it is not clear whether these fonus are actually emphatic. However, it can be shown with a different test that they are not adjectives. Adjectives can be preceded by VERY, hut not verbs. This test was not included in 4.1 for the reason that many signers feel sentences containing VERY rather than the adjective inflected for intensive is a borrowing from English.

(i) 11NO£' VERY HAPPY.

'I'm very happy. I

(i I) '11NO£' VERY WANT BOOK.

(i1l} "'IHiOEX VeRY LIKE MOVIES.

2 In sentences lik.e (30-31), a head nod can appear concurrently with the predicate nominal. as in (i) below:

---hn(i) i INDEX OOCTOR W~<AN.

'The doctor is a woman.'

The head nod in structures such as (1) has heen analyzed by others (Liddell 1977, Coulter 1978) as a predicate. If this analysis is correct, and 1 have no reason at this point to suggest otherwise, sentences like (i) do not create problems for my analYSis of the nominal .,IS predicate. Structures lik.:! (i) are tentatively analyzed in this framc'"ork. as bi-clausal structures represented as (11) below, i.e •• the head nod b~ars the predicate relation in the higher clause, and pr~dicate nominal, the predicate relation in the lower clause. {iil helow is an exampl~ of such a SubjectwRais1ng structure; the subject of the lower clause raises to bear the subject relation 1n the higher clause:

--hn-(i1) jll<O£X WOOAN OOCTOR.

'The woman is a doctor.'

109

?\ ~INOe:i- WOHAN 'Poc-ToR.

3 A statement such as (ii) below would be acceptable as a response to (i) but cannot be used outside of a particular question-response context. Note similar pairs in English, (tii-tv):

----wh--_____ ----wh- --wh--(1) WHICH GO-AWAY BROTHER SIST£R

'Which one left? The hrother or the sister?'

(ii) llNOEX THINK SISTER.

'I think the sister (was the one).

(ill) How does President Reagan eat?

(Iv) I think wfth a fork.

4 The starred responses would be acceptdble as additional infor,1\at10n volunteered by the respondee. e.g. in response to Mis that woman a doctor1~, one could respond, MYes, and a woman (at thatll~, but these are not considered simple confirmational ManswersM to the question.

110

'~.

RED

(7) lINDEX BUY TOP-GARMENT RED.

'I bought a red top.'

RED[-+intensive]

-when--(8) SUN-SET, SKY RED [+intensive].

'While the sun was setting. the sky was

bright red. I

Figure 22

III

RED{+emphat1c}

-----0-----------(9) 2I~DEX UNDERSTAND, IINOEX WANT RED [+emphatic],

2G1VEI BLACK.

'You didn't understand. I want the red one.

but you've given me the ~ one.'


112

Chapter 5

Subjecthood

In this chapter 1 examine the status of the sentence-initial

nominal (underl ined) in sentences 1 ike (1-9) below and argue that they

are "subjects", J will show that with respect to the statement of

syntactic rules, a theory which relies on semantic roles such as "source

and goal". "agent", "experiencer", etc. will fail to account for the

behavior of these nominals across different syntactic rules and that the

grammatical relation of "subject"l is needed in order to capture

generalizations obout their behavior.

(I) HOUSE BLOW-UP.

'The house blew up.'

(2) WOMAN .GIVE. BOY BOOK. -_1 J

'The woman gave the boy a book.'

(3) ~ j TAKE j LICENSE.

'The poltce took his driver's license.'

(4) ~ SlCK[+resultative].

'My sister became 111. . 113

'----...-'-

(5) ~ jSELF SEAL-TOP.

'The machine seals the top (of the jar) by itself.'

(6) TEACH,Aq ANGRY.

'The teacher 15 angry. I

(7) CUP jCL:C-FALL-OFF-FLAT_SURFACE.

'The cup fell off the edge of the table.'

(8) ~ JBITEJ T~A-I-L.

'The monkey btt the tail/ bit Its tall.'

(9) IPOSS SISTER jlNVlTEj kPOSS BROTHER.

'My sister invited his brother.'

USing .facts ab9ut verb agreement. agreement marker deletion, a

coreferent1altty constraint on certain complement structures. ffiodal

structures and the SElF pronoun 1n ASl, arguments are presented sho .... ing

that nom1nals which bear th~ 1 relation behave Similarly ocross

different syntactic rules. Additionally. these rules provide tests for

distinguishing between subjects and nonsubjects. Chapter 6 continues

with further discussion of the need for other gralMlatical relations such

as "direct object" in the statement of other syntactic rules in ASl.

5.1 Verb agreement

11'

The- fonm of Inflect1ng verbs was described 1n Chapter 2 as

consisting of a linear movement (the stem) and agreement markers at both

ends. Sentence flO) contains an example of inflecting verbs like GIVE.

SEND, ASK, SHOW, BAWL-OUT, FINGERSPElL_TO. etc. 1n which the agreement

marker at the init1al point marks for person and number of the 1

and the end point. the object.

-----------------q--------------(10) 2INOEX 2SENDI INVITATION ZINDEX1

'Did you send me an invitation?'

In contrast to these verbs. there is a small sub-class of

inflecting verbs such as INVITE, BORROW. TAKE-OUT, TAKE. PERCEIVE which

dO not follow the above patt~rn of agreement marker _pOSition. but

instead have "backwards" agreement: the initial point mark.s for object

and the end paint. for subject, as ell) illustrates:

(11) IINDEX jTAKE-OUT I FRIEND SISTER.

'I'm taking out my friend's sister.'

A number of different analyses have been proposed for verb

agreement in ASl which attempt to account for the posit1on of the

agreement markers in both sub-classes of Inflecting verbsj we shall

examine two different analyses here.

5.1.1 Two analyses of verb agreement

IlS 116

Friedman (1975) proposed that verb agreement tn ASl could be

pred1cted from the semantic roles of nominals 1n the se~tence. Friedman

suggested that analyzing Inflecting verbs tn ASL in terms of the notions

of source and goal proposed el sewhere for "verbs of motion" (Fi 11more

1971, Jackendoff 1972, Gruber 1978) was particularly apt since t~e forms

of these verbs seemed to be visible representations of these notiOns.

According to Gruber (1978). the "source" nominal is defined as the

originating potnt of the motton and the goal. "the ultimate destination

of the motton M (Gruber 1978). Under Friedman's analysis. the direction

of the linear movement 1n Inflecting verbs was described as originating

at the locus position of the source (lithe or1gi~ of the motion") nominal

of the sentence and moving toward the locus pOSition of the goal ("the

destination of the motion").

An advantage of the analysis was that the form of agreement on

both regular and backwards Inflecting verbs could be handled with d

s1ngle statement:

(12) Semantic Roles ~ Analysis: Verb Agreement

The initial point of Inflecting verbs mark.s for person and number of the source and the end point. the goal.

Under this analysis, there is no need for a distinction between

two sub-classes; both classes are characterized with a single statement.

In both sentences. (10-11), the source of the clause is marked on the

init1al point of the Inflecting verb, and the goal, on the E'nd pOint.

~~--~--

An alternative analysis, which I will motivate In this chapter

and in Chapter 6 con~ists of two statements in the gr.Jmmar: one

syntactic. which states the facts about verb agreement and the second.

morphological. which marks backwards verbs as morphologically distinct

from other Inflecting verbs. Under this analysis, the facts about

regular and bac~wards verbs are morphological. not semantic.

(l3) Gram'flatical Pelations (GR) Analysis: ~ Agreement

The initial point of Inflecting verbs mark for person and nu~ber of the final 1 and the end point, the final 2 of the clause.

(14) Back ..... ards ~

One sub-class of Inflecting verbs is morphologically backwards. Accordingly. with respect to verb agreement, the initial paint marks for final 2. and the end point, the final 1 of the clause.

In the following sections. the two analyses using either semantic

roles or gran~atical relations are compared with respect to other

syntactic rules in ASL.

5.1.2 Agreement marker omission

One of two agreement markers on Inflectlng verbs may optionally

be omitted. When the agreement marker at the initial point of an

Inflecting verb like GIVE. SErlO. ASK, BAWL-OUT. CATCH is omitted, the

resulting form has d reduced linear movement and agreement 1s no longer

mdrked. Additionally. omission of the agreement marker (indicated by

the MOM subscript) is possible without corresponding omission of the

117

nominal which it marks (as shown In (15). 3

(15) WIJI1AN OGIVE I NEWSPAPER.

'The woman gave me a newspaper.'

(16) OGIVE I NEWSPAPER.

'Someone gave me a newspaperl 1 was given a newspaper.'

(17) jINDEX JSENO j BOX fINISIl. LATER OSENOj CANDY.

'She sent him a box then later she sent him some candy. I

But omission of the agreement marker at the end paint is

d1sallo~led. In (18). the end paint agre{!ment marker has be!!n deleted and

the resulting sentence form is unacceptable. Only (19) is possible.

Since 3person and omitted agreement markers are similar 1n form. overt

Iperson object nominals are used in the following senter,ces to

Hlustrate ungralMlatlcal sequen,ces. Normally object pronouns. inc1udi,ng

Iperson nominals are absent except when emphatic. If omission were

possible in the presence of a Iperson nominal. as ,1s with omitte.d

in1tial point agreement markers, then the sentences should be

acceptable. but as ShOwn, they are not.

(18) 'WIJI1AN iG1VEO )INOEX BOOK.

'The woman gave ~ a book.'

(19) WIJI1AN iG1VEI IINDEX BOOK.

118 I

'The. woman gave!!!!. a book.'

An analys1s stated in terms of semantic roles would state the

facts prese'l~ed in (l5-19) in the following way:

(20) ~ Analysis: Agreement Marker On1ssion

The agreement marker for the source may optionally be omitted.

If a general statement such as (20) were correct. then the

analysls would predict (21) to be bad and (22), good. As can be seen

below. both these predictions Clre incorrect. Backwards verbs permit

omission of the end point agreement marker. and disallow omiss1on of the

initial point agreement marker. a pattern exactly opposite that of

regular Inflecting verbs.

(21) liND" JTAY£-OUT O FRIEND SISTER.


(22) 'IINDEA OTAKE-OUT I FRIEND SISTER.


Under an analysis in terms of semantic roles. these facts about

(lgreernent marker omission with both sub-classes of verbs must be

accounted for separately. With verbs like GIVE, etc. the source

agreement marker is omitted. but with verbs like INVITE. etc., it is not

the source, but the goal agreement marker which is omitted.

119

Consequently. an add1tional statement 1s needed in the grammar to

account for.backwards verbs:

(23) SR Analysis: Agreement Marker Gn1ss1on on Backwards Verbs

The agreement marker for the 2oa1 of backwards verbs may optionally delete.

However. under an analysis with grammatical relations, these

facts about agreement mar~er, om,ission ~n both sub-classes of Inflecting

verbs can be accounted for with a single statement. Since statements

(13-14) have sp~cified that the subject agreement marker appears at the

initial pOint of a regular Inflecting verb, but at the end point of a

backwards verb. a statement suct\ as (24) adequ(ltely Clccounts for

(15-22).

(24) GR Analysis: Agreement Marker fuisslon

The subject agreement marker may optionally be omitted.

As such. an analysis 1n terms of ·subject" provides a general

statement and captures similarities in syntactic behavior of both

sub-classes of Inflecting verbs. While an analysis in terms of semantic

roles may have appeal with respect to unifying the two sub-classes. it

does not offer any benefit in terms of accounting for agreement marker

omission.

5.1.3 FORCE-type verbs

120

r

The class of complement structures including matrix verbs like

FORCE. PERMIT. ADV1SE. URGE. COMf>'IANO, ASK behilve differently from other

complem~nt structures with matrix verbs 1 ike HOPE, INFORM. ASK.IF 1n

that a coreferentia11ty constraint applies with the group of

~fORC£-type" verbs. From (25-28). it can be seen that unless the

agreement markers at the end potnt of the matrix verb and at the

beYlnning point of the embedded verb are coreferential. the sentences

are ruled out. as (27-28) are.

(25) lWOEX IFORCE Z ZGIVE 1 MONEY.

'I'll force you to give me the money.'

(Z6) ZlNOE' 2URGEI lSENOj LETTER.

'You talked me into sending the letter/ You urged me to send the

letter. '

(27) '*lINOEX IFORCE Z 1G1'1E2 MONEY.

'I'll force you that he would give you the money.'

(28) 'ZINOE' 2URGEj lSEN02 LETTER.

'You urged him that I send you a letter.'

On the basis of sentences like (25-28) above. an analysis in

terms of semantic roles would posit the following:

(29) SR Analysis: Coreference Constraint on FORCE-type Verbs

121

The goal of the matrix verb and the source of the. embedded verb must be coreferential.

If (29) were sufficiently general, the following sentences in

which the source of the embedded backwards verb and the goal of the

matrix verb are coreferential should be good. but they are not:

(30) 'lURGEj jINVITEj SISTER.

'I urged him that she 1nvite him.

{31} '*CAN'T 1FORCEZ ZTAKE 1•

'He can't force you that I take you.'

If the embedded verb is one of the backwards verbs like INVITE,

the position of the coreferential agreement marker is at the end point,

not the beginning point of the embedded verb, This can be seen in (32)

below:

(32) lURGEj jlNVITEj SISTER.

'I urged him to invite his sister.'

A grammar in which syntactic rules are stated in terms of

semantic roles would need an additional statement such as (33) below to

correctly predict (30-31) to be ungrammat1ctll and (32). grarrmatlcal:

(33) SR Analysis: Coreference Constraint on FORCE-type ~ with 'tmbedded Backwards Verbs

122 1

The goal of the m~tr1x verb and the goal of the embedded backwards verb must be coreferent1al.

However. under the alternative analysis wh1ch references the

notion of ·subject M• only one statement 1s needed to state the

coreferentlality constraint for (25-28). (30_33):4

(3~) GR Analysts: Coreferenttal1tY constraint on FORCE-type verbs

The final 2 of the matrix clause and the 1 of the embedded clause must be coreferent1al.

As in the case of accounting for agreement marker omission. an

analysis of verb agreement which refers to the notion of "subject"

123

allows for the most general statement of the coreferential "tty constraint

for FORCE-type structures. An analysis in terms of the semant1c notions

of "sourcf!u" and "90a'" may be attractive as a llIeans of providing a

s~ng1e statement of agreement marker position on regular and backwards

Inflecting verbs, but fails to provide further advantage with respect to

an ac.count of other interacting syntactic rules in the language. e.g.

agreement marker omission and the FORCE-type coreferent1ality

constraint.

5.2 An. alternative analysis

In the previous se"c.t1ons, we have seen that if the verb agrp.ement

rule is stated in terms of "source" and "goal". the rules for agreement

marker omission and c.oreferent1al1ty constra1nt on FORCE-type complement

structures must be complicated in order to correctly predict the

grammatical and ungrammatical strings. On the basis of (35-36) below.

one might propose a revision 1n which the tnitlal potnt of regular

1nflecting verbs and the end potnt of backwards verbs is marked

(+Agent]. (37).

(35) WOMAN iGlVEl BOOK.

'The -woman gave me a bool(. , ..

(36) WOMAN j lNV1TE j FRIENO.

'The w~man invited a friend. I

(37) SR Analysis. Revised: Verb Agreement

The verb agrees in person <lrld number with the source and goal of the clause. The initial point of regular inflecting verbs is marked [+Agent). and the end point "of backwards verbs is marked (+Agent].

124

Additionally. if we revise the agreement marker omission rule and

the coreference constraint 1n FORCE-type structures as in (38-39) below:

(38) SR Analysis, Revised: Agreement Marker emission

The agent agreement marker may optionally be omitted.

(39) SR Malysis. Revised: Coreference constraint on FORCE-tY[le complem€"nt structures

The goal of the matrix clause and the agent of the embedded clause must be coreferential.

The revised rules. (37~39) would correctly predict sentences

(40-41) with agreement marker omission to be grammatical. and (42-43)

to be ungrammatical. And with respect to the coreference constraint, the

revised rules would likewise make correct predictions ahout (44-41):

(40) Wrn.AN OGIVE 1 BOOK.

'The woman gave me ~ book.'

(41) WOMAN jlNVITEo FRIEND.

'The woman invited a friend.'

(42:) ·C~O jGiFTO ]INDq MONEY.

'The company gave me some money.'

(43) *lINDEX OTAKEI 2ItlDEX.

'I'm taking you.'

(44) ;fORCE I 1 SEN0 2 LETTER.

'Ile (orced me to send you the letter.'

(45) ;fORCE 1 21NVITEI'

'Ile (orced me to invite you. I

(46) "jFORCE 1 2SEIIOI LETTER.

\

'He forced me that you send me the letter,'

(47) *jFORCE 1 IINVITE2'

'He forced me that you be invited by me.'

125

However. 1t cannot be correct that the initial pOint of all

regular inflecting verbs or the end point of all backwards verbs are

marked [+Agent). For example. the initial point of HATE, lOOK~AT.

GRASP.MENTAllY. ANALYZE would be labeled [+Experiencer]. as would be

the end point of backwards verbs: PERCEIVE. EAVESDROP, INTERNALIZE. But

with backwards verbs: RECEIVE, TAKE, the end point is neith~r agent or

experiencer. but [+Reclpient). Thus, in order to account for which

agreement markers are omitted and the coreference constraint. the

agreement rule liS well as the omission and coreference rules I~ould l1eed

to refer to a disjunction of several different semantic roles. for

example:

(48) SR Analysis: Agreement Marker Omission, Revised

Either the agent. exper1encer. or recipient of the clause may be omitted.

However. (48) would incorrectly allow omission of the end point

agreement marker on a regular inflecting verb like GIFT, 'to present or

to award' since the end point marks for the recipient of the clause. the

individual receiving an award. As was shown earlier. end point

agreement markers on regular inflecting verbs cannot delete.

(49) "C-O JGIFTO IINOEX TROPHY.

'The company awarded me a trophy,'

These various problems point to the difficulty of stating the

126

\ rules in terms of semantic roles. In addition to complicating the verb

agreement rule with two statements, agreement marker omission and the

coreferente constraint 1n FORCE·type complement structures must also

refer to a disjunction of several semantic roles. In an analysis which

references the not10n of "subject". cempl ications such as shown above

are avoided. '~m1nals which bear the 1 relation to the clause behave

alike with respect to verb agreement. a9ree~ent marker omission and

coreference with the matrix 2 1n FORCE-type complement structures; this

cCIl'rr.on behavior is captured by reference to "subject" In the statements

(13-14). (24) .nd (34) .bove.

The following sections discuss additional evidence which supports

the notton of "subject" in ASL clauses: modals and reflexive pronouns.

5.3 Modals

In pairs of sentences·llke the followIng. the modals: CAN. WILL.

SHOULO, MUST are preceded by nomtnals. 5

(50) IINOEX MUST STOP S<OKE['h.bltual).

'I must stop smoking.'

(51) I IIlDEX CAN MEET SUPERIOR.

'He can approach the head 9~. I

(5Z) SISTER SHOULD jCOMEj • FINISH TWO-US TOGETHER jORIVEk•

127

'My sister 1s supposed to come here then we will drive 'over there

together.'

(53) IINDEX WILL IGO-UP-TOj.

• I '11 go right up to him. face-to-face.'

I argue that the nominals which precede modals in the above

sentences bear the 1 relatton to the clause. I suggest. addittonally.

that the fact that Is precede modals follows from a general linear order

constraint: Subject ~ Predicate. As support for this hypothesis. I show

that the generalization is best stated in terms of Msu~jectN dnd not

semantic roles. and that there is evidence for analyzing modals as

predicates not auxl11aries. 6

5.3.1 Arguments for stating the rule tn terms of "subject"

Instead of stating a linear order constraint in terms of

"subject". a possible alternative would reference semantic roles and

characterize the structure as a linear sequence of constituents in the

following way:

(54) ~ Analysis: Sign Order (Partial)

Agent - Modal - Predicate.

128

But from sentences like the following, it can be seen that not only

agents precede modals (55), but also patients (56), experlencers (57),

r

recipients (58), and Instruments (59),

(55) 515TER WILL TELEPHONE CoO TOMORROW.

'My sister will call the company. I

(56) HOUSE CAN SLOW-UP.

'The house could blow up,'

(57) EVlRY-fR1DAY. DAUGHTER HU5T LOOK-AT[.h.bitu.l) D-A-L-L-A-S.

'On Frjdays, my daughter must watch "Dallas",'

(5S) 2'NOD CAN RECEIVE MONEY AWARD.

'You can get a scholarship.'

---------if-----------______ _ (59) 5UPPOSE 'lAVE HAIR lIUN-STRAND. KNIH CAN 5LlCE-TH1N-5TRAND.

'Imagine you have a hair, the knife Cdn slice it in half.'

Accordingly, if the rule were stated 1n terms of semantic roles.

1t would need a diSjunction of at least f~ve different roles. With any

of these five roles available, 1t would predict that in (59) below. the

patient. BOOK. can precede the modal when. in facti it cannot.

(60) 'SODK CAN WOMAN jG1VEj

HAN.7

In order to prevent sentences like (60). one might propose a

rev1sion to (54) in which the roles are arranged 1n a hierarchy:

129

(61) SR Analysis: ~rJ Order Agent -l1odal---=---trredlcate If no agent. then one of following:

Experiencer Patient Instrument Recip1ent

However, the revision would predict that (62). which contains no

Agent but a sentence-initial Patient should allow the appearance of a

modal between the nominal ilnd predicate, as in (63). But as (o3) shows.

the prediction 1s incorrect. (The structure of sentences like (62) are

further detailed In Section 5.5 and argument, are presented showing that

the sentence-initial nominal is not 1.)

(62) BUTTER LEFT.

'The butter was left here.'

(63) 'SUTTER CAN LEFT.

I propose that the generalization about which nominals precede

modals is best stated 1n terms of the notion of "subject."

Specifically, I propQse the following:

(64) GR Analysis: Sign Order (Partial)

Final 1 - Predicate

As stated. the condition would correctly pred1ct (55-59) to be

good and sentences ltke (63) will be ruled out since non.subjects cannot

130

~ ..

be ordered before predicates. furthermore, the condition captures the

generalization that nominals- which are marked for subject agreement may

precede moda1s. e.g. (65-66):

(65) 2INDEX CAN 2GlVEI BOOK TOMORROW.

'You can give me the book tomorrow. I

(66) 11NDEX SHOULD jINV1TE1 SISTER.

'He ought to invite h1s sister.'

131

but not nominals which are marked for final 2 agreement:

5,3.2. Arguments for mOdals as predicates

As discussed briefly tn Chapter 3. sentences like (69-71) involve

toptcal1zat1on which marks the constituent 1n initial position w1th

raised eyebrows. The preced1ng sentences and those in Chapter 3 show

that 2s at any level of embedding may be toplcal1zed, including clausal

and non-clausal 25.

----t-----(69) Wru<AN STAY, IINDEX HOPE.

'As for the woman staying. 1 hope she does.'

---------t------(70) 1POSS GIRLFRIEND, POLICE ARREST.

'His girlfriend, the police arrested her.'

····t····· (71) GIRLFRIENO, IINDEX HOPE 1INDEX BRING.

'As for his girlfriend. 1 hope he brings her.'

The condition on wh1ch constituents may toplcal1ze 1s stated as

follows :

(72) Toplcallzatlon

(73 )

(74 )

(75 )

(76 )

Afly nominal heading a 1- or 2 arc may be topical hed.

As.predicted by the condition, predicates cannot toplcalize:

--t--'STAY, IINOEX HOPE WOMAN. --t---·VISIT. 1INDEX HOPE BROTHER. --t-"'BUY, lINDEX WANT SISTER. --t--·WAIT, MOTHER THINK MAN.

If modals were auxiliaries and the predicates which follow them.

matrix predicates. then toplcal1zing the predicates should be ruled

out. but as (77-78) show, the sentences are perfectly acceptable.

·······t······· ............. q ••••• (77) SELL ALL·THINGS, 2INOE' THINK SHOULD.

'Do you think you ought to sell everything?'

-------t----(78) STOP SMOKING, SISTER MUST.

132

,

'11,y sister has got to stop smokln!j. I

-------t----------__ _ _____ q ________ _

(/9) PAINT HOUSE ONE-WEEK, 21NOEX THINK CAN.

'Do you thin~ you can paint the house 1n a week1'

If modals aie analyzed as pred1cates, sentences like (77-79) are

predicted to be acceptable by the analysis. If modal structures are

indeed biclausal. that 1s, 1n for example, (77). SELL heads a predicate

arc in the embedded. not matrix clause. then the facts about topical1zed

clauses in (77-79) are accounted for in a general way without need for a

special condition on modals 1n addition to (72).

As additional support, although not conclusive.S for analyzing

modals as predicates. the following show that modals may appear as short

answers to questions like (80) b~low. As discussed in Chapter 4, short

answers contain the 1 (which can be deleted) and Predicate of the

clause. The fact that modals appear alone 1n short answers, as 1n (81)

'follows from an analysls of modals as predicates, and nO add1t10nal

condition 1s needed.

------,---q----------(80) ZINOE' MUST lEAVE NOW.

'You must leave now1'

(81) YES, MUST.

'Yes, I do.'

In sum, there 1s evidence for analyzing modals 1n ASl as

133

predicates, and consequently, as multi-clausal. not mopoclausal

structures.

5.4 SELF pronouns

The SELF pronouns ('by oneself, on one's own'). like personal

pronouns, are· indexic: they mark for person and number. Either of two

forms of SELF pronouns are possible: a lax repeated form which is also

used for the emphatic ('me. myself', 'that one', etc.) pronoun "nd a

Single movement form. Since the first form 1s potentially ambiguous. the

second single movement form .111 be used for the foilowlng ""'pIes. 9

(82) SISTER ;SElF TELEPHONE CoO.

'My sister will call the company herself.'

(83) DOG lSElF ESCAPE.

'The dog ran off on its own,'

{84} DAUGHTER iSElF PERCEIVE[+random plural].

'My daughter picked it all up on her own.'

(85) ;OOOR lSElF OOOR-ClOSE.

'The door closed by itself.'

(86) iHOUSE iSElF BLOW-UP.

~The house blew up by itself.'

(87) WOMAN 1 SELF lSENOj LETTER.

'The woman sent the letter to him on her own.'

(38) BOY lSELF SEAL ENVELOPE.

'The boy sealed the envelope by himself.'

A comparison of two possible ways to state the condition on

antecedents ·of SELF pronouns shows that. as 1n the case of modal

structures. if the condition 1s stated 1n terms of semantic roles, at

least five roles are needed to account for the data.

(89) g Analysis: SELF Pronouns

The antecedent of a SElf pronoun 1s one of: Agent Experiencer Patient Instrument Recipient

As stated above, the condition would incorrectly predict the

sentence-inltial "pattents" 1n the following sentences to be possible

antecedents for SELF pronouns.

(91) *jBUTTER lSELF LEFT.

But if the condition 1s stated 1n terms of grammatical relat10ns

135

',,-,",,, :

and the initial nominals in (90~91) shown to be non~subjects, the

notion of "subject" would be sufficient to account for (82-88) and

(90-91).

(92) GR Analysts: SELF Pro~ouns

The antecedent of a SELF pronoun must be the 1 of the clause.

The condition would! likewise predict that, in clauses with

Inflecting verbs. nominals marked for subject agreement may also be

antecedents for SELF pronouns. The following sentences support this.

(93) WOMAN llNOEX jSELF lG1VEj TELEPHONE NUMBER.

'The woman w11l give you the phone number herself.'

(94) ISELF ISEN02 PICTURE.

'I'll send you the pictures myself.'

(95) 2SELF 2ASKl lBRINGj SISTER.

'Ask him yourself to bring his sister.'

(96) 2SELF lTAKE2 BEER.

'Help yourself to some beer.'

(97) BROTHER lSELF jlNVITEj WOMAN.

'My brother invited the woman h1mself.'

,--,,/

136

But nominal s marked for object agreement should not be

antecedents for SELF pronouns; this prediction is also supported.

(9B) *2S£Lf ISEND2 PICTURE.

As with the conditions on agreement marker deletion,

coreFerent1ality in FORCE·type complement stru,tures. stat1ng the

condition on antecedents of SELF pronouns in terms of "subject"

captures a generalization that nominals which bear a "subject" relation

behave similarly across different syntactic rules.

5.5 Test cases: Sentence~init1al nominals

Previous sections have argued that the sentence-initial nominals

In the following sentences are 15. In sentences with Inflecting verbs

(102-103). Is determine ,agreement. Is also may precede modals (104),

dnd be antecedents for SELF pronouns (105). Only subject agreement

markers may be deleted, as shown in (106).

(102) C-O jGIFTI TROPHY.

137

'The company gave me a trophy.'

(103) TRUE CAN 21f<DEX WRITE, 2SENDi LETTER.

'Actually, you can write up a letter and send it to him.'

(104) jINDEX SHOULD LEAVE BUTTER.

'He was supposed to leave the butter here.'

(105) CHURCH jSELF OG1VE imult fOOD.

'The church distributes the food itself.'

(106) BOY oSTEAL, BICYCLE.

'The boy stole a bicycle,'

On the basls of sentences like (102-106). it might be concluded

that all sentence-in 1t i al nominal s are Is. The fo l10wing sentence

counterparts to (102-106) present interesting test cases; in {107-1131,

the non-subject nomlnals in (102-106) now appear in sentence-initial

position and subject nominals are absent. IO

(107) TROPHY OGIfTI •

'They gave me a trophy.'

(108) LETTER OSEND j •

'The letter was sent to him.'

139

(109) BUTTER LEFT_

'The butter was left here.'

(lID) FOOD OGIVElmulto

'Food was distributed.'

(UI) BICYCLE OSTEALj _

'The bicycle was stolen.'

At this point. two questions arise: (1) do these sentence-inittal

nominals behave like Is 1n (l02-106)? and (2) if they do not. what 1s

the structure of sentences like (t07-111)? We can test whether these

nominals behave like Is with respect to the various arguments presented

in earlier sections for the notion of ·subject M• with the exception of

one: since all of these sentence-initial nominals are inanimate. they do

not meet the condition for the coreferentia11ty constraint in FORCE~type

co,nplement structures. thus this test cannot be used,

5.5. 1 Moda 15

We have previously established that Is precede modals. If the

sentence~1n1t1al nominals in (107.111) were Is, then they should be able

to precede modals. but as (112~116) show, they cannot. 11

(112) 'TROPHY WILL OGIFT1-

'The trophy can award to me.'

(U3) ·lETTER MUST OSEND1o

'The letter must send it to him.'

(ll4) *BUTTER SHOULD LEFT.

'The butter should leave it here.'

(115) ·FOOD.MUST OGIVElmul~' 'The food must distribute It.'

(116) 'BICYCLE CAN OSTEAL j _

'The b1cycle could steal it.'

5.5.2 SELF pronouns

Only Is can be antecedents of SElF pronouns. If the sentence

1n1t1al nom1nals in the following sentences were Is. then sentences in

which they appear as antecedents of SELF pronouns should be acceptable,

but as can be seen. the sentences are judged to be ungrammat1cal.

(U7) 'jTROPHY jSELF OGIFT I _

'The trophy awarded itself to me.'

(lIB) 'jLETTER jSELF OSENO j _

'The letter sent itself to him.'

1'0

(119) 'jBUTTER jSELf LEfT.

'The bulter left itself here,'

(120) *jFOOO iSELF OGIVEjmult.

'The food distributed itself.'

(121) 'iBICYCLE iSElf OSTEALj •

'The bicycle stole by itself.'

From these sentences. we see that the sentence-initial nom1nals

cannot be antecedents of SELF pronouns. thus 1n this respect, do not

behave llke Is.

5.5.3 Subject agreement

If the beginning point of the Inflecting verbs 1n the followtng

sentences were marked for agreement with the sentence-initial nom1nals.

the result1ng sentences would not be acceptable.

(122) 'iTROPHY IGlfTl"

'They gave it to me.'

(123) 'ilOOO LETTER iSENOj.

'The letter sent it to him.'

(124) \ INDEX FOOD tG1V£jmult.

141

'The food distributed SOme to them.'

(125) 'iBICYCLE jSTEALi •

'The bicycle stole it.'

Sentences (122-125) show that the sentence-initial nominals do

not determine subject agreement. thus in another way are demonstrated

not to behave like Is with respect to this rule.

5.5.4 Ambiguous sentences

Sentences like the following are ambiguous between two possible

readings:

(126) OOG SAVE.

'The dog was saved.'

'The dog saved someone.'

(127) MAN OPERATE.

'The man was operated on.'

'The man operated on someone.'

But if the sentence-initial nominal is antecedent of a SElf

pronoun or precedes a modal. only one reading is possible:

(128) OOG CAN SAVE.

142

'The dog can save anyone.'

·'The dog can be saved by someone.'

(129) tOOG t'ElF SAVE.

'The dog saved someone by itself.'

·'Someone.saved the dog by h1mself.'

(130) HAN HUST OPERATE.

'The man has to perform an operat1on.'

·'Someone else has .to operate on the man,'

(,131) jMAN t SELF. OPERATE.

'The man did the operating himself.'

·'Someone else did the operating on the man by himself.'

The fact that only one reading 1s possible for (128-131) suggests

a structural d1stinctton betw~en the two poss1ble readings for

(126-121).

The preceding arguments show that although the sentence-initial

nominals in (102-107) appear 1n the same position as Is, they do not

behave like Is with respect to three rules; verb agreement. modal

structures and possible antecedents for SELF pronouns. We turn now to

the question of what relation these sentence-initial nominals bear.

5.5.5 Possible analyses

143

Earlier. we established that the sentence-initial nominal in

sentences like (132) bears the 1 relation to the clause; the structure

o.f (132) is ~epresented as follows;

(132) WOMAN WAIT.

'The woman waIted.'

S1nce we have shown that the sentence-initial nomlnals in

(l02-107) do not behave like Is in sentences like (132). there are at

least two possible alternative analyses for these sentences, In (133).

the sentence-initial nominals are 2s at the 1nitial level and bear the

1 relation at the final level. in other words. these sentences are

paSSive structures. Or as in (134). the sentence-initial nominals are

direct objects which are frontedj the 1 of the sentence is unspecified

and does not appear on the surface.

(133) (134 )

The fact that these sentence-initial nominals may topicaltze does

144

not provide evidence for one structure over another since any nominal

heading a lor 2 arc may topicalize. In order to motivate the passive

structure represented in (133) for sentences I ike (102-107), there would

need to be evidence for distinguishing between ~ and final Is

which I have not yet been able to produce. That is, I have not yet found

rules which refer only to initial Is and those which refer only to final

15. 12 As a consequence. the rules discussed earlier which reference the

notion of subject do not refer to levels of syntactic representation.

In the absence of evidence for 1nltlal or final Is, an analysis such as

(134) seems the most probable at this point.

145

We have thus far in this chapter reviewed arguments supporting

the relational notion of Nsubject" in the statement of syntactic rules

in ASl. By employing the notion of Msubject U rather than semantic roles.

more general and simpler statements of conditions on syntact1c rules can

be made. Additionally.·condit10ns on rules which refer to only Is

provide a means of distinguishing subjects from nonsubjects, thus

contributing to a grammatical description of sentence-initial nominals

in certain clauses. Although there is ev,idence for the notion of

"subject" 1n ASl. there 1s. as of yet, no clear evidence d1stinguishing

between Minit'ial M and "final" Is. Consequently, rules discussed in this

chapter which reference the notion of subject do not refer to more than

one level of syntactic representation.

Footnotes

1 As will be discussed in the last section of this chapter, I am unable to find rules in ASL which refer to Is at more than one ie ... el. i.e •• initial or final Is. In the absence of such rules, I will assume all rules which refer to Is are stated in terms of final 1.

2 Chapter 6 contains arguments motivating the notion of Mflnal 2- in the statement of the verb agreement rule.

3 I do not fully understand the conditions for omission of the subject agreement marker. Examples in this chapter of omitted subject mar~ers include sentences in which an omitted subject marker appears with a fully specified subject. and those in which both the subject nominal and the agreement marker are omitted. further examination of a variety of complex structures may yield possible conditions on subject ilSjrt'f:'mr·(,t marker omission.

4 Although for the purposes of discussing the source-goal analysis of verb agreement. 1 have used examples of embedded sentences with Inflecting verbs, it is not r.he case that the corefercntlality constraint appl ies between agrepment markers. As stated. the constraint applies to matrix 2s and embedded Is. as the following sentences demonstrate. In (1l) below. the matrix 2 and embedded 1 are not coreferential, and the sentence is ruled out:

(1) 1INOEX 1FORCE I WOMAN 11NDEX VIS1T BROTHER.

'I forced the woman to visit her brother.'

(11) 'llNDEX 1FORCE I WDMAri j1NDEX VISlT BROTHER.

'I forced him that the woman visit her brother.'

5 Modals appear in other positions as well. initial as in (i) or final. (ii-iii).

(I) MUST 11NOEX STOP s-IOKE[+h.bltu.l).

'I have got to stop smoking.'

---------t--~--------(11) STOP SMOKE[+habitualJ MUST lINDH.

'I have got to stop ,smOking. ,

------~--t---~-------(111) STOP s-IOKE[+h.bltu.l) llNOEX MUST.

146

!!"---

'I have got to stop smoking.'

1 will not discuss here possible analyses for that th~se are biclausal structures as well. analysis of (Iii).

(1~11), except to suggest Section 5.3.2 discusses an

6 1f :1'.odals are analyzed as predicates, these modal structures In ASL are most likely subject~raising structures. i.e. (1) below:

(1) Subject RaiSing

The I of the embedded clause ascends to bear a 1 relation to the clause.

(il) SISTER SHOULO ICOMEj •

'My sister is supposed to come here.'

Aside_ from the evidence I produce whitt"! delnonstrate that modal structures are not monoclausal. but biclausal, there is not yet clear e'lidenCE that the nominal whic.h hears the 1 relation to the matrix clause also bears a 1 relation to the embedded clause.

7 These sentences are not to be confused \~ith grammatical strings such as (i) below in which the initial nominal is a topicalized 2:

--t-(1) BOOK. CAN WOMAN iGIVEj MAN.

'The book, the woman can give It to the man.'

8 Although the short answer examples are compatible with a blc.lausal analySiS, they do not argue against the auxiliary analYSis of modals. That is, the following formulation of the condition on short answers IS possible:

(i) Alternative: ~~

Short answers are composed of: Subject Aux Pred

147

--=------- .. ~-=--------

9 SELF pronouns can be ordered either after the subject as in the example sentences, or before the subject, as in (i) below:

(i) iSELF iHOUSE BLOW-UP.

'The house blew up by itself.'

Since position of the SELF pronoun is not relevant to the p,esent diSCUSSion, I shall consistently order SELF pronouns after the subject in the example sentences for purposes of consistency and ease of illustration.

10 The initial nominals in the follOWing sentences (l02~106) may appear with or without a topic marking of raised eyebrows which has been discussed elsewhere as an indicator of topicalized 2s (Liddell 1918. McIntire 1980). As I discuss here and in Chapter 7, topic marking may appear over Is and as well as 2s. thus is not relevant to the oresent discussion of distinguishing between Is and 2s. I have chosen then to use examples in which topic marking 1s absent from the initial n~ninal for ease of discussion and representation.

11 Sentences (112~116) are not to be confused with another set of similar sentences. shown below in which modals are preceded by a constituent break and the subject'of the sentencl'! 15 unspeCified. The (a) sentences are related to the (b) sente~,es except that the 2 is fronted and generally toptcallzed.

(ia) WILL OGIFT1 TROPHY.

'They will award me a trophy.'

--t-~

(ib) TROPHY. WILL OGIFTI•

'They will aw~rd me a trophy.'

(iia) MUST oSENO j LETTER.

'They've got to send him the letter.'

---t--(iib) LETTER. MUST OSE"Oj'

'They've got to send him the letter.'

12 A posslble argument for flnal I-hood would be word order, that is. nominals which appear in sentence-initial position are final Is. However, in the absence of other independent evidence for final I-huod. the argument cannot be supported.

1'8

Chapter 6

Verb Agreement

This chapter is concerned with the statempnt of the verb

agreement rule in clauses like (1~2) below in which agreement is

determined by Ule subject and notlonal ~ object, but 1n (3~4).

the subject and notional lndirect object.

(I) GIRL jHATE j BOY.

'The girl hates the boy.'

(2) OOG jBtTE j CAT.

'The dog bit the cat.'

--t-~

(3) 2 MAN. WOMAN oGIVEjdu BOOK.

'The .... oman gave the two men books.'

(4) SISTER j SHOW I PAPER.

'~IY sister showed me the paper.'

The structures proposed for sentences like (1) and (3) bear on

the statement of the verb agreement rule. Friedman (1975) proposed that

the form of agreement morphology could be predicted from the "sourceM

149

and "goal" of the clause, as in (5) beiow. Since the notions of source

~nd goal have been prt1poscd elsewhere (Fl11mor(! 1971, JtlcK(;ndoff 1972,

Gruber 1978) for "verbs of motion~, at first appearance, they seemed

partlcularly opt for the descript10n of a class of verbs in ASL. Under

Friedman's (1975) analYSiS, the d1rection of the linear movement in

verbs was described as originating at the locus pOSition of the source

nominal of the sentence and moving toward the locus position of the

goal.

(5) Source-Goal Analysis: Verb Agreement

l~O

The initial point of the d1rectional verb marks for per SOil and number of the source ond the end point~ the goal.

5.1 presented several arguments against statfng the a9re~mrnt

rule in terms of "source". While it appeared that the notion of

"source" captured certain generalitles about verb morphology, the same

benefit failed to appear elsewhere in the grammar. From the data on

agreement marker omission and the co-referential1ty constraint in

FORCE~type complement structures. it can be seen that stating these

rules in terms of "source" resulted 1r, statemer.ts which were less

general than if stated in terms of "subject."

Keg} (1978) suggested that sentences like (3~4) are -advancement

structures" 1n whiCh the M1nitlal- indirect object advances to .final"

direct object. Under this analysis. the verb agreement rule is state.;l in

terms of grammatical relations and levels of syntactic representation.

shown below 1n (6);

l

.~ _________ ...c:_-_::-

(6) Advancement analys1s! Verb Agreement

The inttial point of inflecting verbs marks for person and number of the final I, and the end point. the final 2 of the clause.

"In th1s chapter. I present arguments for the latter statement of

verb agreement. showing that the rule 1s best stated in terms of

gra:nmatical relations and levels of representation. In section 6.1.

argue against a verb agreement rule which references the semantic

notion of -goal-. In 6.2. I argue that sentences like (3~4) are best

represented by the multi-level advancement structure shown in (7). The

arguments in support of (7) draw from the facts about verb agreement and

other syntactic phenomenon in ASl.

--t--(7) 2 MAN, W()1AN oGIVEjdu BOOK.

'The woman gave the two men books. I

6.1 Arguments against the source.goal analysis of verb agreement

As defined by Gruber. ~goals- are "the ultimate destination of a

motion" (1978:66) such as (8-13) below (goals are underlined):

(8) John sent Bill a book. (9) John threw""""the ball to B111. (10) John received a book. frOiiilHll. (II) JOhfi inherited a million dollars. (12) J01iii ran ~ the deck.

151

(13) The ball rolled out of the house and 1nto the hole.

By referencing the notion of -goal- as defined above. the source

goal analysiS attempted to account in a general way for the form of verb

agreement 1n ASl. In sentences like (1~2). the -goaP 1s the notional

direct object. th,:!s the cnd,point of the verb agrees with the direct

object. But since in (3-4). the notional indirect object 1s the -goal-.

the verb instead agrees with the indirect object and not the direct

object. However, there are sets of verbs 1n ASl which exhibit agree:r.ent

morphology. but agreement 1s not expressed with the ~goal~ of the

clause. as defined by Gruber.

6.1.1- Backwards verbs

152

Backwards verbs were first discussed in Chapter 5: briefly, they

comprise the relatively smaller sub-class of Inflecting verbs for ~h1ch

agreement markers are Nbackwards·. In contrast to other Inflecting

verbs, the subject agreement marker or. Backwards verbs is not located at

the beginning point, but at the ~ point. and the agreement marker

for the notional direct object 1s instead located at the beginning

point.

(14) 1INOEX jINVlTE1 SISTER.

,'1 invited my sister.'

--------------------q---------(IS) O-X jlNOEX jBORROW j jlNOEX CAR.

'Would it be okay for him to borrow the car from her?"

(16) I INDEX FINISH jTAXEI HONEY.

'I already got the money.'

As discussed 1n 5.1. Friedman's source-goal analysis (1975)

handles these facts about regular and backwards Inflecting verbs with a

single statement. like regular verbs. the beginning point of backwards

verbs originates at the locus position of the source nominal and moves

toward the locus position of the goal nominal. In (14-16), the goal. or

the "ultimate dt!stination of the motion" 1s marked on the end point of

the backwards verb, as in regular Inflecting verbs.

If we accept this definition of -goal u• we would expect that

jIHOEX PA~TY (to the party) in the foHowing sentence is the goal 1n

the sense that the destination of the motion 1s the party. and thus

would be marked on the end point of the backwards verb, but 1n fact 1t

is not. The verb does not agree with the locative, but w1th the subject , of the clause, JINOEX.

-------t------(17) ',INDEX SISTER, ,INDEX ,INVlTEj jlNOEX PARTY.

'I lnvtted my sister to the party.'

------t------(18) jINDEX SISTER, IINDEX jlNVlTEI jlNDEX PARTY.

II invited ~ sister to the party.'

IS3

In order to account for (17-18). the source~goa·l analysis would

need to be mOdified. either by adding a special condition for sentences

like (18). or somehow refining the notion of goal to exc.1ude cases like

(17). Under either of these modifications, the position that the

notion of Mgoal K is useful as a means of determining agreement

morphology 1s weakened.

But if the agreement rule were stated 1n terms of grammatical

relations. as in (6), along with an additional statement about the form

of agreement markers on backwards verbs:

(19) Backwards ~

One sub-class of Inflecting verbs is morphologically backwards. Accordingly. with respect to verb agreement, the initial point marKS for final 2, and the end point. the 1 of the claose.

only (18) would be acceptable.

6.1.2 The class of Inflecting verbs

Additional objections to the source-goal analysis can be ralsed

on different grounds: many Inflecting verbs which contain a linear

movement do not entail "motion" except in an extended. looser sense,

e.g. HATE, LOOK-AT, PERCEIVE. REAO-EACH-OTHERS-HINOS. TEACH. INFORK. In

the case of these verbs. determining what constitutes a ~goal· is less

obv1ous.

IS.

As it is presently formulated. the source-goal analysis of verb

agreement in ASL requires certain complications in the grammar which are

not needed if verb agreement 'is stated tn terms of grammatical

relatloIJS. While problematic for Inflecting verbs. the notions of

source and goal. however. appear to be useful 1n characterizing the

direction of linear movement in directional Spatial verbs (Newport

IS8!. Supalla 1982). As a class, directional Spathl verbs ental1

motion and location. e.g.: 1Cl:V-WAlKj ('person walk from here to

there'). tCl:3.PASS-8.Yj (,vehicle drive from here to there'). and do

not mark for person and number agreement. I propose that syntactic

phenomenon, such as person and number agreement are best stated In terms

of grammattcal relations.

6.2 Stating the verb agreement rule

An adequate verb agreement rule must account for the form of

agreement morphology In sentences l1ke (20-21) below. In (20), the

notional direct obje,ct fs 3person dual, and the agreement marker 1s

likewise 3person dual. In sentences 11ke (21). agreement fs not

expressed with the notional direct object, but instead with the notfonal

indirect object. (22-23) show that if the verb marks for agreement with

the direct object instead of the Indirect object, the resulting form Is

either incorrect for the translation or unacceptable:

---t----(20) DOG, CAT, MOST IINOEX OFEE01,du'

155

'I'll have to feed the dog and the cat.'

(21) WOIIAN lGlVEj MAN 2 BOOK.

'The woman gave the man two books.'

(22) WOMAN lGlVEj,du MAN 2 BOOK.

*'The woman gave the man 2 books.'

(23) ·C-O OGIFT1 ~ TROPHY.

'The company gave ~ (of all peoplel) a trophy. I

Two different analyses for verb agreement are poSSible, each with

different consequences for the statement of the verb agreement rule.

(24) below 1s a unf-level structure; MAN bears the 3 relation to the

clause. The verb agreement rule under this analysis would need to be

stated disjunct1vely, shown below In (25):

(24) WOMAN lGlVEj MAN BOOK.


(25) Unl-level Analysis: Verb Agreement

The verb agrees in person and number with 1 and 2. if no 3. otherwise 1 and 3.

A second analysis posits a 3-2 advancement structure for

I

156

sentences like (21). Similar structures have been proposed for a number

of languages. including: Baha Indones 1 an (Chung 1976). Chamorra (Crain

1979), s. Tiwa (Allen & Frantz 1983). and TzotlO (Alssen 1983). The

principal characteristic of 3-2 advancement clause 1s a nominal wh1ch

heads an 3-arc In one stratum and a 2-arc in the following stratum. As

represented below. the nominal ~ in (26) 1s referred to as an

advancement~. The inltial 2. BOOK bears the ,horneur relation

.~.

157

will show that (a) the nominal wh1ch heads the 3~arc ilt the in1tial

stratum heads the 2·arc 1n the final stratum. and (b) the nomH.al which

heads the 2·arc in the initial stratum does not head the 2~arc 1n the

final stratum.

6.2.1 Arguments for the advancement analysis

in the final stratum. 6.2.1.1 An argument for final 2-hood: Sign order

(26) WOMAN ,GIVEj HAN BOOK.

IThe woman gave the man a book.'

Under this analysis. the agreement rule refers to final

grammatical relations:

(27) Advancement Analysis: Verb Agreement

The v.?rb agrees in person' and number with the final 1 and 2.

The analysis accounts for the ungrammatical (22-23): the initial

2 bears the chomeur relation in the final stratum, consequently, It is

not marked for agreement.

In order to argue that clauses like (21) are advancement

structures, that 15. have the structure represented as (2o) above,

In sentences where agreement Is determined by the subject and

direct object. like (28-29) below. the direct object follows the

predicate:

(28) IINOEX FINISH oFEEO, ~OG.

'I've already fed the d09.'

(29) OOG ,BITEj CAT.

'The dog bit the cat.'

In sentences where agreement Is determined by the indirect

object, the indirect object follows the predicate. A sentence like (31)

below. where the direct ubject is ordered after the predicate and before

the indirect object is ungrammatical.

(30) WOMAN ,G1VEj HAN BOOK.


158

I

I

(31) 'HOMAN lG1VEj BOOK MAN.


If a structure such as (32) below were postted for sentences like

(30). the s1g" order rule, like the verb agreement rule, would also need

a disjunct1ve statement:

(32) WOMAN lG1VEj MAN BOOK.


(33) Uni--level Analys15: 2.!!t!!. ~ Order of constituents In ASL 1s:

1 - P - 2 (if no 3) - Obliques otherwise: I-P - 3 - 2 -Obliques

An advancement analysis of {30} would avoid such a complication;

HAN bears the ftnal 2 relation, and BOOK, which bears the chomeur

relation, and is thus a non-term, 1s ordered after the final 2:

(34) Advancement analys 15: ~~ Ordt"r

Order of constituents in ASl Is: Final 1 - P - 2 - Nonterms

The advancement analysis captures a generalization about the

Similar behavior of fll1al 2s which is less obvious in the disjunctive

159

statement: they are marked for agreement on the verb and are ordered

after the predicate.

Alternatively, one might argue on the basis of the data on

.agreement and 519"0 order that MAN in (30) bears the 3.. not the 3

relation to the clause. 1.e •• (35), and BOOK bears some unspecified

grammatical relation!. perhaps an oblique. Under such an analYSis.

no diSjunctive statements are neededj the rules are cOn~jderably

simpler. Furthermore, they do not need to be stated 1n terms of levels

as 1n the advancement analys1s:

(35) WOMAN lG1VEj MAN BOOK.


~fG.~2C HAN

Gwr; WOHAN ~DOr...

(36) Unl-1evel Analysis B: Verb Agreement

The verb agrees in person and number with the 1 and 2

(37) Unl-1evel Analysis!:.. Slqn ~

Order of constituents Is: 1 - P - 2 _ Obliques

The next section provides an additional argument for the

advancement analysis by showing that a distinction Is needed between

initial and f1nal 2s, one which the alternative uni-level analYSis fans

to make.

160

r

I ,

6.2.1.2 An argument for initial 2-hood: locus shifting

Since the form of locus shHting h perhaps unusual to ASl. the

phenomenon is discussed at length here as a preface to the presentation

of the argument itself.

Chapter 2 discussed verbs in which agreement and locative markers

take the form of some locus pOSItion. The form of agreement markers

involves pOSitions at points within sign space around the signer's body

as in, for example. the 3person agreemer.t markers: iGIVEj ('he gave

her'); the sign origlnate.s at locus position 1. and moves toward

position 1. locative markers on Spatial verbs likewise involve locus

positions, e.g. lCl:V-WALK-TOj and ,Cl:V:STANO. For those

Inflecting and spatial verbs which contain a linear movement between two

locus points,' I use a general tern: -directional verb-I 1

Otne. lexical itemS in ASl are indicated with locus pOSitions.

Including pronouns such as tlllOEX and specially marked nouns. e.g.

tDGG (as shown in 2.1.1).

In (38-39), it can be seen that the same locus point, 1. appears

for coreferential pronouns and agreement markers. In (38). the subject

pronoun and subject agreement markers are indexed In the same location.

In (39), the subject of the first sentence and the direct object of the

second are coreferentlal. and the location of the indexlc pronouns Is

the same. (Note: The subscripts, h h.h ... have previously been

161 162

used 1n the glosses to specify any distinctive locus position in sign

space. When these subscripts appear 'in the transliltions of the

sentences below, they are USed to denote coreference, i.e. nominals

which appear In the translation with same subscripts are coreferential.)

-------t---(3B) jlNOEX BOOK, IINDEX IG1VE1, 11NfORMl GOO~.

'See this book? She1 gave it to me and (shei) told me 1t was

good. I

-----------q-------(39) tlNOEX BOOK GOO~. ZINOEX WANT tINOEX.

'This book! is good. 00 you want itt 1'

If different locus points were used for the pronouns and

agreement markers in (38-39), as in (40-41) below. only

non-coreferential readings would be possible.

-----t-----(40) jlNDEX BOOK, IlNOEX iG1VE1' jINfORM1 GOOD.

·'See this book1 She i gave it to me and she1 told me it was

good.'

'See this book1 She i gave it ~o me and hej told me it .as good.'

(41) I INDEX BOOK GOOD. --.. ----q--------21NOEX WANT I INDEX.

·'This book i is good. 00 you want iti1'

'This bOOk! is good. Do you want that onej1'

But In certain tWORsentence sequences like (42.43) below which

contain directional verbs. coreferential nomlnals can have different

J

locus positions. Specifically. the locations of the two subject pronouns

In the two sentences are different although they are coreferent1al; In

the ftrst sentence, the subject pronoun ~ppeared In position !. but tn

the second sentence, location of the coreferential pronoun shifted to

the position of the end point of the directional verb. !. As such, the

locus position of the subject has ~shiftedM from the beginning potnt of

the directional verb to the position of the end point.

(42) ,INOEX ,Cl.V-WAlK-TOj • STOP. THINK-ABOUT. jlNOEX DEC10E

WAIT.

'Shel walked over there. stopped and thought a bit, then she1

decided to wait there.'

(43) MAN ,INDEX GET-UP. lCl:V-WAlK-TOj. jlNOEX SEEM DEPRESSEO.

'The man 1 got up and walked away. lief seemed to be depressed.'

In (44), the direct object In the first clause, BOOK, Is indexcd in

163

location i. but In the second clause, the locus position of BOOK has shift

to location 1. As in (42-43). although the two pronouns are indexed in

different locations, they are understood to be coreferential:

('4) 11NDf.X BOOK llNDEX jMOVE j • D:[+ld'omatlc]:WRDNG jlNOEX

FAll.

'I moved the book! from here to over there. But itt fell off.'

A number of conditions apply to constrain locus sh1ft1ng in ASL.

First. whtle subjects of Intransitive clauses shIft (42-43). subjects of

transitive clauses cannot. as (45) demonstrates:

(45) BOOK l1NOEX lG1VEj. jlNOEX ~ANT BOOK BACK.

-IShe t gave him the book. (How) shej wants It back.'

IShe, gave him the book. Hej wants it back.'

Second, if a clause does not contain a directional verb. i.e., it

has either a Plain verb or a Spatial verb without a linear movement,

then shifting does not take place. In (46) below. a Plain verb, WALK Is

substituted for the Spatial verb, Cl~V-WAlK~TO in (43), and ~ see th('lt

shifting does not take place: the pronouns indexed at location 1. and

1 are judged non~coreferentlal.

(46) MAN tINDEX GET-UP, WAlK[+continuatlve]. jINDEX SEEM OEPRESSED.

·'The man! got up and walked for a while. Het seemed to be

depressed.'

'The man t got up and walked for a while. Hej seemed to be

depressed. '

As can be seen from the examples. evidence of locus shifting

appears only when the nominal Is fe-indexed in a later sentence. I have

chosen as illustration of this phenomenon. examples which contain

pronouns or index1c markers 1n the ~shifted~ location. but in ceita1n

other discourse contexts. pronouns cannot appear 1n the shtfted

location. but must be indexed at the original point. There appear to be

,

164

I \,

a number of factors at the level of discourse ol'ganization ... hich

determine whether a pronoun appears in its original or shifted location,

such as Mbackgrounded- or -foregroundedM information, but for our

purposes here. we concern ourselves only with ~ nomillals may shift

and select as tests those contexts in which the pronoun or agreement

markers must appear in the shifted location. Thus the question of ~

pronouns or agreement markers appear in a shifted location 1s

independent of lihich nomina1s may shlft, the focus of the remainder of

this section. 2 Since no prevlous descriptions of the indexic system 1n

ASL (Friedman 1975. lacy 1974), have to my knowledge, discussed this

phenomenon of locus shifting. I discuss two alternative analyses.

Th~ nominals which undergo locus shifting appear to be visible

count~rparts to the semantic notion of Mtheme M in verbs of mot ton

proposed by Fillmore (1968, 1977), Gruber (1978). Jackendoff (1972).

Def1nitions of Mtheme" appear below:

(41) ~ Verbs of ~

·With verbs of motion. the Theme 1s defined as the NP understood as undergoing the motion." (Jackendoff 1972:29)

165

MFor motional verbs ••• the entity which ts 1n mot ton (is) the Theme of the sentence." (Gruber 1978:38).

(48) John w"lked to the store.

(49) l!!! ~ moved away.

(50) Harry gave lli ~ away.

(51) Will inherited ~~~.

(52) Charlie bought thE" 1 amp from Max.

From the data presented thus far. it ... ould appear that

determining which nominals may shift can be predicted from the ser;,antic

roles of nominals In the sentence. (53) provides a thematic analysis of

the phenomenon:

(53) Thematic relations gnalysls: locus shifting

In sentences with directional verbs, themes shift to the locus pOSition of the end point of the verb.

As an alternative analysts. I propose that locus shifting in ASl

is not stated 1n terms of the semantic notion of theme. but rather the

relational notion of Mabsolut1ve N• specifically: Minitial

absolutiveM• An absolutive arc shall be defined following Perlmutter

(to appear):

A stratum is transitive 1f and only 1f it contains a I-arc or a 2-arc. A stratum is intransitive if and only if it is not transitive. An arc a is an ergative arc in stratum S. if and only if a is a "t~arc and S1 is transitive. 1

M arc a is an absolutive arc in stratum $. if and only if a 1s a Wuclear term arc and a 1s not an ergative arc in "Sjo -

show that stating the rule in terms of the semantic n~ti~n of

theme makes certain inaccurate predictions in ASl about which nominals

m~ sh1ft. but if the condition 1s stated tn terms of "1nitial

absolut1ve". a more general statement can be prov1ded.

1£6

J

6.2.1.2.1 An argument against a thematic analysis of locus shift1ng

To repeat, the notion of "theme" is def1ned by Jackendoff (1972)

as "the NP understood as undergoing the motion", and similarly by Gruber

(1978:38) as "the ent1ty which is conceived as moving or undergoing

transitions," Examples appeared earlier of nom1nals which would be

·tnemes· 1n English (48-52).

The rollowing sentences in English, {57-60} provide interesting

test cases for the not ton of -theme-; to my knowledge. these sentences

have not been previously treated. In sentences such as these. it would

appear th~t the ~ntittes which are conceived as moving are both the

subject and direct object. Thus, these sentences contain ~ themes.

(54) The boat shipped the coals up the river.

(55) She brought cookies to the party.

(56) He carried the child to the sofa.

(57) She drove the car to New York.

If there were clauses comparable to (S4.S7) 1n ASl which contain

two themes, then a condition on locus shifting stated 1n tenms of

-theme K would predict that both the subject and direct object of these

trans1tive verbs shjft. Exact translat10ns of the verbs 1n (S4·S7) are

difficult, but the ASL verb. BRING/CARRY appears to be the closest

translat10n to the English 'bring' or 'carry'. Using a context 1n which

shifted pronouns can appear, we can test whether both the subject and

167

the direct object shift in ASL sentences similar to (54-57). t.s (58)

shows~ the subject does not sh1ft. but from (59), we see the d1rect

object does:

(58) WOMAN tlNOEX t8RINGj COOKIE. jlNOEX MAY£.

·'That womao 1 brough_t the cookies. She; made them.'

'That woman t brought the cookies. Hej made them.'

,----q--------(59) COOKIES tINOEX. WOMAN tlNOEX t8RINGj COOKIE. IINOn

4 j TAKE l'

'Remember those cookies? Well. the woman brought them here

and I took some.'

Consultants report that a closer translation of (59) must consist

of two clauses, one where WOMAN is subject of an intransitive clause

containin9 a directional verb such as WALK. and another claus.e with

COOKIE as direct object:

(60) WOMAN tlNOEX tCL-V-WALK-TOj' jBRINGk COOKIE. jlNOEX

VoAKE.

'That woman 1 came here and brought cookies with her;,: ·Stef

made them. I

If -theme K is def1ned as g1ven 1n Gruber (I978)~ Jackendoff

(1972), the not10n is too general with respect to the phenomenon of

locus shifting in ASL. The condition on locus sh1ftfng as stJted 1n (53)

168

r

would pre~lct that in clauses with more than one theme. both the subject

and direct object shift, when 1n fact, only the direct object dues. A

·uniqueness cond1tlon u could be added In which only one theme appears In

a clause. The problem. however. 15 not removed: which nominal in (60) is

designated as -thcme w1'The following condition would be needed:

(61) Theme: Uniqueness Condition

In a clause with more than one theme. only the direct object shifts in locus.

Stating the condition on locus shifting in terms of -theme W does

not dispense with reference to grammatical relations. and requ1res an

additional condition.-

The ph~nomenon of locus shifting in ASL. as I show below. is

~tated more generally 11'1 terms of Winitial absolutive-. Rules which

reference the notion of absolutive have been proposed for a number af

languages. inclUding: Chamorro (Crain 1979). Udi (Harris. to appear).

"nd Southern Tiwa (Allen & Frantz I97a). Initial absolut1ve is defined

as a numinal which bears the absolut1ve re'lation 11'1 the 1n1tial

(62) Gil Analysis: locus Shifting

In clauses containing directional verbs. the lacus position of the initial absolutive of the clause shifts to the position of the end potnt of the verb.

169

Earlier. two different analyses for sentences like (63) were compared.

Since the indirect object in (63) behaves like a direct 'Object hi a

simple transitive clause with respect to verb agreement and sign order,

two possible analyses were entertained: a uni-level analysis such as

(64) In which MArl bears a direct object relation to the clause and SOaK,

some other grammatical relation ~. and (65), an advancement Structure

in which BOOK Is initial direct object and MAN, final direct object:

(63) W~AN jGIVEj MAN BOOK.

'The woman gave the boy a book..·

If we ~ssume a structure like (64) for sentences like (63). the

condit,ion on locus shifting would require a disjunctive statement. and

would be less general:

(68) Un1-1evel Analysis: locus shifting

In clauses containin9 directional verbs, intransitive subjects or nominals bearing grammatical relation!. shift to the locus position of the end point of the verb.

The advancement analysis. however. would avoid the complication

of a disjunctive statement. An analYSis of locus shifting in terms of

the relational notion M1n1tial absolut1ve- makes correct predlct10ns

1 110

about sentences (58-59). According to (62). only the inittal absolut1ve

shifts and not the ergative nominal. I conclude that the facts about

locus shifting in ASL are best stated 1n terms of the not10n "inittal

absolutive".

6.2.1.3 The indirect object relation

The data on locus shifting. verb agreement and sign order show

that the nominal which bears the final direct object relat10n 1n an

advancement structure does not bear the direct object relation 1n the

initial stratum. The question now remains as to what relation the

advancement nominal bears In the initial stratum. Although It seems

most plausible that the advancement nominal 15 an Initial Indirect

object. there are. unfortunately, no rules to my knowledge which refer

only to indirect objects. Whether or not the advancement nominal bears

an Indirect object relaLion in the initial stratum or some other

grammatical relation. ! does not alter the facts presented above

supporting the advancement analysis for sentences like (63).

In conclusion. I have argued In this chapter as well as the

previous chapter that the statement of the verb agreement rule in ASL

necessarily refers to grammatical relations. have shown In this

chapter, additionally, that more than one syntact1c level Is needed 1n

order to state the facts about verb agreement, sign order and locus

shifting In ASL. By posttlng an adVancement structure for sentences

like (63) the facts about verb agreement, sign order and locus shifting

in ASL are captured 1n a general way. Additionally. h~ve shown that

although Inflecting verbs 1n ASl appear to mim1c in a transparent way

semantic notions such as "theme~. ·source" and "goal", stating syntactic

rules 1n terms of these notlons does not allow for correct

generalizations across a range of sentences and verb SUb-classes.

172

r

L ..

Footnotes

1 Although the term Mdirectional verbM has been used elsewhere (I.'ood~ilrd 1974, Friedman 1975) as a name fOf' a verb class in ASL. 1t is used here to refer to verbs which contdin a 1 inear movement between two locus points. Verbs of this form can be m~nbers of different morphological classes. either Inflecting or Spatial.

2 M example of a conlext in which pronouns would not appear 1n the shifted location are sentences like (1) below. If the second sentence in the sequence is negated, pronouns must appear In the original, not snlfted location:

{l} ilNDEX NOT jWAlKjo llNOEX SCARED.

'He i didn't walk over there. Hei was scared.' ·'He l didn't walk over there. Sfiej was scared,'

The conditions under which pronouns appear in shifted or original locations are intriguing as a means of examining organization of back grounded or foregrounded information <IS well as temporal sequencing. Further discussion of this topic is beyond the scope of the present work and is reserved for future investigation.

3 The phenomenon of locus ~hif~ing refers to ~ iha,gehin ~ocation from i to samle' other locat 10n J at the end POlil 0 t e dlrectional verb.- In clauses containing dTrectional verbs. direct objects of simple transitive verbs determine the form of the end point agreement. including its locus position. Although these nominals are inHlal absolutiv~s. the present discussion of the condition on locus shifting does not concern them for the reason that they do not Kshift to" the locus position of 'the end point ± of the verb from some other position !. but are always positioned at •

4 TAKE 1s a backwards Inflecting verb; the direct object agreement marker is located at the beginning point.;

173

Chapter 7.

Classifiers and Indices

In this ,hapter. I examine the structure of sequentes which

contain indices and classifiers. While there has been som~ det~iled

morphological description of classifiers (Supalla 1982. N~\\port 1981)

and indices (Keg1 1978. Lacy 1974). comparatively little is understood

about their syntactic behavior. Both indices and classifiers involve

specifying a location in the sign area. Indices are "pointing" ~estures.

oriented toward a locus position in nEutral space. These includ~ the

personal pronouns. (e.g. lINOEX 'I') and the locative pronouns. (e.g.

jlNDEX 'there'). Like indices. classifiers specify locus positions.

e.g. lCl:3 ('vehlcle here').

In complex sequences involving classifiers such as (1-2). Liddell

(1979) has proposed that the initial nominals (underlined) are "locative

objectsK or obliques, and that constituents in such s~ntences al'e

ordered differently from other sentences containing v~rbs of different

classes. Specifically. in sentences w1th Plain or Inflecting v2rbs. he

argues that "basic" ("underlyingn) order of constituents is

"subject~verb~object". but in sentences like (1-2) with classifier verbs

(underlined). constituents must be ordered: "locative object~subject

verb". Under th1s analysis, two order rules ar~ needed, one for clauses 174

J

containing Plain and Inflecting verbs. (3) below. and another for

clauses containing a sub~c1ass of Spatial verbs, class1fier verbs, (4)

below. Additionally. the analysis assumes that (1-2) are monoclausal.

McIntire (1979) has proposed a similar analysis.

(I) l-haod: t Cl :B -------------

R-hand: TABLE MONKEY }l:V.

'The monkey stood on the table.'

(2) l-haod: t Cl : 4 ------------------

R~hand: fENCE CAT .;Cl: V-CROUCH.

'The cat sat next to the fence.'

In clauses cont41nlng Plain and Inflect1ng verbs. order of sign constituents is: Subject - Verb - Object.

(4)~~!

tn clauses containing Classifier verbs. order of s1gn constituents is: local ive object - Subject - Verb.

From sentences l1ke (5-1) below. Keg1 (1976) has claimed that In

clauses containing Inflecting verbs, sign order is less restricted than

with Plain verbs. She proposes that orders of "S·O-V" as 1n (5), or

MO_S_V" as 1n {6}, or even "V.S-O", as in (7) are possible In clauses

containing Inflecting verbs. As in the analysis of sentences with

classifiers. this analysis of sign order crucially rests on the analysis

of (5-7) as monoclausal; the ind1ces are either extra-linguistic

5JH!clflers or some type of dctC!rmlner. 1

175

(5) (BOY tINOEX) [GIRL jINOEX) tKICKj'

'The boy kicked the girl.'

(6) [GIRL jINOEX) [BOY tINOEX) tKICKj"


(7) tKICKj [BOY tINOO) (GIRL jINOEX].


These various analyses propose that sign order 15 determined ~y

the class of the verb In the clause. Using arguments presented in

earlier chapters for predlcatehood. 5ubjecthood. and direct objecthood

as tests. I re-examine clause structure of sentences liKe (1-2) and

(5-7). I show first that both classifiers In the sequence are

predicates. and the nouns preceding them are subjects. On the basis of

this data and other arguments which 1 present 1n the following sections,

1 argue that sentences like (1-2) and (5-7) are multi-clausal, not

monoclausal. Specifically. 1 show that there are grounds for analyzing

the clauses 1n (1) as 1n (a) below, and those in (5) as (9).(1 leave

open the question of whether the separate clauses I posit in each case

together constitute a s1ngle sentence. or separate sentences. 2)

176

r (B) l-h.nd: jCl:B ------------_

R~hand: TAULE MONKEY j~_

'The mon~ey stood on the table.'

(9) (BOY jINOEX] (GIRL jINCEX) jKICKj •


finally, I demonstrate that this alternative analys1s has

consequences for the statement of s1gn order in ASl.

7.1 Arguments for clausehood of Noun + Classifer sequences

Consider the two analyses of sentences like (10-11) as outlined

above. Under the monoclausal analYSiS, the init1al sequence of Noun +

Classifier (underlined) is a ·locative object" phrase. 3 The classifier

serves to identify a locus position for the noun preced1ng it, as such,

is a type of specifier. The structure of (10.11) is represented as (12)

117 ",,",--,,-'

below. and an order rule, (4) applies to clauses with classifier verbs.

(10) l-h.nd: jCl:B ______________ _

R~hand: TABLE MONKEY jCl: V.

'The monkey stood on the table.'

(II) l-h.nd: jCl:4 - _______ _

R-hand: FENCE CAT jCL:V.

'The cat sat next to the fence.'

(IZ)

HOtVK€,(

In the following sections, I argue against the rnonoclausal

analysis and for an alternative analysis in which the initial setjuence

(underlined) of Noun + Classifier is not a noun phrase, but a claus~.

present arguments showing that both classifiers in the sequence are

predicates and the nouns preceding them are subjects. In Section 7.3,

discuss other related structures and propose an account for them under a

mu1t1clausal analysis.

7.1.1 Sentent1al complements

As discussed 1n Chapter 3. THINK takes only a clausal direct

object. Thus. sentences containing non-clausal direct objects. as in

(14) are ruled out:

178

(13) IINDEX THINK 2INDEX FINISH LEAVE.

'I thought you already left.'

The fact that sequences of Noun + Classif1er may appear as

complements of THINK provides the first argument that these sequences

are not noun phrases, but clauses.

(15) liNDE' THINK WCi<AN jCL,V.

'I think the woman stood over here.'

(16) liNDE' HOPE CAR jCL,3 STILL.

'I hope the car is still parked there.'

7.1.2 Arguments for predlcatehood of class1f1ers


Short answers contain the subject and predicate of the clause, and

subjects in such answers may be deleted. Thus answers conta1ning only

the predicate are acceptable as in (18) but short answers containing

only the subject or any other nominal 15 not, as 1n (19-20):

•••••••••••••• q ••••••••••

(17) 2INDE' HAVE MONEY. CAN PAY.

179

'Do you have enough money to pay for it?'

----hn---(18) YES, HAVE.

·Yes. I do.'

------hn----(19) ·YES. I INDEX.

-----hn---- . (20) ·YES. MONEY.

If classif1ers 1~ (21) and (23) are predicates, they should be

able to appear alone 1n short answers, and (22) and (24) show this to be

true:

.•••. Q .........••. (21) QUESTION COW jCL,VV.

'Was the cow standing there?

(22) YES. jCL,VV.

'Yes. 1t was. I

------------q-----------(23) QUESTION 2POSS CAR jCL,3.

'Is your car parked over there nowl'

(24) YES. jCL,3.

'Yes. it 15.'

The preceding arguments show that sequences of Ibun + Classifier

are clausal and that the classifiers head a predicate arc. The

following arguments prov1de further support for postting a predicate arc

for these classif1ers by showing that they are verbs, and since all

verbs are predicates, cl~ss1f1ers must th~n be predicates.

180

7.1.2.2 linear position of verbs

As demonstrated in Section 4.1.3. verbs cannot be attributive.

that is appear before nouns in a noun phrase:

(25) *JINDEX SEE SIT-DOWN BOY.

'I saw the sitting boy.'

(26) *11NDEX SEE WAIT W~~AN.

'I saw the waiting woman.'

If classifier predicates are verbs, it should be the case that

they also cannot be attributive. (21-29) support this prediction:

(27) *lINDEX SEE jCL:3 CAR.

'I saw the parked car.'

(28) *ll"DEX SEE jCL:V WOMAN.

'I saw the standing woman.'

(29) "DAUGHTER WATCH jCL:VV COW.

'My daughter watched the standing cow.'

If the sequence of Noun + ClassHier ... ·ere analyzed as nomlnals,

that Is, the classifier is analyzed as some type of specifier or

181

determiner, then tn order to handle the ungrammatical ?equences of

(21-29) above. and allow the grammatical (30-32), a special rule wculd

be needed to order the classifier after the no~n head of the phrase.

Under the multi-clausal analysis. no additional rule would be needed.

The generalization about order of verbs observed in Section 4.1.3

handles the data here if these classifiers are analyzed as verbs.

(30) 11NDEX SEE CAR jCL:3.

'I saw that the car was parked there.'

(31) 11NDEX SEE WOMAN jCL:V.

'I saw that the woman was standing there.'

(32) DAUGHTER SEE COW jCL:VV.

'MY daughter saw that the cow was standing there.'

1.1.2.3 Facial adverbs

The facial adverbs. --th--, --Plll--. and --em-- cannot ·co-occur

with nominals. If the classifiers in the following sentences were

cont.ained in nominals. then sentences with facial adverbs co-occurring

with classifiers should be bad. But, as (33-35) show, they are

acceptable. These facts are consistent with the preceding arguments for

classifiers as verbs.

182 l

__ rtm_

(33) CAR jCL;3.

'The car is parked there w1thout any apparent problem.'

---tn-----(34) TREE jCL;l-LEAN.

'The tree 1s leaning over awkwardly.'

--Il'I!I--

{35) l_hand: iCl:4 ------------___ em_

R_hand: FENCE CAT kCl:V.

'The fence was just there, and there was th1s cat s1tt1ng right next to the fence.'

183

The preceding arguments have shown that 1n sequences of Noun +

Classifier. the classifier is a verb and bears the predicate relation to

its clause. The following argument showS that 1n such sequences. the

noun bears the 1 relation to the clause. thus providing additional

evidence along with the argumerlt with THINK complement structures that

such sequences ·are clausal.

7.1.3 An argument for the I_hood of the sentence~1nittal nomtnal:

Modals 4

Chapter S contains a discussion of modal structures in which 1

argue that only Is can precede modals in a modal structure. If it 1s

the case t~at ·'ocative object- sequences such as (36) below are

monoclausal, then modals should not appear within the oblique noun

phrase. but only following the subject norrdnal. but as (36)

demonstrates, modals can appear following either noun.

184

(36) L-hand; jCL;8 -------------- ---

R-hand: TABLE MUST

'The table has to be pos1tioned here so the monkey can jump

onto 1t.'

Under an analysts of (36) as monoclausal and the initial sequence

of Noun + Classifier as an ohl ique nominal. an additional compl kat Ion

wOuld be needed to account for sentences like (36) in which the nlOdal

appears ~ a noun phrase. Such a rule would not only be ad hoc,

but highly suspect.

But under a mult1~clausal analysis, no extra complication is

needed to account for (36). The sentence-lnitial nominal, TABLE hears

the 1 relation to the clause, thus can precede the modal in a modal

structure. likewise. since MONKEY heads the 1 relation tn the second

clause, it also may precede the modal.

On the basis of this argument. along with the preceding argL~ents

showing that these classifiers are predicates, t conclude that these

structures are not monoclausal. but multi-clausal sequences.

7.2 Sign Order

I have argued elsewhere that constituents tn ASL clauses are

ordc!red: Final 1 - Predicate - 2 - Nonterms. lhe fact that Is 1n the

follO\Jing clauses must be ordered before the classifier predicate is

consistent with the sign order rule I have proposed. Sequences like

(39-40) are unacceptable unless the classifier appears 1n a

nominalizat1on. as 1n the relative clauses 1n (41-42).

(37) CAR ,CL:3.

'lhe car is parked there.'

(38) CHU~CH iCL:A.

'Th~ church is up there.'

(39) ',CL:3 CAR.

'Th~ car 1s parked there.'

(40) ·iCL:A CHURCH.

'The church is up there.'

------rc-~ (41) THAT ,CL:3, a·u-s, NOT T-R-U-C·K.

'loihat was parked there was a bus, not a truck,'

------rc---(42) WAT ,CL:A, CHURCH.

'What is up there is a church.'

Whereas the monoclausal analysis of complex classif1er sequences

required a second. separate s1gn order rule to account for the order of

185

constituents, the present multi-clausal analysis needs no adJ1tional

rule. The sign order rule presented above correctly accounts for the

facts about ordering of const1tuents within the ASL clause. including

multi-clausal sequences containing classifier predicates.

7.2.1 Discourse ordering constraint

L1ddell (1977). Coulter (1979). McIntire (1979). and Supalla

(1982) among others have noted that 1n complex classifier sequences,

there appears to be an order constraint. The 1n1tial Noun + Classifier

sequence in (43-46) cannot be ordered after the second sequence as in

(45.46):

(43) L·hand: i CL :B ------------

MONKD }L:Vk • R-hand: TABLE

'The monkey jumped onto the table.'

(44 ) L-hand: jCL:4 -----.------R-hand: FENCE CAT jct:v.

'The cat sat next to the fence. '

(45 ) '*L-hand: jCL:B.

R-hand: MONKEY jCL:V TABLE


(46) ·l-hand: jCL:4.

R-hand: CAT jCL:V FENCE

'The cat sat next to the fence. '

Previous attempts to account for such orders have stated the

186

ccnstra1nt as a syntactic rule, e.g. Ml ocat1ve objects· are ordered

before subjects. Mclnttre (1979) proposed a "Mobil tty Hierarchy" 1n

which immobile objects are ranked higher than less immobile objects.

propose that such a constraint holds in ASl. but that the constraint 1s

not syntactic. but a constraint on discourse ordering, i.e. appl1es

~ clauses. The constra1nt makes predlctlons about which sequences

of flaun + Class1f1er are possible. In such a constraint. clauses are

ordered according to the ranking of the subject of the clause: clauses

with higher ranked subjects are ordered first.

Under this hierarchy. we would expect that cars are less mobile

than persons (in terms of volition). thus 1n classifier sequences with

CAR as subject of one clause and WOMAN, subject of another, we would

expect that the clause conta1ning CAR must be ordered before W()oIAN.

(47-48) show this to be the case.

{47} l-hand: jCL:3-----------------

R-hand: CAR

'The woman stood beside the car.'

(48) ·L-hand:

R-hand: WCtlAN

jCL:V----------

CAR ,CL:3.

'The car stood beside the woman.'

As another example, houses are presumably less mobile than cars

since cars can be easily relocated whereas houses cannot. Accordingly,

houses are ranked higher on the }bbil1ty Hierarchy, thus clauses

containing HOUSE as subject should be ordered first before clauses with

187

CAR as subject. This is supported by (49.50):

(49) L-hand: ,CL:A------------

R_hand: HOUSE CAR jCL:3.

'The car is parked near the house.'

(50) *L-hand: jCL:3-------------

R-hand: CAR HOUSE jCL:A.

'The house stands by the car.'

But we would expect no order constraint in the case ~f clauses

whose subjects one would expect to be. approximately equal 1n mobil Hy,

e.g. houses and rivers (disregarding their contents. i.e. water or

inhabitants); the Mobility Hierarchy assigns equal ranking In such

cases. This Is observed In (51-52). The differences In order are due to

differences In focus or orientation. e.g. in (51). the rl¥er is the

focus and house. positioned relati¥e to it.

(51) L-hand:

R-hand: RIVER

,CL:4k------------

HOUSE jCL:iI.

'The river flowed past the house.'

(52) L-hand: ,CL:A--------------

R-hand: HOUSE RIVER jCL:4k_

'The house stands by the rt¥er.'

The constraint likewise accounts for the possible orders In

(43-44). In (43), the subject of the first clause. TABLE. is less

mobile. thus is ranked higher, and is ordered before the second clause

wh1ch contains a lower ranked subject: MONKEY. In (44). CAT is ranked

188

lower on the mobility hierarchy than FENCE, and as can be seen, the

clause containing CAT is ordered after the one containing FENCE.

In the preceding sections. I have presented several arguments

which show that classifiers are predicates, the nouns preceding them are

Is- and along with the data from THINK complement structures. sequences

of Noun + Classifier are clausal. By. analyzing thest! sequences as

c.lausal. not only are general facts about predicates, including

classifier predicat~s mair.tained. but a more general sign order rule can

he stated which applies across verb classes. Furthermore, the facts

189

about ordering of nouns and classifiers which have been observed by

previous investi9ators are supported in this investigation. but I argue

that the level at which the ord~r constraint applies is not at the level

of the clause. but at the level of discourse organization.

7.3 Other complex class1fier sequences

In the preceding sections, 1 propvsed an analysis of sequences

like (53) as a multi-clausal sequence co~posed of two clauses. each

containin9 a 1 followed by a classifier predicate. In this section.

discuss t~~ other complex sequences which are similar to (53) but are

different in certain respects. (54) includes another example of a

~Locative object-subject-verb" sequence discussed by Liddell (1977) and

McIntire (1979) in which the sentence-1nit1al nominal TABLE 1s not

fol1owad by a classifier predicate as in {53}. but the classifier

appears simultaneously with the classifier in the next clause. And (55)

has been analyzed by Uddell (1977) as an example of.a sequence ordered:

·SUbject~Object-Verb". In 7.3.1. I discuss an analysis for (54). and in

7.3.2, for (55).

(.3) l-h.nd:

TABLE


(54) L-hdnd: i CL :B

R-hand: TABLE MONKEY jCL:Vk"


(55) L-hand: iCL:B 1CL:8-PUT-OOWNj'

R-hand: WOMAN PIE

'The woman put the pie down (e.g •• on the table).'

7.3.1 Other "Locative object-subject-verb" sequences

I now argue aga1nst a monoclausal analysis for (54).

Spec1fically. 1 shaw that the sentence-initial nominal (underl ined) is

neither 2 nor oblique of the clause. Then I propose an analysis for

sentences like (54) which is compatible with preceding analyses uf

sentences like (53).

7.3.1.1 An argument against 2-hood of sentence_initial nOiflinal: locus

sh1fting

As discussed in sectiOn 6.2.1.2 on locus shifting, the position

of ergative nominals does not shift to the position of the end point of

ISO

a directional verb. If TABLE were initial 2. the position of the

ergative nominal should not shift 1n locus. But, from (56), we see that

the position of MONKEY does shjft In locuS, thus cannot be an ergative

nominal, but an initial 1 In an intransitive stratum.

(56) L-h.nd: l eL :B ---------------

R-hand: TABLE MONKEY jCL:Vk• kHiOEX SCARED.

'The monkey jumped onto the table. He was scared.'

7.3.1.2 ftn argument against sentenceMlnltlal nom1nal as obl1que:

Toplca ),hatf on

Nomfnals heading a 1 or 2 arc may be toplcalized (section 3.1.3).

Toplcalized nominals appear In clauseMfnltlal position and are marked by

raised eyebrows. (51) contains an example of a toplcallzed 1. (58).

initidl 2 and {59-60}, final 2.

--t---(57) SISTER HAPPY.

'My sister. she's happy.'

--t-(58) BOOK. W«<Atl 15ENOj MAN.

'The b~o~. the woman sent It to the man.'

-t-(59) CAT, OOG IBlTEj.

'The cat, the dog bft It.'

-t-(60) I1AN, Wa~AN 15ENOj BOOK.

'The man, the woman sent him a book.'

"'-:

191

However, as Liddell (1977) and McIntire (1980) have observed, not

all nominals may toplcallze. McIntire suggests that in "locative

phrases M such as (61) containing indices. the -locative object" must

follow the, 1ndex. and t~plcal1z1ng the locative object results In the

ungramm,atlcal (62).

(61) BOOK IINDEX MY BEDROOM.

'The book is up tn mY bedroom.'

·-~~--t~----(62) ·MY BEDROOM, BOOK I ltiOEX•

'MY bedroom. the book 1s up there.' (McInt1re 1980)

Additional examples of ungrammatical sequences containing

toplcal1zed obliques appear below: 5

(63) IINDEX SLEEP HOTEl.

'1 1m sleeping at the hotel.'

---t-----(64) *H-D-T-E-L, IINDEX SLEEP.

'The hotel. 1 slept at.'

(65) IINOEX IINVITEI SISTER PARTY.

'I invited my sister to/at the party.'

---t--(66) ·PARTY, IINOEX IINVITEI SISTER.

'The party. I invited my sister to.'

192

(61) IINDEX READ SCIENCE.

'I read about science.'

-----t--(68) 'SCIENCE, IINDEX READ.

'Science, I read about.'

I propose that the ungrammatlcality of (63-68) 1s accounted for

by the condition on topicallzatlon stated In (69); obliques may not also

head a topic arc. Possible structures according to {59} are represented

below in (70-71): the topic nominal heads either a lor direct object

arc and an overlay arc. "TDpic". (72). on the other h4nd. Is not a

possible topic structure.

(69) Topicalization

t.ominals heading a 1 or ~ arc may also head a topic arc.

·-t--(10) WOMAN BUY CAR.

'The woman, she bought a car.'

~~ \>,,(,'\) ~R-

WOHAN ---t----

·(12) BEOROOI·l, BOOK iINOEX.

-t-(71) CAR, WO<AN BUY.

'The car, the woman Dought.'

~~ 1~~-.1

'. > CAR-

These facts about topicallzatlon provide a means of testing

193

whether the sentence-lnitial nominal in (56) is an ob.llque. If TABLE

were an oblique nominal, 1t should not be able to topical ize. but as can

be seen from the following sentence, TA8LE may have topic marking.

(13) L-hand: ---t---

R-hand: TABLE MONKEY


tf (73) were analyzed as monoclausal, the condition on

topicallzation would need to be complicated in some way to include

obliques such as TABLE. Such a modification would be justified if other

evl~ence could be prOduced that TABLE Is indeed an oblique.

7.3.1.3 A proposed account

In the absence of evidence that the sentence-initial nomin~l In

(73) Is an oblique or 2, I propose that structures such as (73) be

analyzed similarly to Japanese sentences such as (74-75) below In wh"ich

the topic nominal Is not a constituent of the clause:

(74) Sakana wa tal 9a 01s11. fish red snapper delicious.is

19'

'Speaklng of fish, red snapper Is the most delicious.' (Kuno1973:62)

(75) Nihon wa danse! 9a tanmei desu. Japan male short-Ute-span are

'As for Japan, men have a short life span.' (Kuno 1973:65)

Coulter (1979) has argued that the raised eyebrow marking

characteristic of toptca11zatton occurs with a number of d1fferent

structures. including (76) below in which the constitllt!f1t marked by

raised eyebrows could not have appeared 1n the clause itself. f.e. the

topfc nominal does not also head a 1 or 2 arc. Other examples appear tn

(71-76).

--t-(76) "EAT, lINDEX LII:E LAMB.

'As for meat, l1ike lamb.' (Coulter 1979:28)

~-t-

(77) FOOD, lINDEX ONLY_ONE V_E_G.

'With respect to food, 1 eat only vegetables.'

----t----(7a) RELATIVES. ,INDEX ONLY-ONE SISTER.

'As for relatives. she has only a sister.'

It can be shown from (79-81) that the topics in (76-78) are not

constituents of th~ clause which they precede since they cannot appear

following the predicate as can some obliques (e.g. 61).

(79) 'lINDEX LIKE LAM6 HEAT.

'1 like lamb meat.'

(SO) ·1 HiGH OtilY-ONE V-E-G FOOD.

'I eat only vegetable food.'

(&1) 'jIIIDEX OIlLY-OIIE SISlER RELATIVES.

'She has only one sister relatives.'

195

As a result, the fact that the sentence-initial nominal in (73)

can have topic marking does not by ttself provide an argument that It Is

a constituent of the following clause l since as (76-78) show, nominals

which are not constituents of the clauses they precede may have topic

marking. On the basis of the preceding arguments, I propose that 1n

addition to a structure such as (70-11). 1n which nomfnals heading a

or 2 arc also head a topic arc, there is a different topic structure

which I will arb1trarlly represent below as (82). In (82).! 1s a

clause no.de. but ~ 1s not. 1.e~. the topic structure is the equivalent

of a "Chomsky-adjunctiona •

--t-(62) MEAT, JINoEX LIKE LAM6.

'As for meat, 11ike lamb.' (Coulter 1979:28)

w~ L\"~ 1'''06~ LAH?>

ThE're 1s an additional fact about sentences l1ke (73) which holds

true for sentences like (76-78): the topic (underlined) cannot appear as

a constituent of the clause it precedes.

(83) l-hand: jCL:B -----------------

R-hand: "MONKEY


I

196

l

In this section, I have proposed an alternative structure for

sentences like (73). Instead of a monoclausal structure in which the

sentence initial nominal is analyzed as an oblique. on the basis of

facts about obliques and Topic structures such as (76-78), I propose a

structure such as (82). In (a2). the Topic nominal does not also bear

the lor Z relat10n 1n the clause which follows it. but heads only I

Topic arc.

7.3.2 ·S-O-V· sequences

Liddell (1977) observed that while the order "S·O-V" 1s not

permitted for sentences like (84w851. it 1s penmitted for sentences like

(86-a7) in which the "object" (underlined) 1s followed by a classifier.

(84) *MAN NUMBER FORGET.

'The man forgot the number.'

(8S) "MAN MOVIE SEE.

'The man saw the movie.'

(86) l-hand: i Cl :B

R-hand: WOMAN PIE jCl:S-OPEN-OOOR

'The woman put the pie 1n the oven.'

(87) l-hand:

R-hond: MAN ~ jCl:8B-llPEN

'The man read the book.'

READ.

(Uddell 1977:139)

197

From additional examples such as (88-69) below, it can be seen

that not only do "objects P appear between the subject and verb. but also

"instruments p• As 1n (86-87), a classifier follows the "instrument"

(underlined)':

(88) MAN ~ jCl:H jCl:H-CUT-08JECT.

'The man cut it with a knife,'

(89) WOMAN WOOD iCl:CC jCUS-BEAT-OBJECT.

'The woman beat 1t with a stick.'

The relevant fact 1s that sentences like (86-89) are possible

only 1f the "object" or "instrument" 1s followed by a classifier. 1

suggest that (86-89) do not necessarily present counter-examples to the

sign order rule. as stated earlier: Final 1 - Predicate - 2 - Nonterms.

but should ,be analyzed as multi-clausal, not monoclausal ,structures,

that is, they contain a subordinate Noun + Classifier clause. For

examp,le, (86-8]) are analyzed as having the following structures:

(90) l-hand: jCl:.]O --------------2(;Cl:B-PUT-I'TOj ],

R-hand: O(WOMAN I(PIE jCl:S-OPEN-DOOR]1

'The woman with the pie in hand. opened the door and put a flat

object (the pie) through 1t.'

(91) l-hand: jCl:B]O

R-h.nd: O(MAN 1(800K jCl:8B-OPEN]1 READ]O.

'The man wtth the book open, began to read.'.

198

Order within the subordinate clause 15 restricted to Noun +

Classifier. If the embedded sequence of Noun + Classifier were analyzed

as an embedded clause, no additional condition is needed to rule out

sentences like (92-93) where the noun 1s ordered after the class1fier:

(92) "l-hand: [jCl:B -----_____________ jCl:B-PUT-INTOj

•

R-hand: W()1AN PIE] jCL:S-OPEN-OOOR

'The woman with the pte In hand. opened the door and put a flat

object (the pie) through it.'

(93) "l-hand: jCL:B

R-hand: MAN [tCL:BB-OPEN BOOK) READ.

'The man with the book open, began to read.'

It can be seen from (94) that a modal can appear following the 1

1n the p.mbp.dded clause:

(94) l-hand: jCL:B-----

R-hand: MAN [BOOK MUST lCL:BB-OPEN BIG-LETTER] CAN READ.

'The man, his book has to be In large type then he can read tt.'

This evidence strongly supports analyzing these as multi-clausal

structures.

1.4 Indices

The status of indices 1n sentences 11ke (95-97). as discussed

e<!lrl ier, Is unclear. Earlier treatments of indices (lacy 1974. Ke91

199

1976. Wilbur 1979) have suggested they are detenmlners, that 1s,

sentences like (95-97) contain two nomfnals cons1st1ng of Noun +

Determtner (Index). 6 According to this analysis, (95.91) are

monoclausal and orders of: SOY (95), OSV (96) and VSO (97) are possible

1n structures such as these:

(95) BOY jlNOEX, GIRL jlNOEX, jKICKj •

'The boy k.icked the gllrl. 1

(96) GIRL jlNOEX, BOY jINOEX. l.KICKj.


(97) jKICKj BOY jINOEX, GIRL jINOEX.


Additionally. order within the nominal 1s said to be relatively

free. Indices may appear either after the noun as 1n (95-97) or

preceding the noun as In. for example, (98-99) below:

(98) jlNOEX BOY, jlNOEX GIRL, jKICKj.


(99) jlNOEX GIRL, jlNOEX BOY, jKICKj'


As an account for variability In Sign order, Kegl (1976) proposed

..

200

that sign order 15 more flexible depending on the class of the verb in

the clause. In clauses containing Plain verbs, orders such as SOY and

vso are not possible. but in clauses containing Inflecting verbs. these

orders are allowed. e.g. (95~99).

I argue in the following sections for a different analysis of

clause structure in sentences {95-991. and as. a consequence, a

different analysis of sign order in ASl. The arguments used here bear on

the distinction between seqlJences of Noun + Index or Index + Noun as

201

.£1~ ()r as r,aminal s. In Chapter 4, I argued that in certain

sequences of Index + Noun, the Index bears the 1 relation to the

clauses. and the Noun, the predicate relation, thus the sequences are

not phrases, but clauses. In the following sections. us1ng similar

arguments. I show that some sequences of Noun + Index are also clauses

with the noun heading a l~arc and the Index heading a P~arc. However. it

is not the case that all sequences of Noun f Index or Index + Noun are

clauses. In Section 7.4.2, I present a means for d1stinguishing between

indices which head a P~arc from those which do not.

7.4.1 Arguments for the clausehood of some Noun + Index sequences

1.4.1.1 Sentential complements'

In Chapter 4. 1t was argued that s1nce THINK takes only a

sentential complement, and since sequences of Index + Noun m~ appear as

complements of THINK. sequences of Index + Noun must then be clauses. If

~-.-~----

202

certain sequences of Noun f Index can appear as compl~ments of THIIIK.

then they also must be clauses. The following sentences proviae examples

of such sequences.

(100) IINOEX THINK CAR jINOEX.

'I th1nk the car 1s there.'

(101) WOMAN THINK STORE jINOEX.

IThe woman thought the store was over that way.'

(102) IINOEX THINK SISTER jINOEX.

'I thought the sister was her.'


A short answer to a question typically contains only the

predicate. We see from the affirmative answer to (103) that indices in

a Noun + Index sequence appear as short answers. a characteristic true

of predicates.

---------q------------(103) QUESTION STORE j INOEX?

'Is the store over that way?'

_a~hn __

(104) jINOEX.

'Yes. it is.'

However. in response to (103). it would be unusual to give the

following answer:

--hn-(IDS) ·STORE.

'Yes. the store~'

But (105). not (104) should be an acceptable response to a

different question if STORE bears the pred1cate relation. as in (106)

below. This prediction IS accurate as (107-10B) show:

---------q------------(106) QUESTION I INDEX STORE?

'Is that a store?'

--hn(107) STORE.

'Vest it Is.'

--hn-(108) ·jINOEX.

'Yes. over there.'

This data from short answers shows that order of the noun and

index within the nominal 1s not free, but Is ordered: 1 - Predicate.

The preceding sections prOVide arguments supporting an analysis

of at least some sequences of Noun + Index and Index + Noun as

clauses. However, 1t is not the case that all such sequences are

cl auses.

203

7.4.2 An argument against predlcatehood of some indices

In Section 7.1.2, several arguments were presented showing that

classifier verbs such as 1CL:V ('person standing in location i'),

iCl:3 ('vehicle positioned in location l'). iCl:1 ('upright

animate object In location 1.') are indeed predicates. like indices.

classifier verbs of location mark some locus pOSition, 1. We would

expect that In cases where indices bear a predicate relation. for

example. In complements of THINK. the classifier verb may be substituted

for the Index •. {109-11la.bL p'rovfde examples of this:

(109.) IINOEX THINK CAR I INDEX.

'I thought the car was over there.'

(109b) IINOEX THINK CAR ICL,J.

'I t.hink the car 15 park.ed there.'

(1l0.) WOI'AN THINK FRIEND IIIIOEX.

'The woman thought her friend was over there.'

(1IOb) WOMAN THINK FRIEND ;CL,V.

'The woman thou9ht her friend was standing there.'

(Ill.) IINOEX THINK SISTER IINOEX.

'I thought his sister waS there.'

204

(!lIb) IINUE! THINK SISTER jCl:V.

'I thOUgtlt his sister was s1tt1ng there.'

But there are cases where substitutlon of a classifier verb for

an index results in ungrammatical sentences, as 1n the follow1ng

examples:

(112a) IINDEX BUY CAR jiNDEX.

'I bought that car.'

(1120) 'IIUDEX BUY CAR ICl:3.

(113a) SISTER SUCCEED MEET FRIENO ilNOEX YESTERDAY.

'~ sister fln~11y met my friend yesterday.'

(ll3t.) -SISTER SUCCEED MEET FRIEND iCL:V YESTERDAY.

(11'.) BROTHER DECIOE SEll CAR IINDEX.

'My brother decided to sell that par.'

(ll'b) -BROTllER DECIOE SEll CAR ICl:3.

Class1fier verbs head only P-arcs. S1nce the 1ndices 1n

(109-111) al~o head P-arcs. sUbstitut10n of the Index with the

classifier is allOwed. But if the tndices do not head P-arcs. as 1n

(112~114). then classifier verbs cannot be substituted for them. We

.1l!;-_._ ....... _ .... ___ ~======~ .. _ ... _ .. ~.... ....~~~ ...

205

turn now to the question of what status indices bear in sentences like

(95~97), repeated below:

(95) BOY jINDEX. GIRL jINDEX. jKICKj •


(96) GIRL jINDEX. BOY jlNDEX, jXICKj •

'The boy k1cked the girl.'

(97) jXICKj BOY jINDEX. GIRL jiNDEX.


If the indices in the above sentences do not head P-arcs. then

classifier verbs cannot be SUbstituted for them. 8ut, as (115-117) show,

classifier verbs may be substituted for the indices:

(115) BOY jCL:V, GIRL jCL:V,jKICKj'


(116) GIRL ICl:V, BOY jCl:V, IKICKj.


(117) jKICKj BOY jCL:V, GIRL jCL:V.


On the basis of the above facts, 1 propose the following multl-

200 1

J

clausal analys1s for sentences like (95-97) 1n which the indtces bear

the predicate relation to the clause:

'The boy 1s here; the g1rl 1s there; he kicked hera '

'The boy was standing herei the g1rl standing there; he kicked

her.'

7.4.3 S1gn order

On the basis of the above data. I propose that no speCial

cor,dition on s1gn order 1s needed for clauses containing Inflecting

verbs, but that Sign order 1s, as previously stated:

(llS) Sign ~

Order of constituents 1n ASL 1s: Flnat 1 - Pred1cate - 2 _ t\onterms.

Sentences like (95-97) do not present counter_examples to the

above constraint; I have argued that the sequences of Noun + Index in

those sentences are not nominals. but clauses. and within the clauses

themselves, order 1s constrained according to (liB).

207

(118) predicts that 1n sentences ltke (119) below which do not

v10late the sign order rule, indices may e1ther be predicates or

determiners. In some sentences, we find that classifier verbs cannot be

substituted for tndices. as in (I20). but if the sequence 1s

multi-clausal, and a clear boundary pause or marker (the sentence

adverbial, D:WRONG[+1dtomat1c] 'Suddenly') appears between clauses. then

classifier verbs can be substituted for indices, as in (I2l).

(119) BOY jlNOEX jKICKj.GIRL jINOEX.

'The boy k1cked the girl.'

(120) 1'BOY jCL:V jKICKj GIRL jCL:V.

'The boy kicked the g1rl.'

(121) BOY jCL:V. O:WRONG[+idjom.tjc). JKICK j • GIRL jCL:V

INNOCENT.

'The boy was standing there then suddenly he kicked her. The

girl was just standing there,'

In ASL grammar. the status of indices has been problematic.

Previous analyses have suggested that they are either determiners or

some type of specifier. 1 presented data here showing that at least

some sequences of Noun + Index c~nnot be analyzed as nominals. but must

be clauses. In complex sequences containing several i(ldices, Such as

(95-97). it 1s not clear from the sentence itself whether the indices

are determiners or predicates. If some indices are predicates, then

208

substitution of similar predicates should be possible, and the fact that

such substitutions are allowed supports the analysis. Further, In cases

where lnd1c:es are not predicates. then substitution should be

disallowed. This is also supported. The test of substit~tion provides a

means of distinguishing between indices which bear the predicate

relation and those which do not. As a consequence, facts about sign

order could be re-examined. once the clause structure of sentences

conta1(11n9 indices Is established. 1 propose that no special condition

Is ne~ded to account for sign order In clauses containing Inflecting

verbs. but that a general sign order rule applies across different

sub-classes of verbs.

This chapter has examined a little-studied area: the syntactic

structure of sentences containing classifier verbs and indices. Using

facts about I-hood and predicatehood established 1n Chapters 4 and 5.

various tests were applied to sentences containing classifier verbs and

indices, I have argued that. on the basis of these tests, the position

that certain complex sequences containing classifiers and indices are

monoclausal cannot be supported. If these Isentences are reanalyzed as

multi-clausal sequences. then facts about sign order within the clause

can be stated more generally. across different verb classes.

209

Footnotes

1 Sentences (5-7) do not contain topic marking and are unambiguous in meaning.

2 If the former is the case. the individual clause nodes would head arcs with a superordinate node as tail. i.e the structure below: (i)

3 In his description of classifier roots, Supal1u (1982) distinguishes between "stative" and "contact" (location) roots. In this chapter, the following classifier forms: Cl:V, Cl:3. Cl:V. Cl:l, Cl:A contain contact roots.

4 Another argument for subjecthood. antecedents for SELF pronouns, cannot be used with these sequences for the reason that the pronouns, 'to do by oneself' cannot be used with statives. e.g.

(i) 'DOOR SELF ODOR-CLOSED.

'The door was closed by itself.'

(ii) "\lOMAN SELf HAPPY.

'The woman was happy by herself.'

(iii) 'CAR Sl:LF iCL :3•

'The car was parked on its own.'

5 While structures with tOhicalized obliques are ruled out. as shown in (63~6a), structures Wlt lett dislocation are allowed:

210

--------t-------(1) jll<OEX H-O-T-E-L. IINOEX SLEEP jiNOEX.

'As for that hotel. I slept there.'

6 The gloss: INDEX encompasses at least two distinct index forms: those ~hlCh involve a short directional and contact movement, and those which do not. It appears that typically indices which bear the predicate relation involve the directional and contact movement, wh1le determiners do not. In free conversation, however, the distinction 1s often neutralized. For this reason, this chapter examines evidence for distinctions among tndices other than dHferences in form.

211

.. ~

ASK BAWL-OUT BEAT BEG BID BITE BLAME "BORROW BOTHER GIFT GIVEI CAPTURE CATCH COMMAND CONTACT CONVINCE "COpy CRlTlCIZE DEFEAT *EXTRACT FEED FINGERSPEll FLATTER FORCE HATE IlELP IGNORE INFLUENCE INFORM INSULT -INVITE KISS LOCK-IlORNS LOSE-CONTACT

(*: Backwards verbs)

Appendix A

Examples of Inflecting Verbs

MOCK "MOOCH OFFER OKAY/APPROVE OWE PAY! PAY PERIUAOE PICK-ON

, PITY TO-QUESTION REJECT SAY-NO SCOLD SELL SEND SEND! SHOW 2 STAB *STEAl *TAKE *TAKE-AOVANTAGE-OF TEACH TEASE TELL TEST THROW-TO TO-TTY-TO/TElEGRAPH WARN

212

ACCfPT /,CQU1ESCE ANNOUNCE APPLY A~HAN£D

BATHE SE-CAIIEfUl BOREO EtRUSH-THTH OuilO CELEBRATE ceMS OON'T-CARE DOUBT DOUBT1

DROP 2 EhT n:COURAGE fNJOY D[RCISE fORGET GliE 55 HW::: BOPE INSERT INTERPRET Jl!fJGE UIUGU LIKE llPRiAO

Appendix a

Examples of Plain Verbs

LIVE LOVE MEMORIZE PROMOTE REQUEST SERVE SET -UP SIGN SING STOP SUGGEST SUPERVISE SUSPECT TEMPT THANK THINK THROW-AWAY VOTE WALK WANT WASH WONDER WORK YAWN YELL

: :::::;;::: ...:::':: ::: 213

\

BRING/CARRY CARRY -B Y -HAND EAT -UP /CORROOE EXAMINE GO-AWAY GO/COME INSERT MOVE MOVE-AWAY POINT -TO SCRUB TRACE WRITE

l CL :A l CL :C l CL : CC lCL :1 l CL :Il ·CL:V ~Cl:V lCL : VV l CL : VV l CL : 3

Append1x C

Examples of Spatial Verbs

Examples of Classif1er Verbs

(location only)

'stationary, inanimate object' 'round object' 'larger round object' 'shallow round Object' 'shallow larger round object' 'two-legged animate' 'two-legged crouched animate' 'four-legged animate' 'four-legged crouched animate' 'land-locked vehicle'

214

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