Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T08:23:15.444Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Clausal Structure and a Tier for Grammatical Marking in American Sign Language

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2008

Debra Aarons
Affiliation:
Debra Aarons, Benjamin Bahan, and Carol Neidle, Program in Applied Linguistics, Boston University, 718 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Benjamin Bahan
Affiliation:
Debra Aarons, Benjamin Bahan, and Carol Neidle, Program in Applied Linguistics, Boston University, 718 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Judy Kegl
Affiliation:
Judy Kegl, Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, 197 University Avenue, Newark, NJ 07102, [email protected]
Carol Neidle
Affiliation:
Judy Kegl, Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, 197 University Avenue, Newark, NJ 07102, [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Grammatical information in ASL can systematically be marked on the face. Such nonmanual marking extends over the c-command domain of the trigger, and therefore provides information about the hierarchical organization of the language. Consistent with evidence available from the distribution of non-manual markings—as illustrated with respect to wh-marking and negation—a basic clausal structure for ASL is proposed. Furthermore, we suggest, contrary to generally accepted claims about ASL, that both Tense and Agreement are structurally present in all ASL main clauses. This analysis allows for a uniform account of the licensing of null subjects in ASL. Evidence in favor of this analysis, and against a dual licensing mechanism (as proposed in Kegl, 1985, and Lillo-Martin, 1986, 1991b), is presented.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aarons, D., Bahan, B., Kegl, J. & Neidle, C. to appear – a. Subjects and Agreement in American Sign Language. In Ahigren, I., Bergman, B. & Brennan, M. (eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Sign Language Research.Google Scholar
Aarons, D., Bahan, B., Kegl, J. & Neidle, C. to appear – b. Lexical Tense Markers in American Sign Language. In Emmorey, K. & Reilly, J. (eds.), Sign, Gesture, and Space. Hillsdale: Lawrence Eribaum Associates.Google Scholar
Baker, C. & Cokely, D. 1980. American Sign Language – A Teacher's Resource Text. Maryland: T.J. Publishers, Inc.Google Scholar
Baker-Shenk, C.L. 1983. A Micro-analysis of the Nonmanual Components of Questions in American Sign Language. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Brennan, M. 1983. Making Time in British Sign Language. In Kyle, J.G. & Woll, B. (eds.) Language in Sign: An Iruernational Perspective on Sign Language. London: Croom Helm.Google Scholar
Cogen, C. 1977. On Three Aspects of Time Expression in ASL. In Friedman, L. (ed.), On the Other Hand. New York: Academic Press, pp. 197214.Google Scholar
Friedman, L. 1975. Space, Time and Person Reference in ASL. Language 51, 940–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gee, J. & Kegl, J. 1983. Narrative and Discourse Structure in ASL. Presented in Gallaudet College Lecture Series. Available on videotape from the Gallaudet Library, Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Huang, C.T. 1982. Logical Relations in Chinese and the Theory of Grammar. Ph.D. Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Huang, C.T. 1984. On the Distribution and Reference of Empty Pronouns. Linguistic Inquiry 15, 531574.Google Scholar
Jacobowitz, E.L. & Stokoe, W.C. 1988. Signs of Tense in ASL Verbs. Sign Language Studies 60, 331340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, R.E. & Liddell, S.K. 1987. A Morphological Analysis of Subject-Object Agreement in American Sign Language. Presented at the Fourth International Conference on Sign Language Research, 07 1519, Lapeenranta, Finland.Google Scholar
Kegl, J.A. 1977. Research in Progress and Proposed Research. Unpublished Manuscript, MIT, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Kegl, J.A. 1981. Videotape archive: Bonnie Hughes, Cinderella Narrative and Teaching Commentary on the Narrative.Google Scholar
Kegl, J.A. 1985. Locative Relations in American Sign Language Word Formation, Syntax, and Discourse. Ph.D. Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kegl, J.A. 1986. Clitics in American Sign Language. In Borer, H. (ed.), Syntax and Semantics: The Syntax of Pronominal Clitics, Vol. 19: pp. 285309. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kegl, J.A. 1987. Coreference Relations in American Sign Language. In Lust, B. (ed.), Studies in the Acquisition of Anaphora, Vol. II: pp. 135170. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keg, J.A. 1990. Predicate Argument Structure in ASL. In Lucas, C. (ed.) Sign Language Research: Theoretical Issues. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar
Klima, E. & Bellugi, U. 1979. The Signs of Language. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Koopman, H. & Sportiche, D. 1991. The Position of Subjects. Lingua 85:2/3, 211258.Google Scholar
Liddel, S. 1980. American Sign Language Syntax. The Hague: Mouton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lillo-Martin, D. 1986. Two Kinds of Null Arguments in American Sign Language. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 4, 415444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lillo-Martin, D. 1990. Parameters for Questions: Evidence from Wh-Movement in ASL. In Lucas, C. (ed.), Sign Language Research: Theoretical Issues. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar
Lillo-Martin, D. 1991a. Anaphora in American Sign Language: Reference, Binding, and Logophoricity. Handout from talk presented 11 8, 1991 at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass.Google Scholar
Lillo-Martin, D. 1991b. Universal Grammar and American Sign Language. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Lillo-Martin, D. & Fischer, S. 1992. Overt and Covert Wh-Questions in American Sign Language. Paper presented at the Fifth International Symposium on Sign Language Research, Salamanca, Spain, 05 29, 1992.Google Scholar
Massone, M.I. 1992. Some Distinctions of Tense and Modality in Argentine Sign Language. Paper presented at the Fifth International Symposium on Sign Language Research, Salamanca, Spain, 05 29, 1992.Google Scholar
Padden, C. 1983. Interaction of Morphology and Syntax in American Sign Language. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, San Diego.Google Scholar
Padden, C. 1988. Interaction of Morphology and Syntax in American Sign Language. New York: Garland, Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics (based on Padden 1983).Google Scholar
Perlmutter, D. 1991. The Language of the Deaf. In New York Review of Books, 03 28, 1991:6572.Google Scholar
Petronio, K. 1991: A Focus Position in ASL. Proceedings from SCIL, MIT Working Papers, Vol. 14, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Petronio, K. 1992. WHY CAN MUST Appear Sentence-Finally. Paper presented at the Fifth International Symposium on Sign Language Research, Salamanca, Spain, 05 29, 1992.Google Scholar
Poizner, H. & Kegl, J. 1992. The Neural Basis of Language and Motor Behavior: Perspectives from American Sign Language. Aphasiology 6, 219256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rizzi, L. 1991. Residual Verb Second and the Wh-Criterion. Technical Reports in Formal and Computational Linguistics: 2. University of Geneva, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Romano, C. 1991. Mixed Headedness in American Sign Language: Evidence from Functional Categories. Proceedings from SCIL, MIT Working Papers, Vol. 14, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Supalla, T. 1982. Acquisition of Verbs of Motion and Location in American Sign Language. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, San Diego.Google Scholar
Valli, C. & Lucas, C. 1992. Linguistics of American Sign Language: A Resource Text for ASL Users. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar