3.1.6. Nativization
Nativization is a phonological process, where a phonological feature undergoes a change when this feature does not exist in the phonological inventory of that language. The sign team in DGS is an example for it. The handshape of the borrowed sign in ASL [Lexicon 2.1.] does not exist in DGS and therefore 7-handshape of ASL changes into 4-handshape of DGS.
team (ASL) – team (DGS)
‘team’
(Becker, 2003: 125)
Fingerspelling is regarded as a non-native part of DGS. Some fingerspelled signs might become lexicalized if they meet well-formedness requirements of the language. The sign project ‘project’ is a good example for it. Initially this sign was borrowed from spoken German [Lexicon 2.2.2.] with all letters being fingerspelled, then it was reduced to two initialized letters (P and J) and later was adapted to the phonological structure of DGS which allows only one fingerspelled letter in the sign. Therefore, only one of those letters (J) was kept and the other one was dropped. This is illustrated in the example below.
p-r-o-j-e-k-t – p-j – j
‘project’
(Becker, 2003: 124)