A Grammar of German Sign Language (DGS)

DGS marks a distinction between singular, dual and plural forms of the pronouns. In singular form, the index finger points either to the present referent or to the spatial location associated with that referent [Lexicon3.7.2]. The dual form is articulated with a different handshape. Common handshapes used in dual forms are Y- handshape, d- handshape, or C- handshape. Extended fingers in dual form of the pronouns correspond to the number of the referents. Dual pronouns move back and forth between the loci of their referents.

Plural forms in DGS are articulated with modification of the movement of pointing signs. Two types of plural are expressed on the pronouns: collective and distributive. In collective forms, the pronoun refers to a group of referents and is produced with an arc-movement across the locations associated with the referents. In distributive forms, the pointing sign is directed consecutively to the areas in the signing space associated with each of the plural referents.

 

a.       ix_1+2pl (‘Two of us’)
 

(based on Papaspyrou et al., 2008: 138)



 

b.      ix_2+3apl (‘Two of them’)           

(based on Papaspyrou et al., 2008: 138) 

 

c.       ix_1plcoll(‘We’) (variant1)            ix_1plcoll(‘We’) (variant2)          ix_2plcoll(‘You’)            ix_3plcoll(‘They’) (collective plural)

          (based on Papaspyrou et al., 2008: 137)   

d.        ix_1pldist (‘We’)         ix_2pldist (‘You’)           ix_3pldist (‘They’)           (distributive plural)