A Grammar of German Sign Language (DGS)

Possessive pronouns in DGS have deictic as well as anaphoric functions, only the third person possessive pronoun can be cataphoric. These pronouns are produced in the same manner as personal pronouns with the only difference that they are articulated with a w -handshape. The signer points to the person or subject with the palm of the hand vertically oriented towards that referent.

 

The plural form of possessive signs can be expressed through reduplication in the direction of one locus, or through sideward movement towards a locus representing a group of referents.

 

a.         poss₁   (‘My’)       poss₂   (‘Your’)          poss₃    (‘His/Her’)                 (variant 1)

            (based on Papaspyrou et al., 2008: 140)

 

 

       

    poss₁   (‘My’)        poss₂   (‘Your’)          poss₃    (‘His/Her’)                 (variant 2-north)

    

 

b.         poss_1plcoll (‘Our’)                    poss_2plcoll (‘Your’)      poss_3plcoll (‘Their’)

  (collective plural)                            

           

 

 

c.         poss_1pldist (‘Our’)        poss_2pldist (‘Your’)          poss_3pldist (‘Their’)     

  (distributive plural)     

          

    

 

 

 

Possessive pronouns are used only in the contexts where the signer wants to make the possessive relation explicit. However, there are also contexts, in which the possessive pronoun can be left out. An example of a possessive relation expressed without an overt possessive pronoun can be seen below.       

 

            daughter ₃help₁

            ‘My daughter helps me.’

             

(based on Mehling, 2010:109)

 

 

 

In cases where possessive pronouns are left out, possessive relation can be emphasized witha strong head nod on the possessed element. This can be seen in the example below, where the head nod on the sign sister and a short break after it has the meaning ‘my sister’ (a). However, without the head nod the meaning would be ‘sister of Eva’ (b).

 

              hn       hn

 a.        eva  sister  car_drive learn

            ‘Eva, my sister, learns to drive.’

                 

(based on Mehling, 2010: 110)

 

 

 

b.        eva sister car_drive learn

            ‘Eva’s sister learns to drive.’

                

(based on Mehling, 2010: 110)

 

 

 

In terms of their distribution in the sentences possessive pronouns always precede possessed items. This is shown in the DGS example below.

 

           max poss₃ car sell

            ‘Max sold his car.’