A Grammar of German Sign Language (DGS)

Spatial verbs mark agreement with topographic locations in space associated with locative arguments. Spatial verbs in DGS can be divided into local verbs like sit, stand, lie and directional verbs like put and go. Directional spatial verbs involve a movement from one location towards another location. The beginning of the path movement coincides with the source and the endpoint of movement coincides with the goal location. Local spatial verbs are signed at the location associated with the endpoint of the movement or event.

 

Spatial verbs involve a classifier handshape, i.e. handshape or hand orientation of the verb changes according to semantic properties of the argument [see Morphology 5]. In (b) put is signed with a < - handshapeto reflect the properties of the vase. In (c), however, the verb put changes its handshape (V) according to the visual-geometrical properties of the book.

 

a.         e-v-a stuttgart_afrankfurt_b cl: ʻdrive_from_a_to_b’

                ‘Eva drives from Stuttgart to Frankfurt.’

           

                                                                                   (based on Happ & Vorköper, 2006: 138)

 

 

 

b.         shelf_a girl vase cl (<): ‘put_into_a’

                 ‘The girl put the vase into the shelf.’

           

                                                                                   (based on Happ & Vorköper, 2005: 92)

 

 

 

c.         table_aprofessor book cl (V): ‘put_on_a’

                 ‘The professor put the book on the table.’

       

                                              (based on Happ & Vorköper, 2006: 165)

 

 

                                                                                  

In the context of spatial verbs, word order [Syntax 2.3] may be influenced by the semantic and geometrical properties of the entities. Bigger and less mobile entities serving as the ‘ground’ are signed before smaller and more mobile entities called the ‘figure’. In the above-mentioned examples the bigger entities ‘shelf’ and ‘table’ signed first following the smaller objects ‘vase’ and ‘book’. This principle also allows for a simultaneous localization of two entities involving the use of both hands. In some cases, the non-dominant hand can be used to serve as a ground while at the same time, the dominant hand is signing the entities representing the figure. The example below illustrates how the non-dominant hand signs the bigger entity tree and is held during the following signs. Afterwards, the dominant hand signs bird and moves towards the non-dominant hand by using a classifier predicate to express that the bird is sitting in the tree.

 

            tree bird cl(b):‘sit_on’                             

            ‘The bird sits on the tree.’

                                                                                   (based on Happ & Vorköper, 2006: 139)

 

 

 

In DGS, it is sometimes possible that even plain verbs can express a locative information. These plain verbs are not body-anchored and without an alternating movement like buy, pay and write. Or they can be body-anchored, but then involve a sagittal movement like thank or order. In example below the not body-anchored verb buy is signed at same location in space, where the bookstore was localized before.

 

            yesterday bookstore_aman book buy_a

                ‘The man bought a book at the bookstore yesterday.

 

                                                                                   (based on Happ & Vorköper, 2006: 207)