A Grammar of German Sign Language (DGS)

Wh-signs can appear in four different positions in the DGS content interrogative: i) in sentence-initial position (example a), ii) in sentence-final position (example b), iii) both in sentence-initial and sentence-final position (example c) and iv) in situ (example d), which means that the wh-sign is interpreted in the syntactical position, where the constituent that is asked for, would usually appear.

 

                            wh

a.       solution how

         ‘How can it be solved?’

 

 

 

 

                                               wh

b.      when ix₂ first_time hear

         ‘When did you hear about it for the first time?’

 

 

 

 

                                      wh

c.       why italy more why

         ‘Why does Italy have more [soccer clubs]?’

 

 

 

                                   wh

d.      ipad when get ix₂

         ‘When did you get the iPad?’