A Grammar of German Sign Language (DGS)

Sometimes, an argument of a verb can be an entire proposition or, in syntactic terms, an argument clause [Syntax 3.3]. Clausal arguments can fill any of the major grammatical functions subject, direct object, and indirect object. Subject argument clauses frequently follow their predicates (a), while certain types of object argument clauses are realized in the center-embedded position between subject and predicate. Verbs like force in (b) take infinitival clauses as their objects (worm eat), which can be center-embedded. In contrast, finite object clauses such as ix_{2 2}help₃ must in (c) always occur after the predicate of the main clause.  

a.       important ix_{2 2}pam₁ tell     

‘It is important that you tell me (it).’


 

 

b.      ix₁ hans worm eat force                             

           ‘I forced Hans to eat a worm.’         

c.       ix₃ say ix_{2 2}help₃ must                                                         

            ‘He says that you must help him.’