A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

Intonation represents the prosodic contour spreading through the whole utterance. It is a complex interface phenomenon since it closely interacts with other linguistic domains, such as syntax, semantics and pragmatics.

            All human languages are endowed with intonational patterns, which are superimposed on segmental material. There is general consensus on the functional parallelism between intonational melodies in spoken languages and visual patterns in sign languages. In signed discourse, strings of manual signs are accompanied by non-manual features creating intonational patterns.

            Crucially, different facial expressions often co-occur in a layering fashion, thus realising bundles of non-manual markers. In the polar interrogative shown below, we can observe a polar intonation realised by simultaneously combining raised eyebrows and forward head tilt.

                                 ht-f

                                    re

            house ix buy

            ‘Have you bought the house?’ 

The intonational contours characterising the different syntactic constructions in LIS are discussed in detail in the relevant sections in the Syntax Part (SYNTAX). To illustrate, we present here an overview of the non-manual markers associated with the main syntactic constructions in LIS.

Table: Overview of different non-manual markers, their grammatical function and spreading domain.