3.1.6. Nativization
Nativisation is a phonological process that may affect some loan signs borrowed from other sign languages, especially those containing phonemic material that is not part of the phonemic inventory of LIS.
For example, this process can be observed in the loan sign workshop, borrowed from American Sign Language (ASL). In its original form, it is articulated with handshape W (a). Since this handshape is not productively used in the LIS lexicon (PHONOLOGY 1.1.3), it is replaced by an articulatory similar handshape included in the phonemic inventory of LIS: extended 4 (b). It is worth noting that, in the nativised form, the association between the handshape of the sign and the first letter of the corresponding spoken language word is lost.
a. workshop (ASL)
(recreated from Lerose, 2012: 43)
b. workshop (LIS)
(recreated from Lerose, 2012: 43)
Such handshape substitution is a strategy used to accommodate this loan sign to the phonological system of LIS.
