A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

Correlative conjunctions establish a relation between two equal grammatical units, by conjoining similar words or phrases in a sentence.

In LIS, both manual and non-manual markers are employed to realise correlative conjunctions.

            In order to exclude two alternatives, signers produce the first conjoined phrase at one side of the signing space, the second conjoined phrase on the opposite side of the signing space and a negation marker at the end of the sentence, as in (a) and (b).

 

 

 

                                                                                     neg

            a.         car_a motorbike_b ix₁ buy nothing

‘I won’t buy neither a car nor a motorbike.’

 

 

 

                                        top                                                                     neg

            b.         summer next l-u-c-a_a ix_a sea_b mountain_c ix_3a go not

            ‘Next summer, Luca won’t go neither to the sea nor to the mountain.’

 

Alternatively, the two conjoined phrases are negated by two negative markers at the end of the sentence, each one referring to each conjoined phrase and produced in the corresponding area of the signing space, as shown below.

 

 

 

                                            bl-left    bl-right         neg         neg

            ix₁ course swimming_a french_b neg_o_b neg_o_a

            ‘I’m attending neither the French nor the swimming course.’

 

The English equivalent ofthe correlative conjunctions not only… but is produced in LIS by manual markers, as shown below.

 

 

 

                                                         neg

            a-n-n-a sweater only not also trousers buy done

            ‘Anna hasn’t bought only a sweater, but also a pair of trousers.’

 

When presenting two alternative options, LIS has at least two possibilities. The first option is the repetition of the manual sign or before each conjoined phrase, together with the non-manual marking of lips down at the corners and/or the oral production [o], corresponding to ‘or’ in Italian. Within this option, each conjunct is produced in a different area of the signing space with the body leaning on each side of the signing space, as shown below:

 

 

 

                                          bl-left                bl-right

            evening ix₁ or_a theatre_a or_b restaurant_b ix₁ go

            ‘Tonight, I will go either to the theatre or to the restaurant.’

 

In the second option, each conjunct is produced in a different signing space separated by the manual sign or. The manual sign or is repeated twice at the end of the sentence each one referring to each conjunct, thus produced in the same signing space, with the body leaning down at each side, as shown in the following example.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                      bl-right      bl-left

            ix₁ printer_a colour_a ix_a or ix_b computer_b ix_{1 a}choose₁ or ix_3b or ix_3a

            ‘I choose either the colour printer or the computer.’

 

Lastly, to produce the equivalent of the English correlative conjunctions both… and, LIS connects the two conjuncts through the manual marker ix_3a+3b accompanying each conjunct with a side body lean towards opposite directions, as shown in the following example.

 

 

 

                   bl-left    bl-right

            ix₁ phone_a camera_b ix_3a+3b exist

            ‘I have both the mobile and the camera.’