A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

LIS full relative clauses display a manual sign (glossed pe in the examples) spatially agreeing with the head noun. The sign pe is produced with only the index finger extended (configuration G in LIS) in the neutral space. During its movement, the wrist twists from a position of the hand with the palm facing the face of the signer to a position of the hand whose palm faces the signer’s interlocutor, as illustrated in the video below. During the production of the sign, oral components involving the production of a bilabial phoneme such as /p/ are produced, hence the gloss pe (LEXICON 3.7.6).

 

 

 

         pe          

 

When the head noun is an abstract entity or when it is a noun produced on the body of the signer (LEXICON 3.1), the relativisation sign pe agrees with an arbitrary point in the signing space, as shown in the example below.

 

 

 

                                                                           rel

         [p-a-o-l-o m-a-r-i-a idea suggest pe] important

         ‘The idea that Paolo suggested to Maria is important.’ (recreated from Branchini, 2014: 193)

 

As already pointed out (SYNTAX 3.4.1), LIS free relatives display the presence of a wh-sign. However, not all wh-signs are allowed to mark the relative clause in LIS free relatives. The table below lists the wh-signs permitted or not permitted in this type of construction.

 

         Table: Wh-signs allowed in LIS free relatives

Wh-signs	Availability to mark LIS free relatives
who	yes
what	no
which	yes
how	yes
how_many	no
where	yes
when	yes
why	yes

 

As shown in the table above, all wh-signs except what and how_many can be used in LIS free relatives. The examples below exemplify free relatives with the different wh-signs available to mark this construction in LIS.

 

                                                        rel

         a.            [exam done who] go_away be_able

         ‘Who has taken the exam can go out.’ (Branchini, 2009: 104)

 

                                                                 rel

         b.            [p-a-o-l-o like which] ix₁ see done

         ‘I saw which Paolo likes.’ (Branchini, 2009: 105)

 

                                                                                   rel

         c.            [g-i-a-n-n-i₃ money ₃give₁ how] ix₁ like not

         ‘I don’t like how Gianni gives me the money.’ (Branchini, 2009: 106)

 

                                                                                   rel

         d.            [sister poss₁ holiday go where] beautiful

         ‘Where my sister went on holiday is beautiful.’ (Branchini, 2009: 106)

 

                                                             rel

         e.            [train arrive when] ix₁ read done

         ‘I read when the train arrives.’

 

                                                                rel

         f.            [p-a-o-l-o leave why] ix₁ find_out

         ‘I found out why Paolo left.’ (Branchini, 2009: 106)