A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

In spoken and sign languages, a sentence is generally subdivided in topic and comment. Topics are defined as old or given linguistic expressions which are considered familiar or uniquely identifiable between the speaker and the addressee. Generally, the topic item is defined as old or given because it is an entity previously mentioned or previously introduced in the communicative context. The comment, on the contrary, is that part of the sentence which introduces new information (PRAGMATICS 4.1).

         Topic items are commonly supposed to be identifiable in the mind of the interlocutor. In LIS, topics are distinguishable from a prosodic, syntactic and pragmatic point of view. These elements might present specific features. Prosodically, topic items can be accompanied by a specific intonation contour (PRAGMATICS 4.3.2), or can be separated from the comment by specific intonational cues, such as head nod and eye blink. Non-manual markers which are involved in topic items are further specified in PRAGMATICS 4.3.2. Syntactically, topics can be found in the initial part of the sentence.

         In LIS, topic elements are not always marked by specific intonational cues and they are not necessarily placed in the very initial part of the sentence. Topics are recognizable through pragmatic criteria which allow a further differentiation in three distinct categories: aboutness topics, scene-setting topics and contrastive topics.

Aboutness topics establish what the sentence is about. They convey the information about which the comment predicates something new. A single sentence may host only one aboutness topic in LIS. An example of aboutness topics is reported in the sentence below.

           

 

 

               AbT      

         man ix_a ix_{1 3a}tell₁ everything        

         ‘The man has told me everything.’

 

Aboutness topics (AbT) are argument of the predicate and they can also be realised as pronominal forms, particularly when the communicative context allows such simplification. In particular, this happens when a previously introduced topic in a discourse is considered by the signer accessible or easily retrievable in the mind of the interlocutor.

         Moreover, in the case of very prominent information (namely when an entity is kept consistent across several sentences and it is completely accessible in the mind of the interlocutor) the signer can decide to omit the topic referent. An example of these two possibilities is reported below. In the second clause, the pronominal form (ix₃) refers to a previously introduced character (dog), appearing in the first clause. Within the second clause, the verb go_away allows the omission of the subject (man). Indeed, the repetition of man would be useless, since the referent is supposed to be prominent and easily accessible in the mind of the addressee.

 

 

 

         dog ix(dem)_a hunger strong. man CL(G): ‘walk’. ix_3a CL(F): ‘eyes_move’ go_away sad

         ‘The dog is starving. A man walks by. He (the dog) follows him with his eyes, but the man goes away, and the dog is sad.’

             

As opposed to aboutness topics, scene-setting topics are not arguments of the verb in LIS, rather they are adjuncts with the function of establishing the frame setting of a sentence. In other words, these types of topics provide spatial and temporal information which set the scene of the sentence. For this reason, scene setting topics very commonly occur in the very initial part of the sentence, also preceding the aboutness topic item. An example of a scene setting topic of time, here indicated as Sst_T, is presented in bold below.

 

 

 

 

                     Sst_T

         tomorrow rain maybe be_possible

         ‘Tomorrow, it will probably rain.’            

 

An example of a scene setting topic of location, here indicated as Sst_L, is reported below.

 

 

 

            Sst_L

         table key CL(G): ‘be_at_a’ ix_3a poss₁ touch_a forbidden

         ‘On the table, there is a key, it is mine. Do not touch it.’     

 

More than one scene-setting topic expressions may be produced in the same sentence providing spatio-temporal information. An example of this case is reported below. It includes: i) a scene-setting topic of time (yesterday), ii) a scene-setting topic of location (cinema ix(loc)), and iii) an aboutness topic (m-a-r-i-a). Aboutness and scene setting topics are very likely to co-exist in the same sentence. In most of these cases, the scene setting topic of time precedes the scene-setting topic of location and only after them the aboutness topic is realised.

 

                     Sst-T                    Sst-L            Abt     

         yesterday cinema ix(loc) m-a-r-i-a film white black various see

         ‘Yesterday, at the cinema, Maria saw various white and black movies.’   

                             

Topics can also have a contrastive function, namely, they can express an opposition between two previously mentioned referents. An example is the case below where the two referents gianni and maria are contrasted and defined as Contr_top. In the same example, dog ix₃ is likely to be interpreted as the aboutness topic of the sentence. The contrastive topics in the example below are produced after the aboutness topic.

 

 

 

 

                   Abt Contr_top1      Contr_top2

         dog_a ix_a gianni_b love_a maria_c hate_a  

         ‘As for the dog, Gianni loves him while Maria hates him.’                            

 

It is important to distinguish between contrastive topic and contrastive focus (PRAGMATICS 4.1). While topics can only convey contrast in the case of parallel opposed items, focus items also have a corrective function, namely they can correct a statement previously expressed. An example of contrastive focus is reported below.

 

 

         Context: Someone says that you like pizza.

                                                                                      foc

         not ix₁ pizza_a ix_a ix₁ impossible_no_way. ix_b sushi_b ix₁ adore_b

         ‘No! I hate pizza, I love sushi!’

 

In the case of contrastive topic, items are also present in the sentence, they generally tend to follow the aboutness topic item, no matter if they are subjects or objects. The example below shows contrastive topic subjects.

 

 

 

         Context: What do Maria and Gianni think about the cauliflower?

                           Abt Contr-top1                                 Contr-top2     

         cauliflower gianni   impossible_no_way maria   adore 

         ‘As for the cauliflower, Gianni hates it while Maria loves it.’                                    

 

The example below shows contrastive topic objects.

                                   

 

 

         Context: What does Maria think about the pizza and the fish?

               Abt Contr-top1                                  Contr-top2     

         maria fish_a ix_a impossible_no_way pizza_b ix_b adore         

         ‘As for Maria, she hates fish, while she adores pizza.’                                                

 

By considering these examples in LIS, it is possible to establish a potential order which holds true among the three types of topics appearing in a sentence: Scene-setting Topics of Time > Scene-setting Topics of Location > Aboutness Topics > Contrastive (parallel) topics.