1.3.1. Path movement
Path movements are realised by moving the whole articulator(s) from one location to another on the body or in space. In this section, path movements are described in terms of two features: shape (how the hands move) and direction (where the hands move).
As for shape, there are three main possibilities: straight, arc, and circle. We exemplify these three shape types by the minimal triplet measure, gentle, and prepare.
a. measure (straight)
b. gentle (arc)
c. prepare (circle)
These three signs share the same handshape (F), location (neutral space), and orientation (ulnar). They differ only in movement shape: measure has a straight movement (the hands move uniformly contralaterally without bending), gentle has an arc movement (the hands move contralaterally with a curving trajectory without completing the circle), and prepare has a circle movement (the hands move all the way around, possibly more than once).
Another possible shape is represented by waving movements, in which the hands move with an undulating or zig-zagging motion. An example of this is shown in the sign lightning.
lightning (zigzag)
Path movements in LIS can occur in six different directions: upward, downward, inward, outward, ipsilateralward, and contralateralward. These six directions are exemplified by the following signs: adult (upward), thin (downward), grave (inward), street (outward), king (ipsilateralward), and aunt (contralateralward).
a. adult (upward)
b. thin (downward)
c. grave (inward)
d. street (outward)
e. king (ipsilateralward)
f. aunt (contralateralward)
Diagonal movements can be described as combinations of two primary directions (e.g. ipsilateralward + downward).
Arc and circle movements can receive a further specification: clockwise and counterclockwise. It should be noted that this kind of direction is not intended in absolute terms. It can apply to all spatial planes and it is specified considering the signer's dominant hand: indeed, a clockwise motion for a right-handed person corresponds to a counterclockwise motion for a left-handed person. To illustrate the difference between clockwise and counterclockwise direction, we consider the case of right-handed signers and present two pairs of similar signs, one showing arc motion and the other circle motion. As for arc motion, the clockwise direction is found in the sign crown, while the counterclockwise one is found in the sign world.
a. crown (clockwise)
b. world (counterclockwise)
Turning to circle motion, the clockwise direction is found in the sign stroll, while the counterclockwise one is found in the sign prepare.
a. stroll (clockwise)
b. prepare (counterclockwise)
Both arc and circle motions can occur in all three dimensional planes. For example, the arc motion in the sign everybody is articulated on the horizontal plane, in the sign rainbow on the vertical plane, and in the sign son on the midsagittal plane.
a. everybody (horizontal)
b. rainbow (vertical)
c. son (midsagittal)
To illustrate the three possibilities with circle motion, we show the following examples: the sign sea is articulated on the horizontal plane, the sign tourism on the vertical plane, and the sign kin on the midsagittal plane.
a. sea (horizontal)
b. tourism (vertical)
c. kin (midsagittal)
A few signs allow for two distinct lexical variants articulated with different path movements. This possibility is exemplified by the sign seem, whose circle movement can be realised either clockwise or counterclockwise, as shown below.
a. seem (clockwise)
b. seem (counterclockwise)
Crucially, in cases such this, the use of one or the other motion direction does not determine a change in meaning.
