A Grammar of Turkish Sign Language (TİD)

In simultaneous compounds, two signs that are generally phonologically reduced are expressed separately on each hand. Simultaneous compounds are usually two-handed lexicalized classifier constructions [Morphology - 5.1.]. Consider, for instance, the sign sign (a document). The dominant hand is an entity classifier for long thin objects, which in this sign means pen, whereas the non-dominant hand is also an entity classifier for flat objects, which means paper.

 

         

          CL(B):'long_thin_object^CL(x):'flat_object'

'(to)sign’

 

 

In perch, the first component is a classifier with the sense of a bird, whereas the second classifier indicates a branch.

 

 

bırd CL(b):'two_legged_entity'^CL(B):'long_thin_object'
‘the bird perched on a branch’

                                                                

 (adapted from Dikyuva et al. 2015: 58)

 

Two other examples are below:

 

(CL(<):'handling_cylindrical_object^hand

‘shampoo’

 

         

 

 

CL(J):‘short_thin_entity'^CL(A):'cylindrical_entity'

'pencil sharpener’

 

Numeral incorporation is another type of simultaneous compounding [Syntax – 4.3.4]. As the name implies, one of the two base signs is a numeral, while the other most frequently is a time term (day, week, etc.), or a pronoun. In its citation form, the TİD sign day is articulated with a V-Handshape that performs a wiggling movement in neutral signing space; when incorporated, a numeral handshape replaces the handshape of day, e.g. the z-Handshape for ‘three’, realized as the sign three^day (‘three days’). Here, two separate signs are fused and produced simultaneously on one hand. This type of compound generally consists of a numeral and a time-related word (such as day, year, etc.):

 

 

 

two^day

 

 

 

 

two^week

 

 

 

 

two^year