A Grammar of Turkish Sign Language (TİD)

According to the position of the head noun in a relative clause, TİD possesses three different types of relative clauses: internally headed, externally-headed, and free. The most frequent type is the internally headed relative clause. An example for an internally headed relative clause is provided below. The non-manual marker squint spreads over the relative clause [Syntax - 3.4.6.1.]. The head noun, son, is inside the spreading domain of the squint. This shows that this is a case of internally headed relative clause.

 

                                  hs

                                       sq                         re

[ix₃ son before hug kiss]    now bride cut

'The son, who had regularly hugged and kissed the bride, didn’t do this anymore.'

 

                (Kubus 2016: 190)

 

Sometimes, the head noun can be repeated either within the relative clause or external to it, which results in doubling. An example of a head noun which is doubled within a relative clause is shown below:

 

                                                              sq

... [water before ibrahim bring water] run_out palm-up

'The water that İbrahim had brought earlier was run out.'

 

   (Kubus 2016: 206)

 

In some cases, the head noun is not overt. Such constructions can be categorized as free relatives. Free relative clauses might be related to the fact that TİD is a high-context-language. In other words, the referents can usually be derived from the context or shared information among interlocutors. An example of a free relative clause is shown below. In the example, there is no overt head noun but it is understood that the relative clause [first wife go_a ix_a] modifies ‘the place’.

 

                                                              [o]

                                                        sq    re     hn     

... ıbrahim go_a [first wife go_a  ix_a]                                    

'İbrahim went to (the place) where his first wife went to.'

 (Kubus 2016: 183)

 

Relative clauses whose heads are external to the relative clause can also occur in TİD. In such cases, the head noun can be before the relative clause, after the relative clause or both before and after the relative clause. Below, the head noun is hangman and the modifying clause [competition a-b-c] follows it. Squint spreads only over the modifying clause, not over the head noun. So, the head noun is external to the relative clause. Raised eyebrows ‘re’ also sometimes occurs in relative clauses in TİD, as in the example above. The head noun and the modifying clause, in this case, are topicalized.

 

                                         hs

                                                   sq

                                                    re                         ht

ix₁ hangman [competition a-b-c] cl-want^not

'I didn't like hangman, a game which uses letters.'

 

 (Kubus 2016: 340)

 

The following example shows a head noun, money_bag. (H1) and (H2) represent right and left hand respectively. money_bag is a two-handed sign. In this example, money.bag is first introduced, then the signer points at the non-dominant hand. After pointing, the relative clause is introduced while the non-dominant hand remains in a hold. And then the signer continues to sign.

 

                                                          sq

(h1) after money_bag_a [ix_a ix_a sorry] money_bag_agive                                       

(h2)             money_bag_a------------------ money_bag_a               

'Afterwards, I gave back the money bag, which I was sorry about.'

   (Kubus 2016: 181)

 

Lastly, the head noun can occur both inside and outside the relative clause. Below, the head noun glasses occurs both inside the relative clause and outside it.

 

                                        bl-f

                                           re

                                           sq                                                    hn

[eye optician glasses drop] again door hit break glasses

'(He) broke his glasses, which he had dropped at the optician’s office earlier, again by hitting the door.'

 (Kubus 2016: 182)