2.2.1. Diminutive and augmentative

Non-manual markers that express the meanings diminutive and augmentative are also the lexical non-manuals of the adjectives small and big, respectively.  When they are co-articulated with a manually signed noun, they add these meanings to it.

In other words, if the non-manuals of the lexical sign small, which are squinted eyes and furrowed eyebrows, are co-articulated with a noun, the result is a derived noun with a diminutive meaning, that is, ‘small x’. See the example small_ball below.

  small_ball 

If the non-manuals of the lexical sign big, which are widened eyes and raised eyebrows, are co-articulated with a noun, the result is a derived noun with an augmentative meaning, that is, ‘big x’.  See the example big-ball below.

  bıg_ball 

In these cases, the noun also undergoes a manual change: the signer signs it smaller or bigger. In the examples above, in addition to the different the non-manual markers, the sign ball is signed smaller in the diminutive example and bigger in the augmentative example. 

The augmentative non-manual markers, widened eyes and raised eyebrows, can also be accompanied by the mouth gesture ‘bzz’. Again, the manual sign is signed bigger, as shown with the sign big_cup in the example below.

   

bıg_cup