Glosses of signs are represented in small caps, which should be seen as an approximation of a sign’s meaning. On their first mention, glosses are provided in both English and Dutch (except when the English and Dutch glosses are identical). Non-manual elements are represented in a smaller font, and are placed above the manual glosses. The lines under the (abbreviations for) non-manual elements represent their scope. A list of the abbreviations is presented below.
Examples from the Corpus NGT are accompanied by a code specifying the videoclip, the identification number of the signer (as given to them by the Corpus team), and the exact time slot of the example (min:sec.msec). The (made-up) code CNGT0385, S25, 03:05.180-03:08.180, for example, represents a three-second long fragment, signed by signer 25, to be found in corpus clip number 385.
Pictures of signs often, but not always, include symbols to represent the sign’s movement. A table explaining these symbols can be found below.
Abbreviations and descriptions related to glosses
/ prosodic break
#a-b fingerspelled letters
2h-alt two hands move in alternation
2h-sim two hands move simultaneously
h1/h2 hand 1, hand 2
sign_sign one sign is represented by multiple English/Dutch words
sign^sign compounded sign, consisting of two lexemes
sign.sign sign consisting of a bound and free morpheme
sign++ sign with reduplication; each + means one reduplication
sass size-and-shape-specifier
1sign2 numbers in subscripts indicate person agreement
sign1+2 1+2 in subscript indicates plural person
sign-1/sign-A specific variant of sign
See also 'list of abbreviations'