Location is defined as the place where the sign is articulated. For ease of production and perception, the possible location distinctions are confined in a delimited area called signing space: this area extends from the waist line to just above the head in the vertical plane, from elbow to elbow in the horizontal plane, and from the signer's body to the area immediately in front of the upper body in the midsagittal plane (for more details see PRAGMATICS 8). The extension of the signing space might not be perfectly homogeneous among signers: for example, it has been observed that young signers tend to use a slightly smaller signing space than older signers. In some exceptional signs, the place of articulation is outside the signing space: they are usually signs referring to particular body parts or items of clothing. For instance, the sign leg is articulated below the waist line.
leg
The main areas in which signs in LIS are located are: head, body, non-dominant-hand, and neutral space. In signs articulated in body locations, it is not necessary that the articulator touches the relevant body part, it is sufficient that it is close enough to it. If it is not close to body locations, the articulation of the sign is in the neutral space (the area of space in front of the upper body).
Considering the four major areas listed above, the relevant location distinctions are: i) head: whole face, upper face, ears, eyes, nose, cheeks, mouth, chin, neck; ii) body: shoulders and upper torso, chest, lower torso, arm, wrist; iii) non-dominant hand: palm, tips, radial, back; and iv) neutral space.
In some cases, location might be directly linked to the meaning of the sign. Location has an iconic motivation if it points toward the body part directly linked to the meaning of the sign (e.g. the noun nose signed on the nose, the adjective blind signed close to the eyes, the verb hear signed close to the ear) or if it is the area in which the referent is used (e.g. the sign crown in the upper part of the head). Location has a metaphoric motivation if it is linked to the meaning of the sign through an abstract or conventional relation (e.g. rational actions like think and imagine are signed in the upper face area, whereas emotional states like excitement and fall_in_love are signed in the chest area).
The location distinctions listed above are phonologically contrastive: indeed, different places of articulation can determine minimal contrasts. As evidence of their distinctive nature, the different locations are presented and exemplified through minimal pairs.
The area of the head includes the highest number of location distinctions. This is not surprising because the head is the area of highest visual acuity. During a conversation in sign language, visual attention generally focuses on the signer's face. The signs whose location is the whole face are not many. This is because signers tend to avoid hiding their facial expressions with their hands, as they play a very important role in the signing stream. The distinctive locations included in the area of the head are represented in the image below.
Figure: Locations in the area of the face
The minimal pair between a variant form of africa and the sign satisfaction shows that whole face and chest are distinctive locations.
a. africa (whole face)
b. satisfaction (chest)
In the case of those parts of the face having two distinct members (i.e. temple, ear, eye, and cheek), one-handed signs are produced near the ipsilateral member (the right temple, ear, eye, and cheek for a right-handed person).
The highest location in the head area involves the upper part of the head, the forehead, and the temples. The central part of the head can be the location of one-handed signs only, whereas in the lateral part of the forehead and the temples both one-handed and two-handed signs can be produced. Lots of signs in the upper face refer to objects worn on the head (e.g. hat, crown), or to cognitive activities (e.g. think, remember). The contrastive nature of this location is shown by the minimal pair memory - human (upper face vs. cheek).
a. memory (upper face)
b. human (cheek)
Signs realised in the ear area are usually one-handed signs. Their meaning is typically connected to the ear in some way (e.g. hearing, listen, earring). This location is distinct from the upper head, as shown in the minimal pair hear - know (ear vs. upper face).
a. hear (ear)
b. know (upper face)
The area of the eye is typically the location of signs whose meaning is linked to the eye or the ability to see (e.g. look, blind, glasses). This location is distinctive in the minimal pair including a variant form of blind and the sign crazy (eye vs. upper face).
a. blind (eye)
b. crazy (upper face)
Signs produced close to the nose are (almost) exclusively one-handed signs. They usually have a semantic connection to the nose and its function (e.g. sniffle, fragrance). Some signs make metaphorical reference to the nose: for example, curious contains the same metaphor of the Italian idiom ficcare il naso ‘to stick one’s nose into something’. The distinctive nature of this location can be seen in the minimal pair smell - let_s_see (nose vs. eye).
a. smell (nose)
b. let_s_see (eye)
The area of the cheek is typically selected by signs whose meaning is connected to the cheek in some way. For example, the sign sleep makes reference to the fact that in a common sleeping position the cheek is pressed against the pillow. Other signs articulated in this location refer to people (e.g. woman, mother, man). The fact that the cheek can be phonologically distinctive is shown in the minimal pairs human - memory (cheek vs. upper face, above) and mother - sorry (cheek vs. chin).
a. mother (cheek)
b. sorry (chin)
The signs articulated on the mouth are mostly one-handed signs. They typically refer to the mouth and actions performed by it (e.g. speak, mute, drink). The contrastive nature of this location is shown by the minimal pair speak - be_familiar (mouth vs. upper face).
a. speak (mouth)
b. be_familiar (upper face)
The chin is a location commonly selected by one-handed signs, too. The fact that this location can be phonologically distinctive is shown in the minimal pairs sorry - mother (chin vs. cheek, above) and verb - lawyer (chin vs. nose).
a. verb (chin)
b. lawyer (nose)
The last distinctive location in the head is the area of the neck. It is selected by signs that usually have a direct connection to the neck (e.g. voice, bow_tie) or a metaphorical connection to it (e.g. forced meaning preso per il collo, ‘taken by the throat’). The contrastive nature of this location is shown by the minimal pair thirst - headache (neck vs. upper face).
a. thirst (neck)
b. headache (upper face)
The distinctive body locations in LIS are: shoulders and upper torso, chest, lower torso, arm, and wrist. These locations are illustrated in the image below.
Figure: locations in the area of the body
The shoulders and upper torso represent the location of signs referring to objects carried on the shoulders (e.g. bag, coat), signs referring to time (e.g. yesterday, before), and other signs. One-handed signs produced in this location may select the ipsilateral shoulder (e.g. soldier) or the contralateral one (e.g. fault). The contrastive nature of this location is shown by the minimal pair soldier - poss1 (upper torso vs. chest, with a slight difference in absolute orientation).
a. soldier (upper torso)
b. poss1 (chest)
The area of the chest is intended as the central part of the torso. This location is selected by many signs referring to feelings and emotions (e.g. love, suffer, jealousy). The chest area can be contrastive in minimal pairs, as shown in poss1 - soldier (chest vs. upper torso, above) and in bra - underwear (chest vs. lower torso).
a. bra (chest)
b. underwear (lower torso)
The signs produced in the lower part of the torso are not many because this is probably the area of lowest visual acuity. This location is contrastive in some minimal pairs, as shown in underwear - bra (lower torso vs. chest, above) and in hunger - dog (lower torso vs. neck).
a. hunger (lower torso)
b. dog (neck)
The area of the non-dominant arm is a large location including the upper arm, the elbow, and the forearm. All the signs selecting the area of the non-dominant arm are one-handed signs. Many of them make reference to special roles or qualifications (e.g. team_captain, assistant, union_official). The contrastive nature of the arm is shown by the minimal pair rude - propriety (arm vs. chest).
a. rude (arm)
b. propriety (chest)
The non-dominant wrist is selected mostly by signs that are directly or indirectly connected to the wrist. An instance of direct connection is the sign watch, whereas an instance of indirect connection is patient (this sign refers to the fact that doctors usually check on patients' wrist pulse). The contrastive nature of the wrist is shown by the minimal pair sick - headache (wrist vs. upper face).
a. sick (wrist)
b. headache (upper face)
In some two-handed signs, the non-dominant hand is not an active articulator. Rather, it is a passive articulator and functions as a place of articulation. To illustrate, in the sign work the dominant hand moves in a circular way on the vertical plane and when it moves downwards it touches the location of the sign, namely the non-dominant hand. If this movement occurs in the neutral space rather than on the non-dominant hand the sign produced is shepherd. The minimal pair work - shepherd is shown below.
a. work (non-dominant hand)
b. shepherd (neutral space)
The sides of the non-dominant hand that can be relevant to the articulation of this type of signs are: palm, back, radial, and tips.
Figure: Locations in the area of the non-dominant hand
Below we can see some signs showing the contrastive nature of these location distinctions: the pair soap - cheese (palm vs. back) and the triplet stop - half - limit (palm vs. radial vs. ulnar).
a. soap (palm)
b. cheese (back)
c. stop (palm)
d. half (radial)
e. limit (ulnar)
The fourth major area, the neutral space, is the largest area and constitutes the place of articulation of the majority of the LIS signs. Signs in neutral space can be articulated approximately in the middle (pen), high (god), low (foot), or in a lateral position (toilet).
a. pen (middle)
b. god (high)
c. foot (low)
d. toilet (lateral)
It is not entirely clear whether the neutral space is subdivided into contrastive subareas. According to some informants, differences in height are distinctive. For example, table and floor are very similar signs articulated in the neutral space with the only difference that the former is at chest level and the latter is at waist level.
a. table (neutral space, middle)
b. floor (neutral space, low)
A few signs allow two lexical variants produced in two different places of articulation. For example, the sign dog is a one-handed sign in which the dominant hand can touch either the chin or the neck with a repeated movement.
a. dog (chin)
b. dog (neck)
In some signs, the active articulator(s) move form a location to another (PHONOLOGY 1.3.1).