An adjective occurring within a noun phrase is an attributive adjective (LEXICON 3.4.1). This means that it functions as an attribute of the noun and modifies it.
Adjectival modification can be expressed in different ways: i) lexically, e.g. the sign new in (a), ii) with a classifier, e.g. SASS(F): ‘round_long’ in (b), and iii) non-manually, e.g. open mouth (om) co-occurring with a noun expresses the concept of ‘big’, ‘large’ in (c). These three options are illustrated below.
a. car new
‘New car’
b. drinking_glass SASS(F): ‘round_long’
‘Flute glass’
om
c. bridge
‘Big/long bridge’
For the sake of simplicity, in this section we especially focus on the distribution of independent lexical adjectives like new in (a) above.
Lexical adjectives can be articulated on the signer’s body (a) or in the neutral space (b) (LEXICON 3.4.1).
a. beautiful
b. big
The distinction between body-anchored and non-body-anchored adjectives is relevant in terms of agreement. Agreement between noun and adjective is usually reflected by the fact that these two signs are articulated in the same location in the neutral space. In most cases, overt noun-adjective agreement is not compulsory, hence both body-anchored and non-body-anchored adjectives can maintain their location. However, in marked cases and coordination between two nominal expressions, the two adjectival classes behave differently. On the one hand, non-body-anchored adjectives (like big) must shift from a default location to a specific point in the neutral space, the one in which the noun is localised.
bl-left bl-right
housea newa houseb bigb available anymore
‘The big house and the new house are no longer available.’
On the other hand, body-anchored adjectives (like beautiful), which cannot modify their place of articulation, must be accompanied by a body lean and/or head tilt directed toward the location of the noun.
ht-left ht-right
bl-left bl-right
paintinga beautiful paintingb ugly sell done
‘The beautiful painting and the ugly painting were sold.’
From the semantic point of view, there are different classes of adjectives. The most common ones are those conveying: quality, size, shape, colour, and provenance. In some cases, the semantic category of adjectives has an influence on their distribution with respect to the noun and/or other adjectives (SYNTAX 4.5.4). This section is intended to provide information about the distribution of adjectives with respect to the noun (SYNTAX 4.5.1; SYNTAX 4.5.2; SYNTAX 4.5.3) and other adjectives (SYNTAX 4.5.4).