Continuative or durative aspect indicates a continuous event or action without a clear recognizable start or end point. DGS expresses continuative aspect based on the phonological form of the verb. Specifically, the marking varies whether the sign involves path movement [Phonology 1.3.1] or not.
If verbs do not involve path movement as in a) or end with a final hold as in b), the verb sign is frozen to express continuative aspect.
a. child small sleep.dur
‘The small child is constantly sleeping.’
b. screen ix1 stare_at.dur
‘I stared at the screen for a long time.’
Verbs, which consist only of a movement sequence, are lengthened to express continuative aspect. Verb lengthening is shown in the following examples.
a. poss1 friend ix(loc)a america fly.dur
‘My friend is flying to America for hours’.
b. m-a-r-c new word sign think_about.dur
‘Marc is thinking about a new sign for a long time.’
(based on Happ & Vorköper, 2006:145)
Agreement verbs [Lexicon 3.2.2] as in a) or spatial verbs [Lexicon 3.2.3] as in b), which agree with previous established points in the signing space, mark durative aspect by reduplication of the verb as exemplified below.
a. thief ix3b police ix3a ask3b++.dur
‘The police have been asking the thief for hours.’
b. sign^language schoola university frankfurtb e-v-a t-i-m ix3a+3bpl together
agob ++
‘Eva and Tim are constantly going back and forth between the sign language school and the university Frankfurt.’
(based on Happ & Vorköper, 2006: 146)
If the verb’s citation form involves repetition as in the sign wait, durative aspect is also expressed by reduplicating the verb.
poss1 friend ix(loc)a train already long wait++.dur
‘My friends have been waiting for a long time in the train’.
Furthermore, an additional way to express continuative/durative aspect is, to add the sign continuous as both examples below illustrate.
a. father continuous work++
‘The father is working continuously.’
(based on Papaspyrou et al., 2008: 163)
b. baby ix cry++.dur continuous++
‘The baby cries continuously.’