Declarative sentences are the most common sentences and express statements, facts or opinions. In DGS, a simple declarative sentence consists at least of a subject and a predicate as in (a) or of subject, object and predicate as in (b) [Syntax 2.2.]. The word order [Syntax 2.3.] in (a) is SV and the order in (b) is SOV. With body-anchored plain verbs as in (c), SVO order is found as well. The nonmanuals accompanying declaratives are neutral unless something is emphasized or negated.
a. last year poss1 grandmother die
‘My grandmother died.’
b. woman sweet cake bake
‘The woman bakes a sweet cake.’
c. girl little ix3a like poss3a doll
‘The little girl likes her doll.’
Declaratives can be simple sentences as above or complex sentences involving a coordinate structure as below [Syntax 3.1.].
e-v-a eat then continue work
‘Eva eats and then continues working.’
(based on Happ & Vorköper, 2006: 540)
Furthermore, positive or affirmative declaratives (a) are distinguished from negative declaratives (b). The negative declarative in (b) involves a nonmanual headshake which accompanies the predicate to negate the sentence [Syntax 1.5].
a. woman flower buy
‘The/a woman buys a flower.’
hs
b. woman flower buy
‘The/a woman doesn’t buy a flower’