In negated sentences side-to-side headshake obligatorily and simultaneously occurs on the verbal or nominal predicate of a sentence. It can optionally co-occur with a manual negation marker, for example not (nicht) [Syntax 1.5.1], which as well is accompanied by a headshake. DGS examples below illustrate the occurrence of headshake with a verbal predicate buy (a)and a manual negative particle not (b). The headshake may also optionally spread onto the object flower.
hs
a. woman flower buy
‘The woman does not buy a flower.’
hs hs
b. woman flower buy not
‘The woman does not buy a flower.’
(based on Pfau, 2008: 46)
In DGS, headshake may appear on its own only as a single answer in a discourse or in specific structures like in question answer pairs. In the latter case, headshake can be found sentence finally as an answer to a previous rhetorical question, which is necessarily marked with raised eyebrows. An example of such an occurrence in DGS can be seen below.
y/n hs
ix1 cinema3 go-to
‘Me going to the movies? No.’
(based on Pfau, 2008: 57)