1.5.3. Other non-manuals

In LSC many other non-manuals, like facial expressions, torso movements, and head positions, may contribute to the lexical formation of a sign. For instance, in the signs surprise and far_away facial expressions are crucial components of the lexical items.


 

a)    surprise

b)    far_away

Torso movements are also important in the articulation of some lexical signs. In the sign reject the torso is moved backwards, representing iconically the movement of the body when something is rejected. In the sign very_recently the shoulder is slightly moved forward to indicate that an event happened very recently. 

a)    reject

b)    very_recently

The head position is also important in LSC for the expression of some lexical signs. In the sign no the head shake is an obligatory feature of the articulation of the sign. In the sign sleep the sideward head tilt represents the position of the head when a person is sleeping.

a)    no

b)    sleep

Some minimal pairs in LSC may be distinguished only because of facial expressions. For instance, the signs pity and love are minimal pairs that only differ in the facial expression.  

a)    pity

b)    love