Workshop on Classifier Constructions in Sign Languages, La Jolla, California, April 14-16, 2000

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The study of signed languages offers a window into how the modality of language transmission and perception affects the nature of linguistic structures. The focus of this workshop is the grammatical structure and cross-linguistic variation of classifier constructions in sign languages (a.k.a. classifier predicates, verbs of motion and location, and polymorphemic verbs). Early research suggested that these forms can be analyzed as combinations of discrete morphemes, specifically, as predicates consisting of one or more movement roots along with several other morphemes encoding, for example, the shape or semantic class of object involved (indicated by a classifier handshape), the location, and the orientation of the object. However, several critical questions have arisen regarding the syntactic, morphological, and phonological analysis of these forms. Some researchers have suggested that these forms do not actually involve classifiers in the usual sense of the term, may involve gestural (rather than morphemic) components, and may be unique to signed languages. In an effort to resolve the current controversy, the workshop will bring together sign linguists working on various unrelated languages for the purposes of documenting and describing similarities and differences in the grammatical structure and semantics of classifier constructions in sign languages. In addition, the meeting will bring together both sign and spoken language linguists, along with experts on gesture, to discuss and analyze the grammatical and typological nature of these constructions. An essential objective of the workshop is to produce a volume containing the presented papers (with revisions after workshop discussions). Such a book will be valuable for several reasons: 1) it will establish a standard for the field of sign linguistics with respect to current analysis and debate regarding classifier constructions, 2) it will provide spoken language linguists with broader insight into the nature of classifier systems in human languages and 3) it will add to our general understanding about the relation between language and gesture, the nature of grammaticization, and the effects of language modality on linguistic structure.