DOCTORAL DISSERTATION RESEARCH: How American Sign Language Expresses Numerosity

这个项目的重点是美国手语（ASL）中复数形式之间的空间使用。许多研究者已经注意到，美国手语的代词和动词一致系统在很大程度上是索引式的，也就是说，这些符号“指向”与其所指对象建立的位置。本论文的研究将探讨美国手语中复数词形变化的索引化程度和语法化程度，主要研究代词和一致动词，因为这两个词的单数形式都具有高度的索引化。鉴于单数形式的使用是索引的，这个项目的目标是确定复数变形是否也是高度索引的（在这种情况下，它可以被认为是轨迹标记的延伸），或者复数变形是否高度语法化（在这种情况下，需要一个单独的类别来表示数字）。主要的问题是：复数动词的形式在多大程度上受到与其论元所指对象相关的位置的影响？研究人员将使用两种类型的任务：启发任务和判断任务，从三个聋人本地手语的运动学数据。在诱导任务中，被试将被呈现由短剧组成的录像刺激，每一个都描绘了不同数量的演员/事物，他们要么正在表演，要么正在经历某些动作。告密者将被录像描述每一个短剧中发生的事情。然后，将名词的位置与与其一致的动词的位置进行比较。这项研究的结果不仅对从事手语工作的语言学家有意义，而且对句法学家、形态学家和心理语言学家也有意义。

This project focuses on the use of space among plural forms in American Sign Language (ASL). Many researchers have noted that the pronominal and verb agreement systems of ASL are largely indexic - that is, these signs 'point to' locations established with their referents. This dissertation research will investigate the extent to which plural inflection in ASL is indexic, and the extent to which it is grammaticized.The study focuses on pronouns and agreement verbs, because both are considered highly indexic in their singular forms. Given that the use of singular forms is indexic, the goal for this project is to determine if plural inflection is also highly indexic (in which case, it could be considered an extension of locus marking), or if plural inflection is highly grammaticized (in which case, a separate category is needed for number). The main question is: To what extent is the form of a plural verb affected by the location associated with the referents of its argument?The researchers will collect kinematic data from three Deaf native signers of ASL, using two types of task: an elicitation task and a judgment task. In the elicitation task, informants will be presented with videotaped stimuli consisting of short skits, each one depicting different numbers of actors/things either performing or undergoing certain actions. Informants will be videotaped describing what is happening in each skit. The location of nominals will then be compared with the locations of the verbs that agree with them. The results of this study will have implications not only for linguists who work with sign languages, but also for syntacticians, morphologists, and psycholinguists in general.