Two-verb predicates in sign languages: Typological Variation and Emergence

世界各地聋人社区使用的手语与他们的口语相比仍然有些不足。 本研究将回答与手语动词相关的两个问题。具体来说，我们问签名者何时以及为什么使用一个动词（例如，[she-puts-planes-in-a-row]）vs.两个动词（例如，[she-puts] [planes-in-a-row]）来描述特定事件。 这种结构在口语中经常被研究，有时被表达为连续动词结构，但在手语中还没有被研究过。项目研究人员将研究手语者如何产生这种结构以及他们如何理解它。在一系列研究中，研究人员将调查手语中关于两个动词谓词的某些语言特定差异是否可归因于类型学类别（而不是随机变化或历史相关性）。 数据来自三个完善的，国家的手语是彼此无关的将被研究：美国手语，香港手语，和土耳其手语。类型学一直是预测口语之间差异的重要工具，它被假设在手语中具有相同的解释力。 项目调查人员还将研究如何在手语中出现双动词谓词，以及在历史时间中哪些因素首先触发双动词谓词。为了解决这些问题，研究小组将分析来自homesigners（没有获得传统语言但开发自己的手势通信系统的个人）和来自尼加拉瓜的签名者的数据。巴布亚手语（NSL）是一种新兴的手语，大约有40年的历史。这些分析的结果将揭示“自然”与“教养”的问题，因为触发两个动词谓语的特定因素（语音，形态，语义）在homesigners更有可能是无处不在的人类语言，无论是口语和签署。虽然现在已经不可能通过这种方式来追溯口语的根源，但手语在家庭手语中的出现为更广泛的语言创造提供了一个窗口。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The sign languages used by Deaf communities around the world are still somewhat understudied when compared to their spoken language counterparts. This research will answer two related questions about sign language verbs. Specifically, we ask when and why signers use one verb (e.g., [she-puts-planes-in-a-row]) vs. two verbs (e.g., [she-puts] [planes-in-a-row]) to describe a particular event. This structure is commonly studied in spoken languages, sometimes expressed as serial verb constructions, but it has not been studied in sign languages. Project researchers will examine how signers produce this structure and also how they understand it. In a series of studies, researchers will investigate whether certain language-specific differences about two-verb predicates in sign languages are attributable to typological class (rather than to random variation or historical relatedness). Data from three well-established, national sign languages that are unrelated to one another will be studied: American Sign Language, Hong Kong Sign Language, and Turkish Sign Language. Typology has been an important tool in predicting variation among spoken languages, and it is hypothesized to have the same explanatory power in signed languages. Project investigators will also examine how two-verb predicates emerge in sign languages and what factors are the first to trigger two-verb predicates in historical time. To address these issues, the research team will analyze data from homesigners (individuals who have not acquired a conventional language but develop their own gestural communication systems) and signers from Nicaragua. Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL) is an emerging sign language that is roughly 40 years old. The results of these analyses will shed light on the "nature" vs. "nurture" question, since the specific factors that trigger two-verb predicates in homesigners (phonological, morphological, semantic) are more likely to be ubiquitous in human language, both spoken and signed. Although it is no longer possible to trace spoken languages back to their roots in this way, the emergence of sign language in homesign provides a window onto language creation, more broadly.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.