Case marking in sign languages?

[Deborah Chen Pichler]

Hello!
I was reviewing my old emails today when i saw that I had neglected to respond to your
helpful email from several months ago! Many apologies! Please accept my very belated
thanks for taking the time to inform me about the lack of case marking in NGT. The
optional B-handshape for possessive pronouns is also showing up in our data of Croatian
Sign Language. The optionality seems to me to be much more pronounced than in ASL, but
that could just be my impression.

Anyhow, thanks again for your reply, and sorry for the very late response!

-Deborah Chen Pichler
Gallaudet Dept of Linguistics and Interpretation
deborah.pichler at gallaudet.edu

--- ingeborg <ingeborg at HUM.UVA.NL> wrote:
> In NGT (Sign Language of the Netherlands) no overt case marking on nouns or
> verbs can be found. Except for a genitive marking in the pronoun system (a
> flat B-handshape, palm oriented to the locus of the possessor) that is
> optional!! As far as I know, this handshape can be used by all speakers of
> NGT to refer to genitive case. But again, it is optional and often the
> pointing finger is used (as in all other cases). The case-marked spoken
> form is often present in these cases but not obligatory, I think.
> In Dutch overt case marking can only be found in the pronominal system (and
> in some archaic expressions on adjectives and nouns).
>
> Best,
> Ingeborg
>
> **********************************
> Ingeborg van Gijn
> Department of General Linguistics
> University of Amsterdam
> Spuistraat 210
> 1012 VT  Amsterdam
> The Netherlands
> Tel: +31 (0)20 525 3107
> Fax: +31 (0)20 525 3021
> E-mail: ingeborg at hum.uva.nl
> **********************************


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