LL-L "Language varieties" 2003.09.16 (11) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 16.SEP.2003 (11) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Language varieties"

I thought I'd describe a few of the more basic points of BSL (British Sign
Language) grammar, to give everybody an idea of the sort of thing I'm
talking about, and illustrate how radically different manual languages can
be from the oral languages they coexist with. Some aspects of sign language
grammar can seem much more complex than in oral languages. This is because
oral languages are mainly linear, while in sign languages objects and
concepts can actually be placed and moved around in four dimensions (space
and time, although several arbitrary timelines are used for different
timescales). Because of this, and also the ability to represent rough shapes
directly, grammar that's complex to describe is actually more intuitive than
the grammars of oral languages, so not nearly as hard to learn as a
descriptive grammar might lead you to believe.

Pronouns are produced by pointing with the index finger ("indexing") in BSL.
There are four persons:

1. I
2. you
3. he/she/it (indexed to the right)
4. he/she/it (indexed to the left)

Gender isn't distinguished, nor declension. So he/she/it/him/her are all
indexed at the same point in space.

"Number" often goes higher than the simple singular/plural distinction in
English, so there are eight forms corresponding to the English first person
piural ("we/us"):

1. we two (exclusive)
2. we three (exclusive)
3. we four (exclusive)
4. all of us (exclusive)
5. we two (inclusive)
6. we three (inclusive)
7. we four (inclusive)
8. all of us (inclusive)

Higher pronoun numbers may be produced by analogy if clarity can be
maintained.

Similar structures apply to other plural persons, "you two", "they two" &c

Possesives are indicated using the fist with the palm thrust slightly in the
direction indexed. These apply only to acquisitions and ownership:
inalienable attributes such as "my brother", "my heart", "my liver", "my
name", "my wife" are indicated with personal pronouns.

Since pronouns are indicated as a point in space, they are thought of as
zero-dimensional. The pronoun concept is extended to  expressing objects of
one, two and three dimensions, called "proforms".

A zero-dimensional proform (a pronoun) is most usually produced by indexing
a point in space.

A one-dimensional proform is most usually represented by the index finger
itself, although the other fingers can be added to produce 1D proforms of
higher number. These stand for objects that can be thought of as roughly
one-dimensional, such as people, eyes, legs, light beams, trains,
caterpillars.

A two-dimensional proform is most usually represented by a flat hand. Since
we have two hands, there's the possibility of representing two such proforms
at once. These stand for objects that can be thought of as roughly
two-dimensional, such as cars, lorries, vans, buses, sheets of paper,
plates, books, shelves, the ground, waves at sea, hills, walls, doors,
windows.

A three-dimensional proform is most usually represented by a cupped or
clawed hand. These stand for objects that can be thought of as roughly
three-dimensional, such as mugs, cans, rolls of paper, small balls (balls
larger than the handspan would need two flatter hands to indicate),
ripped-out hearts.

Using dimensionality to classify the main proforms is neat, but there are
various other proforms representing more complicated shapes, such as a fist
with the the thumb and pinkie sticking out to indicate objects with two
sticky-out bits such as aeroplanes and telephone receivers.

Proforms can be combined, for example a parachute might be represented as a
3D proform for the parachute itself and a 1D proform for the parachutist.

Proforms generally fall into natural classes, for example the 2D proform,
when used to represent cars, lorries, vans or buses is called the "Vehicle
Classifier" (which actually has two forms - one for parked vehicles and one
for moving vehicles), and the form of the verb can be different for nouns
with different classifications. This, I imagine, makes BSL a classifer
language pretty much like some American Indian languages.

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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