Continuous vs. Repetitive inflection in ASL

[Sandra K. Wood]

I've been following your discussion on 'KILL' (durative vs. continuative).
I agree with Don's assessment pretty much.  However, I'd like to add my
observation as a native signer and ASL linguist which may (or may not)
help distinguish between these two semantically.  When I sign KILL
(durative), I move my hands from left to right over the neutral space in
front of me, while signing the durative aspect of KILL at the same time.
When I sign KILL (continuative), I simply keep the signing in the same
space while signing the continuative aspect.  I think this adds another
dimension to the layer of semantic information represented by the type of
movement that durative and continuative make.

What do you think, Don and whoever else is reading this? :)

Sandra K. Wood
Purdue University
ASL Linguistics Lab
swood at omni.cc.purdue.edu