Continuous vs. Repetitive inflection in ASL

[Don & Theresa G]

-----Original Message-----
From: JMoore7829 at AOL.COM <JMoore7829 at AOL.COM>
To: SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA <SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA>
Date: Friday, May 07, 1999 10:29 AM
Subject: Re: Continuous vs. Repetitive inflection in ASL


>I'm curious as to whether the semantics of to-kill have any influence here.
>That is, it seems that to-kill is a finite act.  I can continue to stare
>(LOOK-AT continuative) over a period of time, but once I kill (only
insects,
>mind you), it's over.  Therefore, it would seem to me that any use of kill
>would be repetitive rather than continuative, as continuative would
indicate
>continuing to kill the same entity over a period of time, which can't be
done.

You would be right, except that one can kill more than one thing or more
than once, so an act could be continuative, as I have said.  This leads me
to Sandra's point:

>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

Yes, I found myself doing pretty much the same thing with most inflected
forms of KILL.  I think the left-to-right (or right-to-left, for lefties)
movement is probably a result of the finite nature of killing, as Julie
Moore pointed out.  Since we cannot kill something more than once, we have
to move on to the next object to be killed, necessitating that lateral
movement.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Sandra, but wouldn't you say that even with the
continuative aspect, you still move your hands laterally, although at a much
slower rate than seen in the durative?  This seems to be happening with me.
Try signing it 10 times in a row and watch the starting and ending point of
your non-dominant hand.  I suspect you will find the hand has moved an inch
or two laterally.

--Don Grushkin