Have and BE verbs

[James MacFarlane]

Hello,


Adam Schembri Wrote:

I'm surprised to learn that ASL HAVE is not used to mean 'be
present' - can any ASL linguists confirm this?

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I wrote my MA Thesis on "The grammaticization of predicative possession and
existentials in American Sign Language" in 1998.  I analyzed 43 minutes of
videotaped ASL signers and found that ASL does express that existential
meaning with the sign HAVE.  Other meanings expressed by the verb HAVE are
PHYSICAL POSSESSION, ABSTRACT & INALIENABLE POSSESSION, and INANIMATE
POSESSION.

An abstract is available on the web at the International Sign Language
Bibliography.

http://www.sign-lang.uni-hamburg.de/bibweb/F-Authors.html

search for my last name and click on the article below.

Predicative possession and existentials in ASL: Their cognitive source and
grammaticization. Paper presented at the 6th International Cognitive
Linguistics Conference

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James MacFarlane
University of New Mexico
Department of Linguistics