Have and BE verbs

[Nobukatsu Minoura]

This is a forward from Susan Fischer.

Nobukatsu Minoura

----------
From: Susan Fischer <sdfncr at ritvax.isc.rit.edu>
Organization: RIT
Reply-To: fischer at mail.rit.edu
Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 14:09:15 -0500
To: "Minoura, Nobukatsu" <nobum at gol.com>
Subject: [Fwd: Have and BE verbs]

Hi.  Could yo post this to SLLing-L for me?  I can't seem to get my postings
accepted.
Susan

Folks,
I tried to reply directly but my address was rejected  by the server and the
address to whom one is supposed to send requests about bounced messages does
not
work.  If the list owners would help straighten out my subscription, I'd
really
appreciate it.
Susan

Susan Fischer  (fischer at mail.rit.edu)

Susan Fischer wrote:

> Just an additional comment re NS (Nihon Syuwa): IRU can also be glossed
> as SUMU (to live in a place), hence has a wider distribution than just "to
> exist
> [animate]".  I have seen ARU used widely in signed Japanese but thought
> that it wasn't used in real NS until I saw it used in the same kind of context
> where
> you would use "si" instead of "oui" in French, i.e., contrary to someone's
> expectations.  So, for example, I signed something like
>
> SYUWA           HON    NAI
> sign-language book there-isn't
> 'there's no sign language book'
>
> and the response was ARU! (oh, yes, there is!).
>
> This somewhat reminiscent of ASL CAN vs. CAN'T;  I see CAN used mostly to
> contradict expectations.
> Susan
>
> Nobukatsu Minoura wrote:
>
> > Dear Colleagues,
> >
> > Japanese Sign Language (JSL) has a couple of BE verbs:  IRU (be [+animate]),
> > ARU (be [-animate]).  The existence of the two verbs parallels with spoken
> > Japanese.  (By the way, JSL 'ARU' looks very similar to DGS 'DABEI' with the
> > similar meaning.)
> >
> > On the other hand, there is no copula used in equational sentences just like
> > in ASL but unlike in spoken Japanese.
> >
> > There is no single equivalent of HAVE in JSL.  The above-mentioned
> > one-argument verbs of existence (i.e. IRU and ARU) are also used as
> > two-argument verbs:
> >
> > PT1 ANE           IRU
> > me  older-sister  be [+anim]
> > I have an older sister.
> >
> > PT1 YASUMI   ARU
> > me  holiday  be [-anim]
> > I have a holiday.
> >
> > And also the verb MOTSU (hold) is used for possessive expression:
> >
> > PT1 PASOKON            MOTSU
> > me  personal-computer  hold
> > I have a personal computer.
> >
> > I myself have not closely studied yet the determining factor(s) of choice
> > between IRU/ARU and MOTSU.
> >
> > Nobukatsu Minoura
> > Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
> > mailto:minoura at tufs.ac.jp
> > mailto:nobum at gol.com
>
> --
> Susan Fischer                                e-mail: fischer at mail.rit.edu
> NTID/RIT  HLC-2420                   phone: 1-716-475-6558 (v/TTY)
> Dept. Of  Research                        fax: 1-716-475-7101
> 96 Lomb Memorial Drive              web: http://www.rit.edu/~sdfncr
> Rochester, NY 14623-5604           (under perpetual construction!!)

--
Susan Fischer                                e-mail: fischer at mail.rit.edu
NTID/RIT  HLC-2420                   phone: 1-716-475-6558 (v/TTY)
Dept. Of  Research                        fax: 1-716-475-7101
96 Lomb Memorial Drive              web: http://www.rit.edu/~sdfncr
Rochester, NY 14623-5604           (under perpetual construction!!)