Have and BE verbs

[Shelley Dufoe]

Asli Ozyurek wrote:
< THERE-IS in Sign Language of Turkey (SLT). The hand shape is a 5,  the
thumb
touching the chest a couple of times. Below are some spontaneous examples
from my corpus.>

Ulrike Zeshan wrote:
> Have you noticed that positive and negative existentials are very often
> suppletive forms, that is, they look entirely different, like Turkish SL
> signs VAR (EXIST) and YOK (NOT-EXIST), Lebanese signs FI (EXIST) and
MA-FI
> (NOT-EXIST). They also overwhelmingly express possession <snip>

> I wonder how many of the signs usually transcribed HAVE should actually
be
> transcribed EXIST. The strong connection between existentials and
> possessives is common in spoken languaes as well.

Mexican Sign Language (LSM) has a possessive and an positive existential
whose formations are very similiar.  The positive existential HAY
(EXIST/THERE-IS) is formed like its Sign Language of Turkey counterpart
(5-hand, palm down, tip of thumb contacts chest 2-3 times).  The possessive
TENER (HAVE) is a 5-hand, palm up, outer edge of little fingertip contacts
chest 2-3 times.  In many instances (e.g. if the object is inanimate) they
can be used interchangably.  [Non-fluent signers also mix them up, but that
is a diffferent matter.  My examples and the following judgments are from a
Deaf of Deaf native LSM signer.]

HAY     COCA (y-n qu)
EXIST  COKE  (y-n qu)
'Is there any Coke?'

TENER COCA  (y-n qu)
HAVE    COKE   (y-n qu)
'Do you have any Coke?'

TENER ESPOSO (y-n qu)
HAVE   SPOUSE (y-n q)
'Do [you] have a spouse?' (husband or wife)

* HAY     ESPOSO (y-n qu)
* EXIST SPOUSE (y-n qu)
* 'Does [your] spouse exist?', 'Is there a spouse?'

LSM's negative existential is a suppletive form.  NO-HAY (NOT-EXIST) (bent
hand, thumb extended, palm toward signer, knuckles partially open and close
with the fingertips near the lips [or brushing down the lips] (2-3 times).. 
This sign can be formed with one or both hands displaced to the sides (in
front of each shoulder, at the height of the lips).  [The one handed
displaced form looks like the LIU (Jordanian SL) NOT-EXIST 1 that Dan
Parvaz mentioned (except that the breath isn't exhaled, rather the signer
typically mouths 'no hay').]  The emphatic form is one handed with the
fingertips brushing down the lips (one time) and closing to a loose a-hand
palm up about waist-high.  The sign for NO followed by the positive form --
NO   HAY (NO   EXIST) -- may also be used, but it is less common.

The answer to the previous question [HAVE   SPOUSE (y-n q)] would be
either:

SI       TENER  (ESPOSO)
YES, HAVE      (SPOUSE)
'Yes, [I] have a spouse.'

NO-HAY       (ESPOSO)
NOT-EXIST (SPOUSE)
'[I] don't have a spouse' (lit. spouse doesn't exist)

?/* NO TENER    (ESPOSO)  [This is Spanish-influenced signing]
?/* NO HAVE        (SPOUSE)
?/* '[I] don't have a spouse.'

* HAY     ESPOSO
* EXIST SPOUSE
* '[A/My] spouse exists.'

In Mexico, there are two Signed Spanish BE verbs:  SER (TO-BE [innately])
and  ESTAR (TO-BE [state or condition]), but they are not used in natural
LSM.  The only exceptions that I am aware of are that a BE verb is used in
the frozen LSM phrase "COMO  ESTAR content-qu" (HOW TO-BE content-qu) 'How
are you'/'How is he/she?' and LSM uses a blended compound sign for NO-ESTAR
(NOT-TO-BE [+animate]) for 'to not be present'.  Two other possible
exceptions (which I've occasionally seen in the signing of Deaf of Deaf
native LSM signers, but which seem to reflect Spanish influence) are:  the
sign glossed ESTAR (TO-BE) is occasionally used in the sense of spacial
position/be present, and some signers occasionally use a suppletive form of
the past tense of a TO-BE verb -- FUI (TO-BE [+past]) 'was, were' -- as a
copula.  (LSM typically does not use a copula.)

HAY (EXIST/THERE-IS) is much preferred to ESTAR (TO-BE) for the sense
'spacial position/be present'. 

HAY             DAVID   y-n qu
EXIST/THERE-IS  DAVID   y-n qu
'Is David here?'

(ESTAR          DAVID   y-n qu)
(TO-BE-PRESENT  DAVID   y-n qu)
('Is David here?')

SI,      HAY            ALLA
YES, EXIST/THERE-IS     OVER-THERE
'Yes, he is over there.'

(neg) NO-ESTAR
(neg) NOT-TO-BE-PRESENT
'No, he is not here.'

* (neg) NO-HAY
* (neg) NO-EXIST
* 'He does not exist.'


Shelley Dufoe