Plain verbs in signed languages

[Mark A. Mandel]

I wrote:

> A sign that does not move in space can nevertheless mark agreement with a
> spatial location, by its orientation and possibly its location as well.
> Example:
> ASL PITY (open-8 handshape, palm toward object, middle finger repeatedly
> bending).

Sarah Hafer replied:

> Wouldn't ASL's PITY be an indicating verb? I understand that indicating  
> verbs mean the ones that *move* and have a connection with the object or    
> that the location has meaning. However, with ASL PITY it still shows that   
> the object is in agreement here thus it is still considered a move, although
> it is not seen. It is like the BE-AT verbs that have the movement root but
> the object does not move. It is still a movement.

With so many different systems of analysis (I count at least three in this 
thread), maybe we shouldn't assume that everyone else knows just what we mean. 
Consider:

 the ones that *move* ... it is still considered a move, although it is not seen 
 ... have the movement root but the object does not move. It is still a 
 movement.

Taken as it reads, this is confusing to say the least. It makes sense if the 
reader understands the difference between levels and supplies it mentally (shown 
here with // for phonology and [] for phonetics):

 the ones that /*move*/ ... it is still considered a /move/, although it is not 
 [seen] ... have the /movement root/ but the object does not [move]. It is still 
 a /movement/.

I'm not insisting that we all write as if for Intro to Linguistics, but for a 
while there we were talking different metalanguages and assuming the others 
understood what we meant.

(By the way, colleagues, please try remember to apply an appropriate subject 
line. I've got a whole bunch of messages here headed "[SLLING-L] Re: SLLING-L 
Digest, Vol 6, Issue 6", which doesn't tell a whole lot about the contents, even 
though they are all part of this same discussion.)

m a m
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