A ministry of (not-so-silly) walks
Investigating classifier handshapes for animate referents in DGS
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21240052 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Isabeau Lettow (Universität Hamburg), Cornelia Loos (0000-0003-2641-9400, Universität Hamburg) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 11 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2025-05-06 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Open Linguistics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2300-9969 • E-ISSN: 2300-9969 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/opli-2025-0049 |
| OpenAlex | W4410361665 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 20 |
Across sign languages, classifier predicates depict the movement, location, or manipulation of (in-)animate entities. Each classifier predicate contains a classifier handshape that represents a referent based on one or more of its salient semantic and/or visual properties. In this article, we focus on a subset of entity classifiers in German Sign Language (DGS) that depict the movement and/or position of animate referents: The ‘1’-classifier, the ‘V’- or inverted ‘2’-classifier, and a general entity classifier. The distribution of these classifiers has been claimed to be determined by semantic and pragmatic factors in other sign languages. Looking at 16 re-tellings of the Canary Row cartoons, we perform an exploratory analysis showing that syntactic, semantic, and discourse-pragmatic factors influence the choice of one classifier over another when the basic set of entities depicted – anthropomorphized animates – is held constant
Christian ministry · Epistemology · Linguistics · Metaphysics · Philosophy of language · Theology · Hand Gesture Recognition Systems · Hearing Impairment and Communication · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Philosophy · Psychology
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| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |