Recurring iconic mapping patterns within and across verb types in German Sign Language
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Marloes Oomen
Abstract
Many sign languages around the world have the same tripartite verb classification system based on agreement properties, and it has previously been observed that this system is at least partially semantically grounded. In this article, the extent to which iconicity plays a mediating role in this relationship between verb type and verb semantics is investigated through the identification of recurring iconic mappings across verb forms in German Sign Language (DGS). The aim is to establish which event properties are commonly iconically represented in DGS verb forms, and which of those can additionally be associated with verbs of a specific type. The results indicate that across types, handshape is associated with semantic transitivity, while the location and movement specifications of a verb form are associated with verb type. The results thus contribute toward our understanding of the role of iconicity in the relation between verb semantics and verb type in DGS and, by extension, other sign languages with similar verb type systems.
Abstract
Many sign languages around the world have the same tripartite verb classification system based on agreement properties, and it has previously been observed that this system is at least partially semantically grounded. In this article, the extent to which iconicity plays a mediating role in this relationship between verb type and verb semantics is investigated through the identification of recurring iconic mappings across verb forms in German Sign Language (DGS). The aim is to establish which event properties are commonly iconically represented in DGS verb forms, and which of those can additionally be associated with verbs of a specific type. The results indicate that across types, handshape is associated with semantic transitivity, while the location and movement specifications of a verb form are associated with verb type. The results thus contribute toward our understanding of the role of iconicity in the relation between verb semantics and verb type in DGS and, by extension, other sign languages with similar verb type systems.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Preface and acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
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Part I. General framework
- The intricate dialectics of iconization and structuration 11
- The iconicity ring model for sound symbolism 27
- Iconicity as a key epistemic source of change in the self 47
- Indexicality and iconization in Mock ing Spanish 63
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Part II. Symmetry
- Iconicity of symmetries in language and in literature 79
- Chiastic iconicity 103
- Tonal iconicity and narrative transformation 135
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Part III. Visual and intermedial iconicity
- Władysław Strzemiński’s theory of vision and Ronald Langacker’s theory of language 155
- Iconicity for an iconoclast 173
- This is not a pipe 193
- Image superimposition in signed language discourse and in motion pictures 213
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Part IV. Gesture and sign language
- Iconicity in gesture 245
- Where frozen signs reclaim iconic ground 265
- Recurring iconic mapping patterns within and across verb types in German Sign Language 289
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Part V. Onomatopoeia and sound symbolism
- Echoes of the past 331
- The correlation between meaning and verb formation in Japanese sound-symbolic words 351
- The phonosemantics of the Korean monosyllabic ideophone ttak 369
- The iconicity of emotive Hijazi non-lexical expressions of disgust 389
- Author index 405
- Subject index 407
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Preface and acknowledgements ix
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. General framework
- The intricate dialectics of iconization and structuration 11
- The iconicity ring model for sound symbolism 27
- Iconicity as a key epistemic source of change in the self 47
- Indexicality and iconization in Mock ing Spanish 63
-
Part II. Symmetry
- Iconicity of symmetries in language and in literature 79
- Chiastic iconicity 103
- Tonal iconicity and narrative transformation 135
-
Part III. Visual and intermedial iconicity
- Władysław Strzemiński’s theory of vision and Ronald Langacker’s theory of language 155
- Iconicity for an iconoclast 173
- This is not a pipe 193
- Image superimposition in signed language discourse and in motion pictures 213
-
Part IV. Gesture and sign language
- Iconicity in gesture 245
- Where frozen signs reclaim iconic ground 265
- Recurring iconic mapping patterns within and across verb types in German Sign Language 289
-
Part V. Onomatopoeia and sound symbolism
- Echoes of the past 331
- The correlation between meaning and verb formation in Japanese sound-symbolic words 351
- The phonosemantics of the Korean monosyllabic ideophone ttak 369
- The iconicity of emotive Hijazi non-lexical expressions of disgust 389
- Author index 405
- Subject index 407
