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Chapter 8. Studying microdiachronic change with the Catalan Sign Language corpus

A case study on anaphoric chains in narratives
  • Gemma Barberà and Josep Quer
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Advances in Sign Language Corpus Linguistics
This chapter is in the book Advances in Sign Language Corpus Linguistics

Abstract

The Catalan Sign Language (LSC) corpus of the Catalan Academy of Sciences and Humanities, which is under development, includes annotated data from three different age groups of signers, and allows for the study of microdiachronic change, namely language change across generations. In this chapter, we focus on the differences observed in the use of referential expressions in anaphoric chains, by comparing the three age groups of signers as a window into the mechanisms of grammatical change in the visual-spatial modality. Specifically, classifiers and role-shift constitute the most common referential expressions for anaphoric links in maintenance contexts for all age groups, while bare nouns are the most common in reintroduction contexts, especially in terms of the younger generation.

Abstract

The Catalan Sign Language (LSC) corpus of the Catalan Academy of Sciences and Humanities, which is under development, includes annotated data from three different age groups of signers, and allows for the study of microdiachronic change, namely language change across generations. In this chapter, we focus on the differences observed in the use of referential expressions in anaphoric chains, by comparing the three age groups of signers as a window into the mechanisms of grammatical change in the visual-spatial modality. Specifically, classifiers and role-shift constitute the most common referential expressions for anaphoric links in maintenance contexts for all age groups, while bare nouns are the most common in reintroduction contexts, especially in terms of the younger generation.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. Foreword ix
  4. Acknowledgements xi
  5. Notes on the contributors xii
  6. List of abbreviations and acronyms xxi
  7. Chapter 1. Sign language corpus linguistics 1
  8. Part I. Advances in sign language linguistics
  9. Chapter 2. Negative Concord in Sign Language of the Netherlands 30
  10. Chapter 3. Exploring sign-writing contact and multilingualism in the Norwegian Deaf community 66
  11. Chapter 4. Syntactic functions of nonmanuals in Russian Sign Language 90
  12. Chapter 5. A corpus-based analysis of coordinate structures in Libras 123
  13. Chapter 6. Verb classes in South African Sign Language 155
  14. Chapter 7. Exploring regional variation in the DGS Corpus 192
  15. Chapter 8. Studying microdiachronic change with the Catalan Sign Language corpus 219
  16. Part II. Advances in sign language corpus construction
  17. Chapter 9. Creating a multifaceted corpus of Swedish Sign Language 242
  18. Chapter 10. Overview of and epistemological conditions for building and using LSF corpora 262
  19. Chapter 11. W(h)ither the ASL corpus? 287
  20. Chapter 12. Developing an inventory of handshapes, locations, and movements in Hong Kong Sign Language 309
  21. Chapter 13. Utterance unit annotation for the Japanese Sign Language Dialogue Corpus 353
  22. Index 383
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.108.08bar

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. Foreword ix
  4. Acknowledgements xi
  5. Notes on the contributors xii
  6. List of abbreviations and acronyms xxi
  7. Chapter 1. Sign language corpus linguistics 1
  8. Part I. Advances in sign language linguistics
  9. Chapter 2. Negative Concord in Sign Language of the Netherlands 30
  10. Chapter 3. Exploring sign-writing contact and multilingualism in the Norwegian Deaf community 66
  11. Chapter 4. Syntactic functions of nonmanuals in Russian Sign Language 90
  12. Chapter 5. A corpus-based analysis of coordinate structures in Libras 123
  13. Chapter 6. Verb classes in South African Sign Language 155
  14. Chapter 7. Exploring regional variation in the DGS Corpus 192
  15. Chapter 8. Studying microdiachronic change with the Catalan Sign Language corpus 219
  16. Part II. Advances in sign language corpus construction
  17. Chapter 9. Creating a multifaceted corpus of Swedish Sign Language 242
  18. Chapter 10. Overview of and epistemological conditions for building and using LSF corpora 262
  19. Chapter 11. W(h)ither the ASL corpus? 287
  20. Chapter 12. Developing an inventory of handshapes, locations, and movements in Hong Kong Sign Language 309
  21. Chapter 13. Utterance unit annotation for the Japanese Sign Language Dialogue Corpus 353
  22. Index 383
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