Sign Language Grammar and Syntax
Domain 3: Sign Language Grammar and Syntax
This domain tests knowledge of NSL grammar: how non-manual features, space, verb directionality, classifiers and clause structure combine. Signed languages are not gesture systems with English grammar; they have their own morphology and syntax, and many distinctions are simultaneous rather than sequential.
Core rules
- Non-manual features are grammatical. Raised brows and a head tilt can mark a yes/no question; furrowed brows can mark a wh-question; a headshake can negate a clause; a body shift can mark a conditional or contrast.
- Spatial grammar uses loci for referents. Directional verbs move between loci, for example GIVE moves from the giver's locus to the receiver's locus.
- Classifiers classify nouns by shape, handling or motion. They are not simply 'descriptive gestures'; they carry argument information.
- Topic-comment order is common: establish the topic, then comment on it. Time markers often come early and set the frame.
- Role shift marks reported speech, thought or action and may involve a change in eye gaze, head position and body orientation.
Worked example
To express 'Yesterday I gave the book to my mother', sign YESTERDAY first to set the time. Establish your mother at a right-side locus, then sign BOOK. Sign GIVE starting near your body and moving toward the mother's locus. Keep your gaze toward that locus and use a slight head nod to mark the assertion. Reasoning: the time marker frames the event; the locus identifies the receiver; the movement of GIVE encodes the recipient; the non-manual marker supports the statement. A word-for-word English order is unnecessary and may obscure the spatial grammar.
Traps
- Marking a question only with the hands and ignoring brows or head.
- Using one locus for two different people.
- Treating simultaneity as optional decoration rather than grammar.
- Forgetting that mouth patterns can distinguish lexical items.
- Assuming all signed sentences follow English word order.