Grammar and visual-gestural Modality: Verbal Agreement in Catalan Sign Language (LSC)

Abstract

Albeit using a different modality, sign languages are made up of the same grammar components traditionally attributed to spoken languages. This article reviews the essential elements which shape the grammar of sign languages, with a particular focus on the aspects which derive from the use of the visualgestural modality. The main focus of this paper is the expression of arguments and number in verb agreement in Catalan Sign Language (LSC). Despite being two grammatical aspects equivalent to the corresponding components in spoken Catalan, we show how particular consequences deriving from the
difference in production and perception are mostly based on the use of the three-dimensional space in front of the signer, the so-called signing space. We show that the difference between languages of different modality lies in the superficial expression of these elements: in contrast to the aural-oral modality, in visual-gestural language morphemes may be presented simultaneously when the morpheme consists of a change in the basic components of the lexical base. Therefore, in LSC, morphemes expressing verb agreement and number are signed at the same time as the lexical base by modifying the initial and end point of the sign in the signing space.

Key Words: Catalan Sign Language, grammar, signed modality, signing space, syntax, verb agreement