Section 11.5 Morphology in signed language
The modality of communication contributes to the structure of languages. Sign languages display a radically different type of morphology than spoken languages do. Sign languages combine two fundamentally different word formation processes: On the one hand, there is a rich, complex and simultaneous process of affixation (fusional). In contrary and addition to that, they show a rather simple and sequential type of morphology (agglutinative). Aranoff et al. (2005) call it the Paradox Of Sign Language Morphology since we know of no spoken language showing this morphological dichotomy.
Why is that? Sign languages are spatial. Signers use their hands, face, and body to sign words and they use their eyes to perceive them. This allows for a spatio-temporal representation of concepts in a more immediate and iconic, not entirely arbitrary manner. Signs "are motivated representations of certain visuo-spatial concepts like source, goal, theme, path, and size or shape of an object." (Aranoff et al. 2005, 303). This integral property sign languages have allows for a more direct connection between form and meaning which can lead to a quicker language development than spoken languages show (see ibid.). As Aranoff et al. point out, sign languages are neither completely iconic nor completely arbitrary (ibid., 338).
Below are some examples of the major differences between sign language and spoken language morphology. This page is meant to give an impression rather than a comprehensive introduction to the linguistics of sign language.
Subsection Simultaneous affixation
Simultaneous affixes are common in signed languages and in languages with tone. When signing, it’s possible to do things with multiple articulators (a second hand, or your face), or to add motion on top of a sign, in a way that is not possible with oral articulations in spoken languages.
AspectFor example, in ASL there is a morpheme that attaches to verbs to express continuative aspect (the meaning that something happens continuously for a while, or for a long time). This morpheme involves adding a particular circular motion to the base sign for the verb; this circular motion doesn’t happen before or after the verb, but simultaneously with it. You can see the application of this affix in the first and last videos for the verb STUDY in this linked article from the online Handspeak ASL dictionary (Lapiak 1995–2022) (the second video in that post shows the application of a different simultaneous affix, one for iterative aspect).
Verb agreement1
www.handspeak.com/learn/index.php?id=189Sign languages have three verb classes: plain, spatial and agreement verbs. While plain verbs have invariant beginning and end points, spatial verbs can refer to locations. For example, MOVE, PUT, HAND (over): The so-called path of the verb begins at location A and ends at location B. Agreement verbs agree with syntactic roles, i.e. subject and object, of the sentence. In GIVE, the path of the verb starts at the location of the person giving and ends at the location of the receiver.
GenderTo add social gender to a noun like sibling or parent, the location where the signing begins is changed: FATHER and BROTHER start with the right hand positioned at the forehead. MOTHER and SISTER begin at the chin. To express a gender neutral term for cousin, the sign orginates at the cheekbone which is between the forehead (i.e. MALE) and the chin (i.e. FEMALE), see COUSIN.
Numeral incorporation2
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/1283/father/0/?q=father3
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/1435/brother/0/?q=brother4
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/1284/mother/0/?q=mother5
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/1436/sister/0/?q=sister6
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/1445/cousin/0/?q=cousinAnother example is numeral incorporationfor numerals from one to nine. For example, in ASL, the sign for HOUR involves one hand imitating a clock by forming a flat left hand on which the active hand signs a circular movement to signify a whole circle of the rotating big hand on the clock. When signing ONE HOUR, the right finders sign ONE while the movement of both hands stay the same. When signing TWO HOURS, the right fingers sign TWO and so on. For TEN HOURS and above, the signs are compound words signing HOUR-TEN in a successive order.
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spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/1618/hour/0/?q=hour8
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/639/one/0/?q=one9
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/7396/two/0/?q=twoThe same applies for signing age. The sign for AGE is a closing fist moving down from the chin. To sign the ages one to nine, the right fingers sign the number while the hand movement remains the same. For TEN YEARS OLD and above, the signs are signed in a successive order: AGE-TEN. The fifth video on this page shows the blending of age and numerals.
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www.handspeak.com/learn/134/The same applies to other countable nouns like DOLLAR and CENTS, SECONDS, MINUTES, DAYS, WEEKS, MONTHS and YEARS.
Subsection Sequential affixation
NegationFor example, in Israeli Sign Language (ISL), one of the signs for negation is a suffix. It attaches to and immediately follows the adjective (see Allomorphy below).
CompoundsCompounds in sign language can be built by combining two words. This can be seen with the word GREENHOUSE: It is a combination of GREEN and HOUSE. For the word MEDICAL BAG, the words MEDICINE and BAG are signed one after the other.
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spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/4675/greenhouse/0/?q=greenhouse12
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/578/green/0/?q=green13
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/590/house/0/?q=house14
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/9422/medical-bag/0/?q=medical+bag15
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/13808/medicine/0/?q=medicine16
spreadthesign.com/en.us/word/714/bag/0/?q=bagSubsection Allomorphy
The negating suffix in ISL attaches to adjectives and can either be signed with one hand or with two hands which makes two allomorphs of the same morpheme. As with phonological conditioning, allomorphy in sign language is conditioned by the environment of the sign:
In this case, the preceding sign IMPORTANT-NOT-EXIST (’of no import’) is signed with two hands and is therefore followed by the two-handed allomorph for NOT-EXIST.
INTERESTING-NOT-EXIST (’of no interest’) only uses one hand and is therefore followed by the one-handed allomorph (cf. ibid., 331).
ReferencesAranoff, Meir, Sandler. 2005. The Paradox Of Sign Language Morphology. In: Language, 2005-06, Vol.81 (2), p.301-344, WASHINGTON: Linguistic Society of America.
Subsection
CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0. Adapted from Catherine Anderson, Bronwyn Bjorkman, Derek Denis, Julianne Doner, Margaret Grant, Nathan Sanders, and Ai Taniguchi, Essentials of Linguistics. 2nd ed. by Rosa Hesse with restructuring and additional writing.
