Parametric variation in H1/H2 Shift: Switch Reference in Serial Verb Constructions
[ENGL]
In this work we explore the role of H1/H2-shift as a morpho-syntactic device. H1/H2
shift has been observed in the past (cf. Frishberg, 1985) but only its phonological
properties have been formally studied (Brentari & Crossley, 2002). In this work, we
explore its syntactic properties, specifically within the structural domain of the event
argument (vP), comparing its behaviour in two sign languages with divergent properties:
HKSL (Hong Kong Sign Language) and ASL.
We propose that H1/H2-shift constitutes the morphological manifestation of a system of
Switch Reference (SR) that gets activated in Serial Verb Constructions (SVC). SVCs
exist in a good number of languages across the world, and in some of them they combine
with a system of Switch Reference (e.g., Mayangna in the Misumalpan family of
Nicaragua – Hale, 1991). In the present study, contrastive data indicate that while HKSL
presents a system of SR structurally associated to the vP, such a system is absent in ASL
at that same structural level. Examples of the contrast are in (1-2) (where H1 indicates the
dominant hand and H2 the non-dominant hand; square brackets indicate sub-clausal
division).
In this work, we hypothesize that HKSL has a [±anaphoric] feature (the implementation
of a SR system) incorporated into the functional head v0 of the sub-clausal predicates in
an SVC (following the structure proposed in Benedicto, Cvejanov y Quer, 2008), whose
[-anaphoric] value surfaces morpho-phonologically as an H1/H2 shift. In ASL, this
feature system is absent in v0 (though it can be present at higher structural levels).
The data. In the HKSL example (1), we observe the use of both H1 and H2 to sign five
sub-clauses belonging to a SVC. There we observe a hand-shift in the transition from
each sub-clause to the next, and crucially so, between 3-4-5. According to our hypothesis,
the presence of a [-anaphoric] feature in each predicate (in each v) predicts the
appearance of hand-shift, which is indeed the case. In ASL, however, where we
hypothesize the absence of the [±anaphoric] feature in v, hand-shift is predicted not to
take place, and hand-shift is indeed not allowed (2b. vs 2a), as expected.
Additionally, in HKSL example (3), in the transition from sub-clause2 to sub-clause-3,
where we can postulate a [+anaphoric] value to the SR system (because of the lack of
referential change), we predict an absence of hand-shift, and indeed we can observe that
the articulating hand remains at H1, as expected.
The example in (3) confirms that the H1/H2 Shift is not associated to a simple clausal
change, but to a referential change in the clausal subject (see the transition between
subcl2>scubcl3). Furthermore, example (1) also shows, in particular, sub-clause 5, that
the use of a particular hand is not associated to a particular referent, since the referent of
the subject in sub-clause 5 is different from that in sub-clauses 1 and 3, all of them
articulated with H1.
Data Collection. Data was obtained via picture prompts and interactive elicitation.
Examples
(1)
HKSL:
[1
] [2
] [3
] [4
H1. MAN SEE-G IX-z
MAN KICK-z
H2.
IX-y
G-ext+BE_LOCATED
G-ext+FLIP
] [5
]
5closed>open+EXTEND
G-ext
‘A man sees a box lying there, kicks it, the box flips over and its contents come
out’
(2)
ASL:
a.
[1
] [2
H1. MAN NO-CLUE
] [3
KICK
]
G-ext+FLIP
‘A man... doesn`t realize... kicks [the box, and] the box flips over’
b. *
[1
H1. MAN NO-CLUE
H2.
] [2
] [3
]
KICK
G-ext+FLIP
(3) HKSL
[1
] [2
]
H1.
LAMPPOST-BE_LOCx
H2. CAR-BACK_UP _____________________
[3
]
LP-FALL_ONy
__________
[4
]
BIKEy-FALL
‘The car backed up against a lamppost, the lamppost fell and pushed down a bike’
References
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