Improper doubling in LIS
(English)
In this paper, we focus on a particular construction emerged from a study on WH phrases contained
in “Corpus LIS”, a corpus collected from 165 signers in 10 Italian cities (A). 646 sentences
containing a WH-phrase from this corpus have been annotated with ELAN. We used naturalistic
data to provide the research questions and guide the inquiry, but we employed grammatical
judgments and elicited production data from trained informants to answer the questions and provide
fine-grained analyses for the phenomenon.
Doubling of WH signs is robustly attested in the corpus, with up to 13 % of WH-questions
containing pairs of WH signs. Doubling is attested with every WH-element (1), and in every
grammatical function, with a significant preference for adjuncts (2).
Two types of doubling are attested
Proper doubling: two identical WH-items (1)
!"#$%#&$'(%)*+,-./'01%'(,22&$&-0'345',0&"6'789:''
;)#+,<=0,%-',6'-%0'=0'=++'='>!?'#&<)+,=$,0@:'A-'0B&'<%-0$=$@C'<=6&6'1B&$&'01%'<%#,&6'=$&'*%0B'
-=0)$=++@'6#&++&(5%)0'=$&'$&#%$0&('2%$'%0B&$'76,.-9'+=-.)=.&6:'D)0'0B&',"#$%#&$'(%)*+,-.'0@#&'
,6'#=$0,<)+=$+@',-0&$&60,-.C'*&<=)6&',0'<B=++&-.&6'0$=(,0,%-=+'=##$%=<B&6'0%'(%)*+,-.'=6'6,"#+&'
6#&++,-.'%)0'%2'='+%1&$'<%#@'%2'='345(&#&-(&-<@:''
'
E%0,<&'0B=0'%-&'%2'0B&'01%'&+&"&-06'%<<)$$,-.',-',"#$%#&$'(%)*+,-.',6'=+1=@6'0B&'6,.-'0B=0'1&'
.+%66'FGH!I4AJK'()&'0%',06'B=-('<%-2,.)$=0,%-'7L9:'FGH!I4AJK'<=-'=+6%'*&'2%)-('=+%-&C'=6'
0B&'%-+@'3456,.-'%2'='345M)&60,%-:'!-'0B=0'<=6&C',0'<=-'*&'=$0,<)+=0&('1,0B'='"%)0B,-.'
(,6="*,.)=0,-.',06'.$=""=0,<=+'2)-<0,%-'7N9:''
'
H1%'#%66,*+&'=-=+@6&6'2%$'0B&',"#$%#&$'(%)*+,-.'<%-60$)<0,%-'1,++'*&'<%"#=$&('=-('
(,6<)66&(:''
'
O:'!"#$%#&$'(%)*+,-.'!?'(%)*+,-.C'=-('FGH!I4AJK',6'='P,-('%2'<%#@'%2'0B&'3456,.-C'Q)60'+,P&'='
$&6)"#0,R&'#$%-%)-'",.B0'*&'<%-6,(&$&('=6'0B&'7#=$0,=+9'6#&++5%)0'%2'0B&'<%#@'%2'='"%R&('
<%-60,0)&-0:'HB,6'=66)"#0,%-'1%)+('$&M),$&'='$&R,6,%-'%2'0B&'-%0,%-'%2'<%#@C'6,-<&'B&$&'
FGH!I4AJK',6'-&,0B&$',(&-0,<=+'-%$'"%$#B%+%.,<=++@'$&+=0&('0%'0B&'"%R&('&+&"&-0:''
S)$0B&$"%$&C'0B&$&',6'-%'&R,(&-<&'0B=0',0',6'='(&0&$",-&$C')-+,P&'1B=0'B=##&-6'1,0B'
$&6)"#0,R&'#$%-%)-6:''F'<+%6&'=-=+@6,6'%2'0B&'(,60$,*)0,%-'%2'FGH!I4AJKC'"%$&%R&$C'6B%16'
0B=0',0',6'-%0',-'6,0)C'*)0'$=0B&$'6,06',-'0B&'$,.B0'#&$,#B&$=+'#%6,0,%-C'1B,<B',6'0@#,<=+'2%$'34'
6,.-6',-'>!?:'S,-=++@C'"%)0B,-.C'1B,<B'<=-'*&',-0&$#$&0&('=6'='"%$#B%+%.,<=+'2&=0)$&C'(%&6'-%0'
<%5<%<<)$'1,0B'FGH!I4AJK',-',"#$%#&$'(%)*+,-.'<%-60$)<0,%-6C'6)..&60,-.'0B=0'FGH!I4AJK'
,6'-%0'&R&-'(&#&-(&-0'%-'0B&'3456,.-:''
'
T:'!"#$%#&$'(%)*+,-.'!?'EAH'(%)*+,-.:'FGH!I4AJK',6'=-',-0&$$%.=0,R&'B&=('6,00,-.',-'='
#&$,#B&$=+'<+=)6=+'#%6,0,%-:'E%0,<&'0B=0'FGH!I4AJK'<=--%0',-0$%()<&'UVE'M)&60,%-6C'=-('0B)6'
<=--%0'*&',-0&$#$&0&('=6'='.&-&$,<'M)&60,%-'%#&$=0%$:'HB&'&W=<0'-=0)$&'%2'0B,6'B&=('=-(',06'
<%-60,0)&-<@'$&+=0,%-'1,0B'0B&'345&+&"&-0'1B&-'*%0B'<%5%<<)$'%-'0B&'6="&'6,(&'%2'0B&'<+=)6&'
1,++'*&',-R&60,.=0&(',-'(&0=,+6C'=-=+@X,-.'0B&'(,60$,*)0,R&'$&60$,<0,%-6'0B=0'6&&"'0%'*&'=0'#+=@'
7Y5Z9:'3&'1,++'#$%#%6&'=-'=-=+@6,6',-'1B,<B'0B&'01%'345&+&"&-06'60=$0'=6'='<%-60,0)&-0C',-'='
*,.';['0@#&'%2'=-=+@6,6C'=-('"%R&'0%'(,22&$&-0'#%6,0,%-6C',-'='<+&20&('M)&60,%-'60$)<0)$&:''
Examples and references
(1)
a. WHO FAULT WHO
'Whose fault is it?'
b. WHAT ILLNESS WHAT 'What is the sickness?'
c. WHERE ACCIDENT WHERE
'Where did the accident take place?'
d. WHEN IX-2 KNOW WHEN
'When did you know it?'
e. WHY PARIS IX-LOC WHY
'Why was it in Paris?'
f. WHICH CAR-ACCIDENT WHICH 'Which car was involved in the accident?
g. HOW IX-2 CAR HOW 'How were you driving the car?'
(2)
Function
Number
Percentage
Adjunct
48
54%
Subject
22
25%
Object
18
21%
Total
88
=
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
a. ARRIVE WHO whartichoke 'Who arrives/is arrived?'
b. IX-2 DO WHAT whartichoke'What are you doing?'
c. IX-2 GO WHERE whartichoke
'Where are you going?'
d. IX-2 EXPLAIN HOW whartichoke 'How did/do you explain (it)?'
e. IX-2 CRY WHY whartichoke
'Why are you crying?'
f. IX-2 LEAVE WHEN whartichoke 'When are you leaving?'
g. IX-2 BUY WHICH whartichoke
'Which did/do you buy?'
a. ARRIVE whoartichoke
'Who has arrived?'
b. HAPPEN whartichoke
'What has happened?'
a. subj V WH
whartichoke
b. * subj V whartichoke WH
a. whartichoke subj V WH
b. WH
subj V
whartichoke
References
A. Geraci et al. 2011. The LIS Corpus project. A discussion of sociolinguistic variation in the
lexicon. Sign Language Studies 11: 528-574.
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