Interrogative Constructions
in Taiwan Sign Language:
A Role and Reference Grammar Account
Jung-hsing Chang, Associate Professor
Graduate Institute of Linguistics
National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan
Lngjhc@ccu.edu.tw
The 2009 International Conference on Role and Reference
Grammar, University of California, Berkeley, California,
August 7-9, 2009
1
Research background


Signed and spoken languages share the same
language faculty but they are expressed in
different modalities (Talmy 2003).
The study of how sign languages are structured
and why they are structured the way they are will
help us understand more about the nature of
human languages, at the same time showing the
similarities and differences between signed and
spoken languages.
2
The purpose of this paper

This paper has investigated interrogative
sentences in Taiwan Sign Language (TSL) within
the framework of Role and Reference Grammar
(RRG)(Van Valin and LaPolla 1997; Van Valin
2005), with the aim of finding out the structure of
TSL interrogative sentences, at the same time
showing the constraints on linking in simple wh
questions.
3
The position of WH words
In many languages, there are two major options
for the positioning of interrogative pronouns in
simple WH questions.
Option 1: Movement
The WH word is placed at the beginning of the
sentence.
Option 2: In situ
The WH word is left inside the sentence, usually in
the position normally associated with a non-WH
word bearing the same grammatical relation.
4

The position of WH words in
TSL


In TSL, WH-phrases can occur at the sentencefinal position, or optionally remain in situ.
The occurrence of the WH word at the end but
not at the beginning of the sentence challenges the
claim by Sandler and Lillo-Martin (2006:431),
Petronio and Lillo-Martin (1997:23), and Frank
and Kapur (1996:653) that no language has
movement to the end of the sentence.
5
Some previous studies

Zeshan (2004) provides an extensive crosslinguistic survey with the aim of capturing the full
range of linguistic variation of interrogative
constructions across signed language.
Syntactically, the rightward or leftward
movement of WH-phrases has been one of the
controversial issues in signed language study.
6
American Sign Language


(a)
(b)
In American Sign Language (ASL), the WH
phrase can be doubled and located in both
sentence initial and final positions.
Two types of analysis has been proposed:
Leftward analysis
Rightward analysis
7
Leftward analysis

[Spec, CP] in ASL is on the left, and WHmovement brings wh-phrases to sentence-initial
position. In other words, the WH-phrase in the
sentence-initial is in [Spec, CP], and the one on the
right is in the position for focus (Lillo-Martin 1990;
Petronio and Lillo-Martin 1997; Sandler and LilloMartin 2006).
e.g., [WHO Spec of CP] LIKE NANCY [WHO focus]
‘Who likes Nancy?’
8
Rightward analysis

[Spec, CP] in ASL is on the right, and WHmovement brings WH-phrases to sentence-final
position. That is, the position of [Spec, CP] is on
the right, and the initial WH-phrase can occur as a
base-generated topic (Aarons et al. 1992; Aarons
1994; Neidle et al. 1997; Neidle et al. 1998;
Neidle et al. 2000).
e.g., [WHAT topic] NANCY BUY [WHAT Spec of CP]
‘What did Nancy buy?’
9
RRG analysis (Binns-Dray 2004)

The WH phrase in situ is treated as a core
argument, whereas the WH phrase not in situ is
considered as occurring either in PrCS or PoCS.
10
Verb types and WH question in
TSL

Like British Sign Language (Sutton-Spence and
Woll 1999) and other sign languages, verbs in
Taiwan Sign Language (TSL) can be classified
into three types: Plain verbs, agreement verbs,
and spatial verbs (Chang, Su and Tai 2005).
11
Plain verbs

Plain verbs are frequently made using the body
as the location, the grammatical relations such as
subject and object are marked by eye gaze or by
the path movement of the auxiliaries (e.g., LIKE,
REMEMBER, THINK, FEAR, etc.).
12

Object questions

Subject questions
Marking grammatical relations in
plain verbs


When the WH word is subject of a plain verb, the
WH word is associated with the starting point of
the path movement denoted by the auxiliary.
When the WH word is object of a plain verb, the
WH word is associated with the endpoint of the
path movement denoted by the auxiliary.
15
Agreement verbs in TSL

Agreement verbs allow the inclusion of
information about person and number of the
subject and object. The information about
who is carrying out the action, and who or
what is affected by the action is shown by
changes in movement and/or orientation of
the verb (e.g., BELIEVE, TELL, PUSH, ASK,
SEE, PAY).
16

Object questions

Subject questions
18
Marking grammatical relations in
agreement verbs


When the WH word is subject of an agreement
verb, the WH word is associated with the
starting point of the movement denoted by the
verb.
When the WH word is object of an agreement
verb, the WH word is associated with the
endpoint of the movement denoted by the verb.
19
Spatial verbs in TSL

Spatial verbs usually contain information about
location and cooccur with semantic classifiers,
they are sometimes called ‘classifier verbs or
predicates.’ A classifier morpheme is a
handshape used for a class of objects, e.g.
ANIMAL handshape for dogs, cats, frogs, etc.
Such a handshape is a bound morpheme and
cannot be used in isolation (e.g., RUN, JUMP,
WALK-TO).
20
Marking grammatical relations in
spatial verbs


When the WH word is subject of a spatial verb,
the WH word is associated with the starting
point of the movement denoted by the verb.
When the WH word is oblique (i.e., Location) of
a spatial verb, the WH word is associated with
the endpoint of the movement denoted by the
verb.
24
Word order and WH questions in TSL
Word orders of simple sentences
WH questions
Subject questions:
Spatial verbs:
S[WH] V
L
S V L
L
S[WH] V
L S V
L
V
S[WH]
S L V
Adjunct questions:
S
V
L[WH]
L[WH] S
V
Agreement verbs & plain verbs:
S O V
O S V
S V O
Subject questions:
S[WH] O
V
O
S[WH] V
S[WH] V
O
O
V
S[WH]
Object questions:
S
O[WH] V
O[WH] S
V
S
V
O[WH]
The Linking Principles for simple
sentences in TSL
For plain verbs and agreement verbs:
Principle A: Actor is linked to the PSA position.
Principle B: Undergoer is linked to object position.
For spatial verbs:
Principle A: the Actor is linked to the PSA position.
Principle B: the Undergoer is linked to object position.
Principle C: the NMR of spatial verbs is linked to the
oblique position.
26
The Linking Principles for WH questions
in TSL


Principle A: assign [+WH] XP to the normal position
of a non-WH with the same function. (WH in situ)
Principle B: assign it to the postcore slot.
27
Yes-No questions in TSL



Yes-No questions in TSL can be marked either
non-manually or manually.
Non-manual features: The non-manual markers
for Yes-No questions (y/n) involve brows up,
chin down, head forward , body forward, and so
forth.
Manual signs: copula BE, A-not-A structure
32
Non-manual features for Yes-No questions in TSL
brows up, chin down,
head forward , body
forward
Non-manual features are separately
marked

When the non-manual marking conflicts with
inherent non-manual features of lexicon (e.g.,
ANGRY, DRUNK), the non-manual marking of
Yes-No question will be separately marked
rather than incorporated into the given lexicon.
34
Non-manual
features are
separately marked.
Yes-No questions with copula BE
Yes-No questions with A-not-A structure
A-not-A structues
Categories
A-not-A structures
Sentence types
Copula
BE-NOT^BE
Equatives, affirmatives
Modals
WANT-NOT^WANT
Volition, irrealis mood
CAN-CAN’T
Ability, possibility,
permission
HAVE-HAVEN’T
Possession, existentials,
realis mood
KNOW-NOT^KNOW
Cognition
Verbs
Adjectival GOOD-NOT^GOOD
verbs
Evaluation
38
A-not-A structures in TSL Yes-No
questions


A-not-A structures refer to positive–negative
combination of copulas, verbs, and modals. It
should be noted that although TSL belongs to the
Japanese Sign Language family, Japanese Sign
Language (Nihon Shuwa) does not have A-not-A
structures in Yes-No questions.
It is possible that the A-not-A structures for YesNo questions in TSL are influenced by Mandarin
(Zeshan 2004).
39
How Yes-No questions in TSL are
represented in RRG?

RRG contains two types of syntactic projection:
(a) constituent projection, and (b) operator
projection.

The interrogative sentences involve the clausal
operator ‘illocutionary force’ (IF). The IF
operator refers to whether an utterance is an
assertion, a question, a command or an
expression of a wish, modifying the proposition
as a whole.
40
The represenation of non-manual features in Yes-No
questions
The represenation of manual signs (A-not-A structures) in
Yes-No questions
Conclusion


This paper has discussed how TSL interrogative
sentences are represented in the framework of
RRG, at the same time showing how the WH
words are linked to syntax.
In addition, it has been shown that in TSL YesNo questions can be formed either by manual
signs or facial expressions, while in WH
questions an additional information (i.e.,
alternative questions) is usually added.
43
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