The indefinite-interrogative affinity in sign languages: the case of Catalan Sign Language

Open Access
Authors
Publication date 2023
Host editors
  • V.D. Richard
  • F. Roelofsen
Book title The 4th Workshop on Inquisitiveness Below and Beyond the Sentence Boundary
Book subtitle InqBnB4 : proceedings of the workshop : June 20, 2023, Nancy, France
ISBN
  • 9781959429968
Event 4th Workshop on Inquisitiveness Below and Beyond the Sentence Boundary
Pages (from-to) 50-60
Number of pages 11
Publisher Stroudsburg, PA: The Association for Computational Linguistics
Organisations
  • Interfacultary Research - Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC)
Abstract
Prior studies on spoken languages have shown that indefinite and interrogative pronouns may be formally very similar. Our research aims to understand if sign languages exhibit this type of affinity. This paper presents an overview of the phenomenon and reports on the results of two studies: a cross-linguistic survey based on a sample of 30 sign languages and an empirical investigation conducted with three deaf consultants of Catalan Sign Language (LSC). Our research shows that, in sign languages, certain signs have both existential and interrogative readings and it identifies the environments that make existential interpretations available in LSC.
Document type Conference contribution
Language English
Published at https://aclanthology.org/2023.inqbnb-1.6 https://iwcs2023.loria.fr/inqbnb4-inquisitiveness-below-and-beyond-the-sentence-boundary/
Downloads
2023.inqbnb-1.6 (Final published version)
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