Framing constructed action in British Sign Language narratives

Kearsy Cormier,Sandra Smith,Martine Zwets

doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2013.06.002

Kearsy Cormier, Sandra Smith + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.06.002

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Abstract

Constructed action is a discourse strategy, used widely within sign languages, in which the signer uses his/her face, head, body, hands, and/or other non-manual cues to represent a referent's actions, utterances, thoughts, feelings and/or attitudes. It is generally assumed that framing constructed action (i.e. identification of the referent) typically consists of a preceding noun phrase, but that this is optional (or even infelicitous), if the referent is understood in context. The current study tests these assumptions by examining the framing of constructed action within British Sign Language (BSL) narratives. We find that in cases of introduction or switch reference, local reference via a noun phrase is preferred, while in cases of maintenance of reference, omission of a noun phrase identifying the referent is preferred. This follows patterns found with framing of quotations and demonstrations in spoken languages and also with lexical verbs in both signed and spoken null subject/pro-drop languages. We argue that these patterns arise and are predictable based on accessibility of reference within the discourse.

Highlights

Constructed action is a discourse strategy used widely within sign languages in which the signer uses his/her face, head, body, hands, and/or other non-manual cues to represent the actions, utterances, thoughts, feelings and/or attitudes of a referent (Metzger, 1995)
The current study examines how constructed action is framed in sign languages -- in British Sign Language narratives produced by deaf signers
It extends to quotations with a variety of framing types including partially framed quotations without a quotative verb and zero quotatives without NP subject or quotative verb (Cameron, 1998). These patterns are similar to findings with variable expression of subjects with lexical verbs in both signed languages and spoken ( Romance) languages (Flores-Ferran, 2007; McKee et al, 2011; SilvaCorvalan, 1994; Wulf et al, 2002). As claimed in these previous studies, the shared patterning of variable subject presence with quotations and lexical verbs in the current study may be due to pragmatic factors

Summary

Introduction

Constructed action is a discourse strategy used widely within sign languages in which the signer uses his/her face, head, body, hands, and/or other non-manual cues to represent the actions, utterances, thoughts, feelings and/or attitudes of a referent (Metzger, 1995). The string WANT COOK SOMETHING produced directly afterwards within the same stretch of constructed action represents neither action nor dialogue but instead the thoughts of the man, as they are imagined/constructed by the signer. This stretch of CA in (1) is a representation of a combination of different types of behaviour; it cannot be considered a token of constructed action or a token of constructed thought/dialogue, because it is both. The lexical material that can co-occur with constructed action clearly varies across sign languages, the constructed action itself (i.e. manual and/or non-manual representation of a referent’s actions, utterances, thoughts, feelings or attitudes) appears to be the same across even unrelated sign languages (Lillo-Martin, 2012; Quinto-Pozos et al, 2009)

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