Abstract
Abstract Usage-based linguistics postulates that multi-word expressions constitute a substantial part of language structure and use, and are formed through repeated chunking and stored as exemplar wholes. They are also re-used to produce new sequences by means of schematization. While there is extensive research on multi-word expressions in many spoken languages, little is known about the status of multi-word expressions in the mainstream U.S. variety of American Sign Language (ASL). This paper investigates recurring multi-word expressions, or sequences of multiple signs, that involve a high-frequency sign of visual perception glossed as look and the family of ‘look’ signs. The look sign exhibits two broad functions: look/‘vision’ references literal or metaphorical vision and look/‘reaction’ signals a person’s reaction to a visual stimulus. Data analysis reveals that there are recurring sequences in distinct syntactic environments associated with the two functions of look, suggesting that look is in the process of grammaticalization from a verb of visual perception to a stance verb. The sequences demonstrate the emergence of linguistic structure from repeated use through the domain-general cognitive process of chunking in ASL.
Highlights
Multi-word expressions form a central part of language
Sign language linguistics has come a long way since its advent in the 1960s, when American Sign Language (ASL) was first heralded as a full-fledged language with its own grammar
The investigation of multi-word expressions has only begun to advance to the point where researchers are moving beyond structuralist and formal-generative approaches and looking at the structure of ASL in terms of recurring chunks of structure in discourse (Lepic 2019; Wilkinson et al in press)
Summary
Multi-word expressions form a central part of language. They come in all shapes and sizes, varying in complexity and specificity. From a usage-based linguistics perspective, multi-word expressions are integral for facilitating language acquisition and processing. In some instances the word order is more flexible with topic-comment structure (Janzen 1999) or agreeing verbs, which has been observed in many different signed languages Some verbs mark their core arguments through spatial modification of the verb forms (Fenlon et al 2018; Hou and Meier 2018; Mathur and Rathmann 2012; Meir 1998; Padden 1988). Such verbs have been traditionally analyzed as directional verbs, agreeing verbs, or indicating verbs; the terminological choice depends on the researcher’s theoretical position. LOOK can be an exception to the generalization since the visual stimulus of the verb does not have to be animate as evidenced by Figure 2
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