The Word Order Parameter in Slovenian Sign Language Transitive, Ditransitive, Classifier and Locative Constructions
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Scuola Dottorale di Ateneo Graduate School Dottorato di ricerca in Scienze del Linguaggio Ciclo 28 Anno di discussione 2016 The word order parameter in Slovenian Sign Language Transitive, ditransitive, classifier and locative constructions SETTORE SCIENTIFICO DISCIPLINARE DI AFFERENZA: L-LIN/01 Tesi di Dottorato di Matic Pavliˇc,matricola 955992 Coordinatore del Dottorato Tutore del Dottorando Prof.ssa Alessandra Giorgi Prof.ssa Chiara Branchini To Mila Acknowledgements In this doctoral thesis, a minority language is described, which, to date, has received close to no attention by linguists. I like to imagine that this description will have a direct impact on the small community of SZJ signers. I hope that they will see it as a tool to research, understand and cherish their language. I will be happy if it will turn out to be useful in their daily lives. I am grateful to everybody that made my research possible and contributed to my decision to choose Slovenian Sign Language as a topic of my study. First of all, I would like to thank my parents, who brought me up, encouraged my curiosity and always supported me in every way possible. Secondly, this research was supported by the Scholarship for Slovenian citizens for postgraduate study abroad number 11010-716/2012, and partially supported by COST Action IS1006 summer school grant IS1006-060614-044777, COST Action IS1006 Short Term Scientific Mission grant ECOST-STSM- IS1006-271014-051446 and Ca’ Foscari internal funds for PhD mobility. Although the financial aspect is not the one that matters the most, it nevertheless represents a foundation. That is why I would like to thank all the administrative workers that helped me with the applications and the reports. They were always friendly, helpful and understanding. The third milestone on my way to choosing sign language as a topic of my research was my MA mentor Sašo Živanovi´c.At the University of Ljubljana, he organised an in-class fieldwork course and invited a bilingual SZJ interpreter in order to teach us how to elicit, organise and analyze linguistic data. Instantly, I wanted to learn SZJ myself. Natalija Spark, Irena Fifolt and Ljubica Podboršek were my instructors at the SZJ language courses and enabled me to communicate with my informants in their first language. My informants. When I tried to get in touch with them, Slovenian association of deaf clubs1 helped me to establish and maintain contact with SZJ interpreters (Veronika Ciglar, Natalija Rot and Natalija Spark) and native deaf signers. Veronika, Natalija and Natalija, thank you for your role as conversation partners during the elicitations. Frida Planinc, Aleš Peperko, Tamara Grm and many other members of local Deaf Clubs, thank you for testing the elicitation procedure. Aleksandra Rijavec Škerl and Matjaž Juhart, thank you for all your support and the coordination with my informants. But for their generous 1Zveza Gluhih in Naglušnih Slovenije, http://www.zveza-gns.si/ iv Matic Pavliˇc collaboration, I am highly indebted to my deaf informants Maja Kuzma, Nina and Jan Orešnik, Sonja Trampuš, Valerija Škof and Robert Veršiˇc. Maja, Nina, Jan, Sonja, Valerija and Robert, thank you for patiently describing my images. Thank you for letting me research your language, your world. I believe that one learns the most when one presents publicly. Therefore, I regard my presentations and my occasional teaching as an important contribution to the quality of this work. I presented parts of this thesis on various conferences (Obdobja 34 in Ljubljana, SinFonIJA 8 in Ljubljana, SinFonIJA 7 in Graz, FEAST 3 in Venice), linguistic circles (University of Ljubljana, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice), sign language research groups (University of Amsterdam, Institute Jean Nicod in Paris) and SZJ courses (Association of SZJ interpreters, Association of the Deaf clubs in Slovenia). I thank the audiences for their suggestions. For our fruitful discussions and for their insight in SZJ, I am especially grateful to Jasna Bauman, Andreja Žele and Stane Košir. I am also grateful to the coordinator of doctoral studies in language sciences, Alessandra Giorgi, to my colleges and to other members of Ca’ Foscari staff, Anna Cardinaletti, Iliana Krapova and Nicola Munaro. I also profited a lot from my reviewers and committee members, who helped me to im- prove my thesis and to correct unnecessary mistakes. Thank you, Roland Pfau, Carlo Cecchetto and Guglielmo Cinque. Above all, a special thanks to my Amsterdam host Roland Pfau, who is a true master: full of knowledge and incredibly open. Dear Roland, thank you for having me at the University of Amsterdam, thank you for all the time that we spent together. And finally, my doctoral training and my thesis would not be accomplished without my supervisor Chiara Branchini. When I first knocked at her ‘castello’ I had not known her yet – but she turned out to be a perfect match for me. Chiara, thank you for being an exquisite supervisor: demanding and supporting. It was fun following your lectures. It was a bit stressful reading your comments. And it was most fruitful working with you for more than three years – both professionally as well as personally. Dear all, it was indeed a pleasure writing this thesis – because of you, generous people and beloved friends. I dedicate it to Mila with a quiet wish that it will serve her well and inspire the future signing generation. Matic PS: As I write these lines, my little Anika, lying on a pad besides my desk, eyes me until I stop and glance at her. Then she smiles. As I write these lines, my lovely wife, sitting on a sofa, keeps distracting me by saying: “Oh, look at her, she’s touching her feet for the first time!” Then, we both smile. That is how I have been writing this thesis. That is why I managed to write it. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents vi List of Tables x List of abbreviations xi Introduction 1 1 Word order: typological and theoretical approaches 7 1.1 Introduction ........................................ 7 1.2 Basic word order ..................................... 8 1.2.1 Part-of-the-speech categories and the basic word order criteria . 8 1.2.2 Word order typology ............................... 11 1.2.3 Correlation pairs and Head parameter .................... 15 1.3 Deriving word order ................................... 16 1.3.1 Merge and the Binarity Principle ........................ 18 1.3.2 C-command and Binding ............................ 22 1.4 Emergence of word order ................................ 28 1.4.1 Word order and language ontogenesis ..................... 28 1.4.2 Word order and language phylogenesis .................... 31 1.5 Word order research in sign languages ......................... 35 1.5.1 Basic versus free word order .......................... 35 1.5.2 Factors that have impact on word order .................... 37 1.5.2.1 Morphological factors ......................... 38 1.5.2.2 Semantic factors ............................ 38 1.5.2.3 Syntactic factors ............................ 41 1.5.3 Typology ...................................... 42 vi Matic Pavliˇc TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 On Slovenian Sign Language 44 2.1 Introduction ........................................ 44 2.2 Sociolinguistics ...................................... 44 2.2.1 Signers ....................................... 44 2.2.2 Education ..................................... 45 2.2.3 Legal status .................................... 46 2.3 Previous research on SZJ ................................. 47 2.3.1 The phonological structure of signs ...................... 51 2.3.2 The nonmanual component in SZJ ...................... 53 2.3.3 Referentiality in SZJ ................................ 56 2.3.4 Word order ..................................... 57 2.4 Conclusion ......................................... 58 3 On methodological issues 59 3.1 Introduction ........................................ 59 3.2 Methodology ........................................ 60 3.2.1 Informants ..................................... 60 3.2.2 Experimental setting ............................... 61 3.2.3 Stimuli ....................................... 62 3.3 Glosses ........................................... 62 3.4 Conclusion ......................................... 65 4 Word order and agreement in transitive constructions 67 4.1 Introduction ........................................ 67 4.2 Theoretical background ................................. 69 4.2.1 Sign language agreement ............................ 69 4.2.2 Backwards verbs ................................. 73 4.2.3 Agreement auxiliaries .............................. 74 4.2.4 Methodology ................................... 76 4.3 Transitive clauses in SZJ ................................. 76 4.3.1 Word order ..................................... 77 4.3.1.1 Basic ................................... 78 4.3.1.2 Reversibility ............................... 79 4.3.2 Agreement ..................................... 80 4.3.2.1 Plain verbs ................................ 81 4.3.2.2 Agreeing verbs ............................. 84 vii Ca’ Foscari 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4.3.2.3 Backwards verbs ............................ 89 4.3.3 Person agreement marker (PAM) ........................ 90 4.3.3.1 Phonological analysis ......................... 90 4.3.3.2 Use .................................... 92 4.4 Conclusion ......................................... 93 5 Word order and agreement in ditransitive constructions 95 5.1 Introduction .......................................