The word order parameter in Slovenian sign language : transitive, ditransitive, classifier and locative constructions

Abstract

Greenberg (1963) generalized that cross-linguistically subjects precede objects, that verbs are adjacent to objects and that this pattern further reflects the order of other elements in a given language. Ever since, the order of verb, subject, and object in unmarked declarative sentences should be captured in the first description of a language. Sign languages enable us to distinguish modality-specific features from the universals that are not conditioned by modality, making them one of the most promising directions in word order research. Although sign language research has globally made much progress in the past decades, most sign languages –including Slovenian Sign Language (SZJ)– remain poorly described. My PhD research on word order in SZJ represents the first step towards a formal linguistic description of the SZJ grammar. I analyze a small corpus of SZJ that I collected specifically for this purpose. Description of an unmarked word order of sentence constituents in SZJ is supplemented by an analysis of verb-argument agreement and argument structure in transitive and ditransitive, classifier and locative constructions.