Word classes in sign languages: Criteria and classifications

Schwager, Waldemar; Zeshan, Ulrike

doi:10.1075/sl.32.3.03sch

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Word classes in sign languages: Criteria and classifications

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Schwager, Waldemar
Sign Language Typology , MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;

Zeshan, Ulrike
Sign Language Typology , MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;
International Centre for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies, Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, University of Central Lancashire;

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Citation

Schwager, W., & Zeshan, U. (2008). Word classes in sign languages: Criteria and classifications. Studies in Language, 32(3), 509-545. doi:10.1075/sl.32.3.03sch.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0013-394D-B

Abstract

The topic of word classes remains curiously under-represented in the sign language literature due to many theoretical and methodological problems in sign linguistics. This article focuses on language-specific classifications of signs into word classes in two different sign languages: German Sign Language and Kata Kolok, the sign language of a village community in Bali. The article discusses semantic and structural criteria for identifying word classes in the target sign languages. On the basis of a data set of signs, these criteria are systematically tested out as a first step towards an inductive classification of signs. Approaches and analyses relating to the problem of word classes in linguistic typology are used for shedding new light on the issue of word class distinctions in sign languages