Exploring the effects of phrase-final lengthening in Italian Sign Language (LIS) noun phrases

Phrase-final lengthening is a quite common prosodic phenomenon, previously accounted for in several spoken and signed languages. This study aims at investigating the prosodic cues produced in correspondence with the final boundary of noun phrases in Italian Sign Language (LIS), analyzing corpus data from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The quantitative analysis confirms that noun phrases in LIS are affected by phrase-final lengthening (i.e. in noun phrases including one nominal modifier, on average, postnominal modifiers are longer than prenominal ones) and reveals that the various modifier classes show different degrees of sensitivity to this phenomenon. Building on these results, the qualitative analysis explores in detail those modifier classes that show lengthening effects in the corpus: the main consequences in the phonological makeup of signs are insertion of movement repetition, prolonged path movement, final hold accompanied by head nod, and weak prop. The study also offers possible explanations for the fact that quantifiers, ordinals, and determinerlike pointing signs are less sensitive to lengthening effects in the phrase-final boundary, suggesting that particular morphosyntactic factors may come into play.---Original in English.Phrase-final lengthening is a quite common prosodic phenomenon, previously accounted for in several spoken and signed languages. This study aims at investigating the prosodic cues produced in correspondence with the final boundary of noun phrases in Italian Sign Language (LIS), analyzing corpus data from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. The quantitative analysis confirms that noun phrases in LIS are affected by phrase-final lengthening (i.e. in noun phrases including one nominal modifier, on average, postnominal modifiers are longer than prenominal ones) and reveals that the various modifier classes show different degrees of sensitivity to this phenomenon. Building on these results, the qualitative analysis explores in detail those modifier classes that show lengthening effects in the corpus: the main consequences in the phonological makeup of signs are insertion of movement repetition, prolonged path movement, final hold accompanied by head nod, and weak prop. The study also offers possible explanations for the fact that quantifiers, ordinals, and determinerlike pointing signs are less sensitive to lengthening effects in the phrase-final boundary, suggesting that particular morphosyntactic factors may come into play.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------EXPLORANDO OS EFEITOS DO ALONGAMENTO EM FINAL EM SINTAGMAS NOMINAIS DA LÍNGUA DE SINAIS ITALIANA (LIS)O alongamento final é um fenômeno prosódico comum, que já foi observado em diversas línguas orais e de sinais. Este estudo tem por objetivo investigar as pistas prosódicas produzidas em correspondência com os limites do sintagma nominal na língua de sinais italiana (LIS), analisando dados quantitativos e qualitativos oriundos de corpus. A análise quantitativa confirma que os sintagmas nominais em LIS são afetados pelo alongamento final (ex: em sintagmas nominais que incluem um modificador nominal, em média, modificadores pós-nominais são mais longos em comparação com os pré-nominais) e revela que as várias classes de modificadores exibem diferentes graus de sensitividade a este fenômeno. A partir dos resultados, a análise qualitativa explora em detalhes as classes de modificadores que demonstram os efeitos do alongamento no corpus: as principais consequências para a constituição fonológica dos sinais são a adição de uma repetição do movimento, um prolongamento da trajetória do movimento, suspensão final acompanhada por um aceno de cabeça e a sustentação fraca do sinal. O estudo traz também possíveis explicações para o fato de que os sinais quantificadores, ordinais e as apontações com função de determinante são menos sensíveis aos efeitos de alongamento nos limites fronteiriços entre os sintagmas, sugerindo que alguns fatores específicos de ordem morfossintática possam estar também em jogo.---Original em inglês

Segni, gesti e parole. Studi sulla lingua dei segni italiana e su fenomeni di contatto intermodale

Italian Sign Language (LIS) has been studied and taught in universities for more than twenty years. Some university research projects result in dissertations, which often remain confined to university databases. This edited volume aims at giving prominence and visibility to particularly deserving theses developed in the Master’s Program in Language Sciences at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. The selected contributions delve into some under-investigated linguistic phenomena in LIS and explore interlinguistic and intermodal contact phenomena between LIS and Italian

Nominal Modification in Italian Sign Language

This book presents a syntactic analysis of nominal expressions in Italian Sign Language combining three different theoretical dimensions of inquiry: linguistic typology, generative linguistics, and sociolinguistics. Three empirical studies are presented: the distribution of nominal modifiers, the duration of nominal modifiers, and the syntax of cardinal numbers

A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS)

A Grammar of Italian Sign Language (LIS) is a comprehensive presentation of the grammatical properties of LIS. It has been conceived as a tool for students, teachers, interpreters, the Deaf community, researchers, linguists and whoever is interested in the study of LIS. It is one output of the Horizon 2020 SIGN-HUB project. It is composed of six Parts: Part 1 devoted to the social and historical background in which the language has developed, and five Parts covering the main properties of Phonology, Lexicon, Morphology, Syntax and Pragmatics. Thanks to the electronic format of the grammar, text and videos are highly interconnected and are designed to fit the description of a visual language

R-impersonal interpretation in Italian Sign Language (LIS)

In this paper, we examine agent backgrounding in Italian Sign Language (LIS). Specifically, we are interested in identifying and describing the strategies used by LIS signers to reduce referentiality. On the basis of low-referential contexts (cf. questionnaire in the Introduction chapter), we recorded target sentences containing potential markers of agent backgrounding and asked three LIS native signers to provide felicity judgments on them using a 7-point scale. We discuss agent-backgrounding strategies of different types: (i) manual, (ii) non-manual, and (iii) syntactic. Overall, our study shows that the combination of raised eyebrows and mouth-corners down associated with the existential quantifier someone and the sign person makes the agent-backgrounding reading more prominent. Other strategies that can be used in LIS to reduce referentiality are free relatives, perspective shift, and null subject. We also investigate in more detail the semantic status of someone, person, and the null subject through well-established tests from the literature

Instrument syntactic realization in Italian and LIS A cross-modal comparative study and implications for interpreting practice

This study compares how instruments are syntactically realized in Italian and LIS, using a cross-modal comparative approach. In Italian, Instruments are syntactically realized only when they are not recoverable from the verb. Three Instrument types are identified: shadow, default, and open. Only shadow Instruments are incorporated into the verbal root. As for LIS, our analysis reveals that shadow Instruments are preferred and finer-grained compared to Italian, probably due to visual modality. This has implications for Italian-to-LIS interpretation, as interpreters might make a wrong choice when Italian does not specify, but LIS requires a shadow Instrument

Insegnare la lingua dei segni italiana all’Università: esperienze consolidate e direzioni future

Sign languages are fully-fledged natural languages, endowed with the same expressive potentiality and structural complexity as spoken languages. The fact that they are transmitted in the visualmanual modality poses specific challenges to L2 M2 (second language, second modality) learners, which need to be taken into account. Italian Sign Language (LIS) has only been recently recognized as an official language by the Italian Parliament. Nevertheless, LIS has already been taught for twenty years in Italian universities. In particular, it was implemented as a specialization language in BA and MA degree courses in the BA and MA programs of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and at the University of Catania. Both universities have taken important steps towards offering specialized academic training for LIS interpreters and translators

The syntax of nominal modification in Italian Sign Language (LIS)

International audienc

Colmare le distanze: strategie traduttive per giovani segnanti emergenti

Young emergent signers are intended as Deaf children, born into hearing non-signing families, who have not yet developed a full linguistic competence in sign language. Our research goal is to investigate how a text translated into Italian Sign Language (LIS) can be adapted in order to help these lower-proficiency signers access informative contents. We present an analytical comparison between translated texts designed for Deaf adults, fluent in LIS, and adapted texts designed for Deaf children whose sign language is still at a developing stage. Data annotation has been conducted with the software ELAN. The comparative analysis shows that the texts for young non-native signers contain specific translation strategies and adaptations aiming at bridging the linguistic, cognitive, and cultural gap due both to the young age of children and their limited linguistic competence in sign language. In support of these findings, both quantitative and qualitative data are shown and discussed

Le lingue dei segni nel Volume Complementare e l'insegnamento della LIS nelle Università italiane

Italian Sign Language (LIS) has been studied by researchers for over forty years and has been taught in its own right in Italian universities for more than twenty years. In particular, at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and at the University of Catania, LIS can be chosen as a language of specialization on a par with the other languages on offer. LIS teaching can now benefit from the recent publication of the CEFR - Companion Volume (Council of Europe, 2020), an innovative and inclusive handbook as, compared to the 2001 version, it includes linguistic competence in sign languages. In this regard, there are three main innovations: i) the inclusion of neutral expressions in terms of communication modality (e.g. “the speaker/signer”), ii) the recognition of the functional equivalence between video recordings and written texts, and iii) an entire chapter dedicated to language-specific descriptors of sign languages (organized into linguistic, sociolinguistic, and pragmatic skills). This paper discusses the application of these descriptors to the specific case of LIS teaching by tracing paths in didactic planning and providing examples of training interventions. The impact of the Companion Volume on LIS courses in Italian universities will have positive effects not only on the teaching itself but also, more generally, on the training of deaf and hearing professionals who work with LIS and deaf people