Shallow resultatives in sign language

Abstract

This paper addresses two puzzles that arise from resultative sentences that have theword order S(ubject)–O(bject)–V(erb)–R(esult) (SOVR) in sign languages: (i) the SOVRorder does not seem to be attested in spoken languages; (ii) the recursive occurrencesof resultative predicates in this construction in Japanese Sign Language (JSL) violateTenny’s (1994) Single Delimiting Constraint, the well-known generalization of resultativeconstructions. Under the functional approach to resultatives (Embick 2004; Folliand Harley 2020), I propose a bi-clausal coordination analysis of SOVR sentences in JSL,which provides accounts of these two questions. The proposal has theoretical implicationsfor the structural depth permitted in center-embedded complementation in thevisual modality (cf. Geraci et al. 2008).