Formand function in serial verb constructions – insights fromGerman Sign Language

Abstract

German Sign Language (DGS) exhibits constructions which seem to meet the generaldefinition of serial verb constructions (SVCs). I demonstrate that the constructions inquestion have characteristics known to be shared by similar constructions in other spokenand signed languages, both in terms of form and in terms of function. I argue thatwithin the typological picture, the DGS data suggest three things. First, it is most likelythe case that very different structures can derive similar surface data; for example, verbphrases may be concatenated via complementation or adjunction. Relatedly, the factthat languages differ in the variability of verb order in SVCs (i.e. which verbs can appearwhere to render certain readings) is a side effect of these differences in concatenation.Finally, in certain cases, a degree of linear uniformity across languages is introducedby conventionalization due to temporal iconicity. This presupposes that the languagesin question already have the structures necessary to generate strings of verb phrases,a subset of which are perceived as iconic. Where temporal iconicity is not found, linearordering exhibits more typological variation, as the syntax of a given language maygenerate more than one order.