Grammatical terms and conventions of New Zealand Sign Language
Students and teachers are expected to recognise and use a range of grammatical structures in New Zealand Sign Language.
This section includes information about:
- the five formational parameters of signs
- sentence structure and the ordering of ideas
- classifiers
- pronominalised (pointing) signs
- conditionals
- fingerspelling
- modality
- questions
- referential shift
- verbs
- numerals
- affirmation
- negation
See also Glossing.
The five formational parameters of signs
- Handshape
- – there are about one hundred different ways that the hands can be shaped in NZSL. The more common handshapes are called “unmarked”, and those used more rarely are called “marked”. The handshape of a sign refers to the shape at its onset.
- Location
- – refers to where the sign is articulated, either on the body or in the signing space.
- Movement
- – the direction, speed, repetition, and manner are important in conveying meaning in signing.
- Orientation
- – this refers to the way the palms of the hands are facing at the onset of the sign.
- Non-manual signals (nms)
- – these carry grammatical meaning using movements of the eyes, eyebrows, head, or shoulders and various kinds of facial expression and of lip, cheek, and tongue movement, all of which can be added as inflections and used to mark whole clauses. Non-manual signals are essential in multi-channel signs, which are expressed with the hands and different facial expressions, use of the shoulders and hands, and/or mouth movement and have no English equivalent.
Sentence structure and the ordering of ideas
There is more flexibility in the way that sentences are structured in NZSL than there is in English, and more repetition. The basic construction of SV (subject-verb) or SVO (subjectverb-object) is not the only acceptable way of ordering sentences in NZSL.
- General to specific
- – background or more general information is given first, followed by more specific information.
- Natural temporal order
- – events are ordered to reflect how they occurred in real time.
- Topic-comment
- – the topic is used at the beginning of the sentence. It is marked as the topic using non-manual markers and is followed by a comment.
Classifiers
Classifiers are productive morphemes that represent the visual appearance, placement, movement, and/or handling of objects and animate beings. Classifiers do not occur in isolation but must be used with a noun referent. They can be inflected to show pluralisation, position, and verb movement.
- Descriptive classifiers
- – these indicate things such as size, shape, texture, and arrangement.
- Proform classifiers
- – these indicate things such as people, animals, and vehicles.
Pronominalised (pointing) signs
- Pronouns
- – pronominal referencing uses indexing, that is, pointing to referents in the signing space with the index finger. (Deictic pronouns refer to people present in the signing space, and anaphoric pronouns refer to people who are not in the signing space.)
- Possessive adjectives
- – these express ownership, usually signed as a fist in the direction of the referent(s).
- Reflexive pronouns
- – these emphasise the self as the agent of the action. They are signed as SELF in the personal pronoun location.
Conditionals (cond)
One clause expresses a hypothetical question, and the following clause expresses an event contingent upon that condition. Conditionality can be expressed by signing IF at the beginning of the condition clause, followed by a result clause.
Fingerspelling (fs-)
NZSL uses the two-handed fingerspelling system to represent the English alphabet. Fingerspelling is primarily used for proper nouns.
Modality
Modality expresses judgments about how likely something is and judgments about ability, permission, intention, or obligation to do something.
Questions
Wh questions (whq) are open-ended questions requiring more than a yes or no answer. These are made using specific non-manual signals and may contain an interrogative sign such as WHY, WHAT, HOW.
Rhetorical questions (rhq) are devices used to show causation, to involve the audience in a narrative, or to draw attention to a topic or piece of information. Although question words and non-manual signals are used, no answer is expected from the audience.
Yes/no questions (polar questions) (y/n q) are questions that expect a yes or no answer. They are signed using the same signs as a statement but with different non-manual signals.
Alternative questions are questions that present two or more options and ask WHICH at the end of the sentence.
Referential shift/role shift (rs)
This technique is equivalent to reporting direct speech. Signers take on the role of the reported speaker and can represent multiple characters, with the direction of the body and eye gaze allowing not only a shift in roles but also a shift in who is being addressed.
Verbs
- Plain verbs
- – these retain the same basic movement and location at all times, eg LIKE.
- Inflecting verbs
- – these change their direction, movement, orientation, or placement. These verbs include agreement verbs (incorporating information about person and number), eg GIVE, and spatial verbs (incorporating information about the location of an action), eg PUT.
- Temporal aspect
- – this refers to the inflection of verbs to show how an action happens through time. Such inflection is used mostly in relation to punctual verbs (distinct events that happen momentarily) and durative verbs (actions that continue through a period of time).
- Distributional aspect
- – these show quantity, manner, and/or degree.
- Adverbial inflection
- – verbs are inflected (through changes in the movement of signs and non-manual signals) to alter the meaning adverbially (rather than by adding a separate lexical adverb as in English).
Numerals
- cardinal numbers
- ordinal numbers
- clock time
- age
- incorporation in personal pronouns
- incorporation in temporal adverbs
- money
Affirmation
- headnod (non-manual)
- lexical
Negation
- headshake (non-manual)
- lexical – NO, NOTHING, NOT-YET