Unità Lessematiche e Strutture di Grande Iconicità nella Lingua dei Segni Italiana (LIS): nuovi dati e nuove metodologie di analisi.
volume 56 of Collana Pubblicazioni SLI, page 281-294. Ed. Bulzoni, Roma, (2012)Abstract
Lexematic units and highly-iconic structures in the Italian Sign Language (LIS): new data and new methodologies for their analysis
In this paper we deal with a still unresolved question in the study of LIS: what are the constituent units of the lexicon, and how much are comparable to those typical of spoken languages. The question is linked to the existence, in the signed discourse, of two main types of referring expressions: Lexematic Units (ULs) and Structures of Great Iconicity (SGIs). Making use of 5 different texts transcribed with SignWriting (SW), we explored the nature, the stability and/or the variability of sign shapes and of correspondences of meaning. We sampled the texts for different ways to express 10 entities/actions, and subsequently we asked their authors whether or not there is a "citational form", with an own autonomy for those same entities. The results show recurrent patterns in the selected expressive forms, and these include both ULs (less frequent) and SGIs (more present). Contrary to the assumption of most previous research, there are strong regularities in the elements that make up the SGI and the actual compositional choice. This fact highlights the need to include the SGI among the constituent units of LIS, suggesting to review the modeling of the lexicon of LIS (and of LS in general), identifying the most appropriate constructs that consider the specific iconic and multilinear features of LS.