WSL Word Order
▲
2▲ 2 ▼ 0
How to construct sentences in WSL.
This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 10 Jun 2018, 04:00.
[comments] grammarwss
1. Pronouns
2. Romanization
?FYI...
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
This article is a work in progress! Check back later in case any changes have occurred.
[top]General Word Order
Wondrish Sign Language uses a Topic-Comment structure with underlying VSO or VOS word order, with the ordering of the subject and object in a sentence influenced by the verb. For some verbs, using VSO or VOS will 'make more sense' visually. These are called, fittingly enough, VSO and VOS verbs, although they may also be called 'giver' verbs and 'taker' verbs.
The topic of a sentence can be a single lexeme or a phrase, depending on what the speaker wants to emphasize. It is usually a noun or noun phrase. The topic can be the sentence's subject, its object, or something that does not directly interact with the verb but sets a frame for the rest of the sentence, such as:
WSL is a pro-drop language, allowing for pronouns or other aspects of a sentence that are 'understood' to be omitted. Topics may also be omitted, creating a sentence beginning with a verb.
[top]Adjectives
Adjectives typically occur after the noun, with the exception of adjectives denoting quantity, which precede the noun. If there are multiple adjectives in a noun phrase, such as in 'little red hood' or 'big bad wolf,' the ordering of adjectives generally depends on the place of articulation of each adjective in relation to the noun. The phrase 'little red hood' would be signed as:
as the sign 'RED' is signed closer to the endpoint of 'HOOD' than the sign denoting a small size, and requires less extraneous movement. The hand signs at the head, the face, and then moves to the chest chest rather than beginning at the head, moving down to the chest, and then moving back up toward the face.
[top]Prepositional Phrases
Most prepositional phrases are, generally, not signed in Wondrish Sign Language unless the signer is using a form of sign heavily influenced by the local spoken language.* Otherwise, the signing space is used to indicate spatial relationships that would otherwise be described through preposition.
The 'location,' or what would be the object of the prepositional phrase, is signed first, and then the noun or verb being modified by the phrase is signed after, in relation to the location, using classifiers for the location and for nouns that may not be easily displaced within the signing space.
The location may be occasionally signed after the noun or verb if the 'preposition' involves something moving toward the location, such as a sign moving toward the space where 'HOUSE' will be signed to say something like "go to the house."
*Which may be Wondrish or Ozian, which are themselves nearly indistinguishable from English except for one key difference: the government says they are not the same.
[top]Adverbs
Comments
