Achieving spatial coherence in German sign language narratives: The use of 
classifiers and perspective

Perniss, Pamela M.

doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2005.06.013

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Achieving spatial coherence in German sign language narratives: The use of classifiers and perspective

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Perniss, Pamela M.
Language and Cognition Group, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;
Categories across Language and Cognition, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;
Language in our Hands: Sign and Gesture, MPI for Psycholinguistics, Max Planck Society;

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Perniss, P. M. (2007). Achieving spatial coherence in German sign language narratives: The use of classifiers and perspective. Lingua, 117(7), 1315-1338. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2005.06.013.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0013-1C55-0

Abstract

Spatial coherence in discourse relies on the use of devices that provide information about where referents are and where events take place. In signed language, two primary devices for achieving and maintaining spatial coherence are the use of classifier forms and signing perspective. This paper gives a unified account of the relationship between perspective and classifiers, and divides the range of possible correspondences between these two devices into prototypical and non-prototypical alignments. An analysis of German Sign Language narratives of complex events investigates the role of different classifier-perspective constructions in encoding spatial information about location, orientation, action and motion, as well as size and shape of referents. In particular, I show how non-prototypical alignments, including simultaneity of perspectives, contribute to the maintenance of spatial coherence, and provide functional explanations in terms of efficiency and informativeness constraints on discourse.