Person marking in Catalan Sign Language (LSC) personal pronouns

Abstract

This paper addresses the question of whether the person category is grammaticalized in sign language personal pronouns. Building on Berenz’s (1996) Body Coordinates Model, I argue that Catalan Sign Language (LSC) encodes the distinction between first, second and third person. To formalize the analysis, a set of three binary spatial features ([proximal], [central], [mid]) is assumed. The opposition between positive and negative values in this featural system is claimed to be grammatically relevant in the expression of person distinctions, proving that spatial locations are incorporated into the pronominal system, just like they are into other aspects of sign language grammars. The main contribution of this study is that it provides a unified account of person marking that makes it possible to straightforwardly capture person distinctions in the three number values under scrutiny in this investigation (singular, dual and multiple plural).