Abstract

Although the phonological description of spatial planes that configure signing space is very detailed (Brentari 1998; Liddell and Johnson 1989; Sandler 1989), our knowledge of their use and functions at the discourse level is still very limited. This article describes the use of the spatial planes in Catalan Sign Language (LSC). It provides a unified treatment of various linguistic phenomena (e.g., hierarchical relations and locatives) that have hitherto been described separately in the sign language literature and of other aspects (e.g., encoding of specificity) that have not yet been the subject of research in LSC or other signed languages. The features found in two of the three spatial planes as described in the phonological literature are also relevant beyond the sentence level and serve well-defined discourse functions.

pdf