Form, Meaning, and Focus in American Sign Language

Index

131 Index Figures and tables are indicated by f and t following the page number. active voice as construction, 11 in discourse text elicitations, 95 grammar of, 2 language understanding and, 10 adjectival predication, 37 adverbial phrases, 38, 117 affect verbs, 37 agent focus in ASL-to-English translation , 110–19. See also defocused agents analysis of elicited text, 114–16, 115t cross-participant comparison of elicited texts, 116–18, 118t structure and construal in prompt text, 111–14, 113t agent focus in English-to-ASL discourse translations, 77–109. See also defocused agents “Elizabeth Smart” text data, 87–94, 88–89t, 90f, 93–94f paleontology text data, 78–87, 79t, 82t, 83–86f REM sleep text data, 94–100, 96–97t, 98–99f tequila making text data, 100–107, 102t, 104–5t, 106–7f agent focus in English-to-ASL sentence translations, 35–76. See also defocused agents conceptual blending and, 28–29, 28–29f, 65–68, 66–67f English-to-ASL sentence translation analysis, 37–40, 39t indicating verbs and, 25–26, 30–31, 57–65, 59–65f with nonovert subjects, 26–28, 43–54, 43–44f, 47–48f, 52–53f with overt subjects, 40–42, 41t, 42f prominence and, 73–76, 74–75f relevant features, 25–34 surrogate blends and, 29–30 underspecification of subjects, 68–73, 69–73f agent impersonalization. See impersonalization strategies agreement verbs, 30, 63, 120 American Sign Language (ASL). See also agent focus in ASL-toEnglish translation; agent focus in English-to-ASL discourse translations; agent focus in English-to-ASL sentence translations agent focus in texts, 77–109 defocused agents in, 22–24, 35–76 linguistic knowledge of, 3, 124–25 narrative structure of discourse texts, 83 passive constructions in, 76, 120 research on passive voice in, 31–33 ASL-to-English translations, 110–19 analysis of, 114–16, 115t cross-participant comparisons, 116–18, 118t structure and construal in prompt texts, 111–14, 113t “backward verb,” 58 by-phrases agent specification via, 21 defocused agents and, 77, 121 in English-to-ASL discourse translations, 90, 92 in English-to-ASL sentence translations, 23, 37, 122 passive constructions with, 17–18 Rankin_Pgs 1-136.indd 131 10/18/2013 1:44:19 PM 132 : Index by-phrases (continued) prominence reduction via word order, 11, 73 clause structures, 10 Cognitive Grammar (CG), 9, 10, 14, 37 conceptual blending. See also surrogate blends defocused agents and, 28–29, 28– 29f, 65–68, 66–67f unspecified surrogates in, 65–68, 66–67f conditional topic-verb structure, 60 “The Construal of Events: Passives in American Sign Language” (Janzen, O’Dea, & Shaffer), 31 construals. See also defocused agents active vs. passive voice, 11–12, 19 agent-focused, 5 defined, 1–2 form and meaning linked in, 2 contextual understanding of agents, 96–97 correspondences, 11 declarative clauses, 51 defocused agents in ASL, 22–24, 35–76 in ASL-to-English translations, 110–19, 113t, 115t, 118t conceptual blending and, 28–29, 28–29f, 65–68, 66–67f in English-to-ASL sentence translations , 37–40, 39t fingerspelling of past participle, 92, 120 future research directions, 123–25 impersonalization strategies for, 21–22 indicating verbs and, 25–26, 30–31, 57–65, 59–65f with nonovert subjects, 26–28, 43–54, 43–44f, 47–48f, 52–53f with overt subjects, 40–42, 41t, 42f in passive voice, 12, 120 prominence and, 19–21, 20t, 73– 76, 74–75f range of agent defocused in ASL, 121–23 relevant features, 25–34 specificity and, 19–21, 20t surrogate blends and, 29–30, 107 underspecification of subjects, 68– 73, 69–73f depicting predication, 37, 108 depicting verbs, 38 discourse conceptual blending in, 28–29 defocused agents in, 77–109 passive voice function of, 11–12, 33 discourse markers, 38, 75–76 divalent verbs. See also multivalent verbs defocused agents and, 121 in discourse text elicitations, 85, 91, 108, 109 impersonalization and, 22 nonovert subjects and, 26 passive voice and, 15 in sentence translations, 36, 37 topic-verb structure and, 47 ELAN video annotation software, 37 “Elizabeth Smart” text data, 87–94, 88–89t, 90f, 93–94f English language, passive voice in, 15–19, 15–18f, 121 English-to-ASL discourse translations, 77–109 “Elizabeth Smart” text data, 87–94, 88–89t, 90f, 93–94f paleontology text data, 78–87, 79t, 82t, 83–86f by-phrases in, 90, 92 REM sleep text data, 94–100, 96–97t, 98–99f tequila making text data, 100–107, 102t, 104–5t, 106–7f English-to...