I am Associate Professor in Sign Language Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam. Beyond sign language linguistics, my interests are language typology, language change, and spontaneous speech errors.
In both signed and spoken languages, reduplication is a common process in the formation of morpho... more In both signed and spoken languages, reduplication is a common process in the formation of morphologically complex structures, expressing, e.g., plurality and certain aspectual meanings. A framework in which spoken language reduplication has been formalized frequently is Optimality Theory (OT). While an important attribute of OT-constraints is their universality, to date, the question to what extent such constraints are modality-independent, and thus work for sign language reduplication as well, remains largely unanswered. In the present study, we offer the first OT-formalization of plural reduplication in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). The NGT-data reveal that this language features different plural allomorphs, the choice of which depends on phonological properties of the base noun. However, we also identify variation, e.g., all noun types allow for zero marking.In our formalization, we aim to introduce constraints that are maximally modality-independent, using constraint ...
1. Project Information Sign language typology is a young research field with two related goals. F... more 1. Project Information Sign language typology is a young research field with two related goals. First, sign languages (SLs) are compared to spoken languages with respect to certain grammatical features to scrutinize which typological distinctions are valid across modalities and to determine whether theoretical accounts that are based on spoken language data can be applied to SLs. Second, SLs are compared to each other to further investigate whether they differ along similar lines as spoken languages do. In this project, both types of typological comparison are applied to the area of argument structure (AS). Verbs in all natural languages must be specified for how many participants they require (subject, (in)direct object); compare e.g. Peter laughed with the ungrammatical Peter visited. Interestingly, a given verb may be variable with respect to its AS; compare Peter broke the window to The window broke. In addition, there are syntactic and morphological means to change AS, e.g. in a passive construction (e.g. He was visited). We will refer to the first type of behavior as AS-alternation, and to the latter as AS-change. While AS, AS-alternations, and AS-changes are well studied for spoken languages, very little is known about what verb classes exist in SLs and whether SLs employ systematic AS-changing strategies. This project sets out to fill this gap by providing the first crosslinguistic study on AS in SLs. In three sub-projects, we will study AS in three unrelated SLs, by means of corpus analysis and data elicitation, to (i) provide a cross-modal and intra-modal typological comparison and (ii) to evaluate the applicability of existing theoretical accounts to SLs.
It has been argued that properties of the visual-gestural modality impose a homogenizing effect o... more It has been argued that properties of the visual-gestural modality impose a homogenizing effect on sign languages, leading to less structural variation in sign language structure as compared to spoken language structure. However, until recently, research on sign languages was limited to a number of (Western) sign languages. Before we can truly answer the question of whether modality effects do indeed cause less structural variation, it is necessary to investigate the similarities and differences that exist between sign languages in more detail and, especially, to include in this investigation less studied sign languages. The current research climate is testimony to a surge of interest in the study of a geographically more diverse range of sign languages. The volume reflects that climate and brings together work by scholars engaging in comparative sign linguistics research. The 11 articles discuss data from many different signed and spoken languages and cover a wide range of topics from different areas of grammar including phonology (word pictures), morphology (pronouns, negation, and auxiliaries), syntax (word order, interrogative clauses, auxiliaries, negation, and referential shift) and pragmatics (modal meaning and referential shift). In addition to this, the contributions address psycholinguistic issues, aspects of language change, and issues concerning data collection in sign languages, thereby providing methodological guidelines for further research. Although some papers use a specific theoretical framework for analyzing the data, the volume clearly focuses on empirical and descriptive aspects of sign language variation
Dit boek is bedoeld als een inleiding in de taalwetenschappelijke studie van gebarentalen. Het ri... more Dit boek is bedoeld als een inleiding in de taalwetenschappelijke studie van gebarentalen. Het richt zich niet alleen op de Nederlandse Gebarentaal maar ook op andere gebarentalen, en focust hierin op variatie en overeenkomsten tussen gebarentalen.
In both signed and spoken languages, reduplication is a common process in the formation of morpho... more In both signed and spoken languages, reduplication is a common process in the formation of morphologically complex structures, expressing, e.g., plurality and certain aspectual meanings. A framework in which spoken language reduplication has been formalized frequently is Optimality Theory (OT). While an important attribute of OT-constraints is their universality, to date, the question to what extent such constraints are modality-independent, and thus work for sign language reduplication as well, remains largely unanswered. In the present study, we offer the first OT-formalization of plural reduplication in Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT). The NGT-data reveal that this language features different plural allomorphs, the choice of which depends on phonological properties of the base noun. However, we also identify variation, e.g., all noun types allow for zero marking.In our formalization, we aim to introduce constraints that are maximally modality-independent, using constraint ...
1. Project Information Sign language typology is a young research field with two related goals. F... more 1. Project Information Sign language typology is a young research field with two related goals. First, sign languages (SLs) are compared to spoken languages with respect to certain grammatical features to scrutinize which typological distinctions are valid across modalities and to determine whether theoretical accounts that are based on spoken language data can be applied to SLs. Second, SLs are compared to each other to further investigate whether they differ along similar lines as spoken languages do. In this project, both types of typological comparison are applied to the area of argument structure (AS). Verbs in all natural languages must be specified for how many participants they require (subject, (in)direct object); compare e.g. Peter laughed with the ungrammatical Peter visited. Interestingly, a given verb may be variable with respect to its AS; compare Peter broke the window to The window broke. In addition, there are syntactic and morphological means to change AS, e.g. in a passive construction (e.g. He was visited). We will refer to the first type of behavior as AS-alternation, and to the latter as AS-change. While AS, AS-alternations, and AS-changes are well studied for spoken languages, very little is known about what verb classes exist in SLs and whether SLs employ systematic AS-changing strategies. This project sets out to fill this gap by providing the first crosslinguistic study on AS in SLs. In three sub-projects, we will study AS in three unrelated SLs, by means of corpus analysis and data elicitation, to (i) provide a cross-modal and intra-modal typological comparison and (ii) to evaluate the applicability of existing theoretical accounts to SLs.
It has been argued that properties of the visual-gestural modality impose a homogenizing effect o... more It has been argued that properties of the visual-gestural modality impose a homogenizing effect on sign languages, leading to less structural variation in sign language structure as compared to spoken language structure. However, until recently, research on sign languages was limited to a number of (Western) sign languages. Before we can truly answer the question of whether modality effects do indeed cause less structural variation, it is necessary to investigate the similarities and differences that exist between sign languages in more detail and, especially, to include in this investigation less studied sign languages. The current research climate is testimony to a surge of interest in the study of a geographically more diverse range of sign languages. The volume reflects that climate and brings together work by scholars engaging in comparative sign linguistics research. The 11 articles discuss data from many different signed and spoken languages and cover a wide range of topics from different areas of grammar including phonology (word pictures), morphology (pronouns, negation, and auxiliaries), syntax (word order, interrogative clauses, auxiliaries, negation, and referential shift) and pragmatics (modal meaning and referential shift). In addition to this, the contributions address psycholinguistic issues, aspects of language change, and issues concerning data collection in sign languages, thereby providing methodological guidelines for further research. Although some papers use a specific theoretical framework for analyzing the data, the volume clearly focuses on empirical and descriptive aspects of sign language variation
Dit boek is bedoeld als een inleiding in de taalwetenschappelijke studie van gebarentalen. Het ri... more Dit boek is bedoeld als een inleiding in de taalwetenschappelijke studie van gebarentalen. Het richt zich niet alleen op de Nederlandse Gebarentaal maar ook op andere gebarentalen, en focust hierin op variatie en overeenkomsten tussen gebarentalen.
An introductory book to sign linguistics, aimed at first year students of (sign) linguistics, wit... more An introductory book to sign linguistics, aimed at first year students of (sign) linguistics, with 14 chapters, and examples from more than 20 sign languages.
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Papers by Roland Pfau