Classifiers, argument expression, and age of acquisition effects in Turkish Sign Language (TID)
Sign Language and Linguistics (Online), cilt.26, sa.1, ss.1-36, 2023 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 26 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2023
- Doi Numarası: 10.1075/sll.21006.sev
- Dergi Adı: Sign Language and Linguistics (Online)
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, IBZ Online, Linguistic Bibliography, Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, MLA - Modern Language Association Database
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.1-36
- Anahtar Kelimeler: first language acquisition, effects of delayed first language acquisition, Turkish Sign Language, classifiers, morphosyntax, argument expression
- Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study investigates differences in language production of native, earlylearner, and late-learner Turkish Sign Language (Törk Isaret Dili TID) signers in the domain of classifiers. For this study, we conducted a picturesigning task to elicit clauses with classifier constructions from adult Deaf signers of these three groups. The results indicate that there is no significant difference among these three groups with respect to the morphological encoding of thematic roles on verbal roots in classifier constructions. Nonetheless, a difference surfaces in the argument expression patterns among these groups. The data show that the age of exposure to a first linguistic input impacts the argument expression rates as well as which arguments are expressed or left unexpressed. Native signers drop the agent argument more frequently than early-learner and late-learner signers. Earlylearner signers, in turn, drop the agent argument more frequently than latelearners. The data further indicate that perspective taking interacts with argument expression and age of acquisition. Overall, signers drop the agent more frequently under a character perspective than an observer perspective, with native and early-learner signers employing this strategy more than latelearner signers.