Instrument syntactic realization in Italian and LIS

Abstract

This study compares how instruments are syntactically realized in Italian and LIS, using a cross-modal comparative approach. In Italian, Instruments are syntactically realized only when they are not recoverable from the verb. Three Instrument types are identified: shadow, default, and open. Only shadow Instruments are incorporated into the verbal root. As for LIS, our analysis reveals that shadow Instruments are preferred and finer-grained compared to Italian, probably due to visual modality. This has implications for Italian-to-LIS interpretation, as interpreters might make a wrong choice when Italian does not specify, but LIS requires a shadow Instrument.

Keywords

• Instruments. Italian. Italian Sign Language. Semantic incorporation. Semantic recoverability