Syntactic and topographical space

Both Syntactic and topographic space are used by three groups of verbs that are identified in BSL; namely plain verbs, agreement verbs and spatial verbs. The division of these verbs is based upon the grammatical I information they include. The use of space is one of the important characteristics of BSL.

The difference in use of space is very important when we consider bees. In some verbs, we have an image of a layout and verbs move with their related objects through this image. That is, they use topographical space. In other verbs the location is part of the verb, and not part of any pre-existing layout.

When we consider different groups of verbs, we need to think about information that will tell us who is doing the action (agent or, grammatically, the subject) and who or what is receiving the action (the goal or, grammatically, the object). For both the subject and object, we need to know if the person involved is the signer or someone else, and how many people or things are involved.

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Plain verbs – They can be modified to show manner, aspect and class of direct object

Examples of plain verbs are RIDE-A-BIKE, LOVE, RESEARCH, RUN, SMOKE, THINK and UNDERSTAND.

These plain verbs show relatively little modification and do not move through space to show grammatical information. Most can show information about aspect, although some do not (stative verbs like HAVE). Manner and aspect are marked in these verbs by speed or the repetition of the verb and present of non-manual features. For example, THINK-HARD, is made y a small circling repetition of the sign, with a ‘effortful’ facial expression.

Agreement verbs – They can be modified to show manner, aspect, person, number, and class of direct object.

Examples of agreement verbs are ASK, GIVE, TELL, TELEPHONE, TEASE, CRITICISE, BLAME, FILM, and SAY-NO.

Agreement verbs allow the inclusion of information about person and number of the subject and object. This is accomplished by moving the verb in syntactic space. That is, information about who is carrying out the action, and who or what is affected by the action is when by changes in movement and orientation of the verb.

Information about manner and aspect can also be given by changing the movement of the verb and by adding non-manual features, just as with plain verbs. Some agreement verbs also identify the direct object through the handshape.

Spacial verbs – They can be modified to show manner, aspect and location, movement and related noun.

These verbs use topographic space, not syntactic space. They may inflect to show manner and aspect, but they do not inflect for person or number. They can give information about the path, trajectory and speed of movement of the action described by the verb and about the location of the action.

The movement and location of these spatial verbs are ‘isomorphic’ with the real world. By this we mean that whatever the movement or location of the referent, the verb moves in the same way. They can also, in many cases, give some limited information about the class of noun of either the subject or the object.

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Verbs in BSL may be classified as plain, agreement, or spatial according to the amount and type of information they can include. Most verbs include information about manner and aspect. Plain verbs contain the least information. Information about subject and object and movement and location are shown lexically where relevant, or by using a different form of the verb. Agreement verbs contain considerable information about the subject and object and they do this usually by movement through syntactic space, or at least by the orientation of the hand. Spacial verbs do not mark subject and object by their movement and therefor this information must be provided lexically. Spacial verbs, however, do include information about movement and location for the object, and frequently contain information about the class of subject.