Linearization of weak hand holds in Russian Sign Language

Abstract

Russian Sign Language (RSL) makes use of constructions involving manual simultaneity, in particular, weak hand holds, where one hand is being held in the location and configuration of a sign, while the other simultaneously produces one sign or a sequence of several signs. In this paper, I argue that some weak hand holds can be analyzed using the formalism of External Remerge and Parenthetical Merge (de Vries 2008, 2009). I show that the syntactic structures that produce weak hand holds in RSL are also attested in spoken languages, but that the linearization rules are modality-specific due to the differences in articulators. I also demonstrate that RSL applies distinctive linearizations for External Remerge and Parenthetical Merge, thus overtly expressing the difference between these two operations.