From gesture- and sign-in-interaction to grammar: Fictive questions for relative clauses in signed languages

We discuss the use of question-answer pattern for relativization across signed languages, with special attention Catalan Sign Language. These are cases in which grammatical features interrogative construction used genuine information-seeking questions also appear as most unmarked, frequent, or only linguistic means expressing restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses, well appositives. This is intriguing, since clauses occur within one sentence thus conversational turn, whereas structure prototypically dialogical, representing turn-taking between addresser addressee. analyze such interrogative-like constructions involving fictive interaction , conversation frame to cognition, discourse, grammar (Pascual, 2006, 2014). further suggest that non-manual feature eyebrow raising, marks both Language, became grammaticalized from a common non-obligatory gesture spoken surrounding hearing community. Hence, accompanying language marker language, illustrating transfer languages different modalities. presented showing emergence situated intersubjective (Li Thompson, 1976; Sankoff Brown, 1976). make case understanding primarily reflecting its mode usage rather than some sui-generis Universal Grammar. paper based on bibliographic study 17 families qualitative analysis own Language data discourse genres.