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1 results

  • Modelling contrast and feature inventory: the nature of [web] in French Sign Language

  • Justine Mertz, Carlo Geraci
  • Journal:
    Phonology / Volume 40 / Issue 3-4 / August 2023
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    08 October 2024, pp. 291-314
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  • Feature-based models of sign language use distinctive features to describe the phonological structure of signs. We use near-minimal pairs and phonological phenomena like productivity and neutralisation in French Sign Language to show that the feature [web], which refers to the webbing part of the fingers, should be (re)introduced into the list of phonologically active features. In discussing potential cases of [web] in other sign languages and the impact on the shape of phonological inventories, we first offer an account of [web] in terms of a location feature in line with most traditional feature-geometry models. We then offer some speculations on why a more uniform characterisation of [web] and the features in the same subclass in terms of the orientation type results in more economical models.