American Sign Language Verb Categories in Constructed Action

The American Sign Language construction commonly known as "role-shift" (referred to afterward as Constructed Action) superficially resembles mimic forms, however unlike mime, Constructed Action is a type of depicting construction in ASL discourse (Roy 1989). The signer may use eye gaze, head shift, facial expression, stylistic variation, and use of signing space to convey information via this feature (Lee 1997). While this construction may involve a level of gesture, it is fully linguistic in nature, and holds an integral place in ASL discourse Padden (1990), Winston (1995). Constructed Action, in narrative, functions to portray various events, and or actions (Metzger 1995). Constructed Action depicts verbal agentive action whether actual or hypothetical (Liddel 2003), (Metzger 1995). Researchers agree as to various functions for Constructed Action in narrative, but a detailed analysis of Constructed Action verb categories has yet to be studied. This research paper involves analyzing theses instantiations of the Constructed Action framework. Specifically, an analysis relating to the verbs used in Constructed Action are examined. The study attempts to ask questions concerning the interrelational function(s) between Constructed Action and the verbs that may predicate it. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]