Uses of the pointing sign directed at the signer in Finnish Sign Language

Abstract

This article investigates different uses of the pointing sign directed at the signer (

^→1 ) in Finnish Sign Language (FinSL). It suggests that ^{→ 1} has a variety of references that have not previously been identified. Prior research has shown that, in FinSL, ^→1 is used in referring to the signer of an utterance, a person quoted within quotative constructed action (CA), or for agent defocusing. The present corpus-based study provides a more extensive picture of different uses of this sign, which include, in addition to the uses just mentioned, reference to ‘first-person plural’, (i.e., a group including the signer), a group excluding the signer, a person other than the current signer without quotative CA and as a generic reference. The study also shows that ^→1 is used not only as a pronoun but also as a determiner.