3.2.1. Plain verbs

Plain verbs in Spanish Sign Language (LSE) do not change spatially to show manual agreement with their arguments.

However, they can be modified to express manner, aspect, or modality (Herrero Blanco, 2009, p. 275).

Since they do not mark agreement, these verbs are typically accompanied by other signs that clarify who performs the action. These include a personal pronoun or an agreement auxiliary (AUX) (see MORPHOLOGY 3.1 Agreement) that shows the relationships between arguments.

Plain verbs maintain their neutral or basic form (the one that appears in a dictionary) regardless of who the subject or object is. For example, the verb SLEEP is signed the same way for both first-person singular (1) and second-person singular (2). In these examples, personal pronouns accompany the verb.

(1) I SLEEP (I sleep)

(2) YOU SLEEP (You sleep)

In (3), the movement path of the agreement auxiliary AUX indicates who the subject (you) and object (me) of LOVE are.

(3) LOVE youAUXme (You love me)

Plain verbs can take an object (transitive verbs), as in examples (3) and (4), or occur without an object (intransitive verbs), as in (1) and (2).

(4) THEATRE I LIKE (I like theatre)

Costello, B. and Villameriel García, S. (2023). Lexicon: parts of speech: verbs: plain verbs. In S. Villameriel García (Ed.), Gramática de la Lengua de Signos Española (GramLSE) / Grammar of Spanish Sign Language (GramLSE). Real Patronato sobre Discapacidad-Centro de Normalización Lingüística de la Lengua de Signos Española. Retrieved Month DD, YYYY, from https://cnlse.es/es/recursos/gramlse/ingles/index/lexicon/chapter-3-parts-of-speech/3-2-verbs/3-2-1-plain-verbs