Chapter 3. Verbal inflection

Inflection refers to modifications of certain sign classes that express various grammatical contents. This chapter of the GramLSE focuses on verb inflection in Spanish Sign Language (LSE). LSE verbs can express grammatical content including aspect, person, and number.

LSE verbs can be modified in different ways. Many verbs change to express aspect.

  pause in middle of sign and suspension
suppression of second part of sign
open mouth
___________
(1) I WRITE (I was going to write...)

When a pause occurs in the middle of executing a verb in (1), and the second half of the movement is eliminated, this indicates that an action is going to begin but is not completed (Herrero Blanco, 2009, pp. 296-297).

Additionally, some verbs are modified to establish concordance with different arguments. . Concordance is a relationship between two (or more) elements where some influence the form of others. Arguments are associated with specific points in space and are selected based on the verb's meaning, such as subject, object, or place. For example, verbs like ASK-FOR, INVITE and TEACH modify their path movement and/or palm orientation to indicate the subject and object (Rodríguez González, 1992, pp. 258-259).

(2) I meTEACHyou (I teach you)
(3) YOU youTEACHme (You teach me)

(3) YOU youTEACHme (You teach me)

In (2), the verb's starting point and orientation show that I is the subject and you is the object. In (3), changing TEACH path and orientation indicates that you is the subject and me is the object.

Some verbs can be modified to express both aspect and arguments, as these categories are not mutually exclusive.

In this chapter of the GramLSE, we describe the morphological processes related to expressing tense, modality, and negation in verbs, along with concordance and aspect.

Costello, B. y Villameriel García, S. (2025). Morphology: verbal inflection. En 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. Recuperado el dd de mes de aaaa de https://cnlse.es/es/recursos/gramlse/ingles/index/morphology/chapter-3-verbal-inflection