3.1.1.2. Object markers

In Spanish Sign Language (LSE), agreement verbs mark agreement with the subject and object through the direction of movement and/or the orientation of the hands.

In transitive agreement verbs—those constructed with an object and showing two points of articulation in the signing space connected by movement—the object is indicated by the final point, as shown in (1).

(1) l-u-i-sright a-n-t-o-n-i-oleft rightPHONEleft (Luis calls Antonio on the phone)

When the object is in the first person, the verb's movement ends on or near the signer's body, as in (2).

(2) l-u-i-sright rightPHONEme (Luis calls me on the phone)

For simple verbs with first-person objects (where the manual form doesn't vary), agreement is shown through element order (pronouns or nouns) or with the AUX sign. Example (3) shows how pronoun order indicates object and subject.

(3) YOU I HEAR (You hear me)

Some verbs, as seen in (4) and (5), mark object agreement solely through hand orientation.

(4) ENRIQUEleft OPINION HISleft IGNOREleft (I ignore Enrique’s opinion)
(5) YOU WORK meREVIEWyou (I have reviewed your work)

LSE includes transitive verbs, like RESPECT, that typically only permit object agreement (Herrero Blanco, 2009, p. 277). This occurs mainly with verbs whose movement begins with body contact. For instance, RESPECT starts at the signer's forehead, with its endpoint varying based on the object's location. The subject is typically expressed through an explicit noun or pronoun, as in (6):

(6) SHEright RESPECTyou (She respects you)

However, non-manual components can also mark the subject in these object-marking verbs. By tilting the body toward the subject's position in the signing space while orienting both body and verb direction toward the object, both arguments can be marked. This technique is also employed in role shift.

  body inclined to the right
body oriented to the left (you)
_____________
(7) SHEright
 RESPECTyou (She respects you)

In (7), the signer tilts his/her body rightward to the subject's position, then orients his/her body towards the interlocutor (the object, you) and signs RESPECT toward the object.

LSE features transitive verbs with single argument agreement (Costello, 2016), where the point of articulation in signing space agrees with the object.

(8)

LUCIAleft TELEVISIONright REPAIRright (Lucia repairs the television)

In (8) the verb is signed at the location associated with the object (television).

Optionally, non-manual components of LSE—such as gaze, shoulder movement, and/or head tilt—may accompany manual agreement. In examples (9) and (10), the signer’s gaze is directed towards the object.

  gaze to the left
______________
(9) ENRIQUEleft OPINION HISleft  IGNOREleft  (I ignore Enrique’s opinion)

 

  gaze to the left
______________
(10) ENRIQUEleft OPINION HISleft   RESPECTleft (I respect Enrique’s opinion)

Ditransitive agreement verbs—those with two objects and two articulation points in signing space—typically show agreement with the subject and one object. This object, marked by the movement's endpoint, usually functions as a recipient (similar to the indirect object in Spanish), as shown in (11).

(11) l-u-i-sright d-a-v-i-dleft MONEY right GIVEleft (Luis gives money to David)

Some ditransitive verbs can show agreement with all three arguments: subject and both objects. In these cases, the verb's handshape indicates one object (corresponding to the direct object in Spanish) (Herrero Blanco, 2009, p. 280), while the movement's endpoint agrees with the recipient object (corresponding to the indirect object in Spanish), as in (12).

(12) l-u-i-sright d-a-v-i-dleft BOOK rightCL:GIVE-BOOKleft (Luis gives the book to David)

Incorporating these manual configurations into the verb (representing predicative classifiers) enables some simple verbs—which typically don't show explicit argument agreement, such as EAT—, to mark object agreement in transitive constructions.

(13) MARIA PIZZA CL:EAT-PIZZA (Maria eats pizza)

In (13), the classifier's handshape representing the simple verb COMER shows agreement with the object (pizza).

In backward agreement verbs, the object marker is the movement's starting point in space, while the endpoint marks the subject.

(14) COMPANYright m-a-r-i-aleft leftCHOOSEright(The company has chosen Maria)

In (14), the verb CHOOSE begins at the object's location (Maria).

Costello, B. y Villameriel García, S. (2025). Morphology: verbal inflection: agreement: person and locative markers: object markers. 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/3-1-agreement/3-1-1-person-and-locative-markers/3-1-1-2-object-markers