3.1.2.3. Exhaustive

The exhaustive or distributive plural in Spanish Sign Language (LSE) marks individual members of a set by indicating their positions in the signing space. This marking occurs through repetitions, though the number of times a sign is repeated doesn't necessarily match the exact number of participants. As shown in examples (1) and (2), the exhaustive plural distributes each element of the collective: the verbs DISTRIBUTE and TELEPHONE are repeated at different spatial locations to show the students' quantity and distribution.

(1) CLASSROOM STUDENT CL:SITTING-SEMICIRCLE-FACING-SIGNER I EXAM PAPER DISTRIBUTEleft,ctr,right (I distribute the exam papers to each student)

(2) DIRECTOR SHEright TEACHER SEVERALleft rightPHONEleft+++ (The director called the teachers on the phone)

Example (3) shows a case of subject plural rather than object plural. The intransitive verb DISAPPEAR (which takes no object) marks exhaustiveness through repetition.

(3) TABLE MONEY CL:COLUMN-OF-COINS++left,ctr,right DISAPPEAR++left,ctr,right (The stacks of coins disappeared from the table)


With backward verbs, repetition is also used to mark plurality. In example (4), the verb CHOOSE is repeated to show multiple subjects. The sign's movement starts at the object's location (me) and ends at each subject location (company).

(4) COMPANY+++left,ctr,right left,ctr,rightCHOOSEme+++ (Each company has chosen me)

Fernández-Soneira, A. y Villameriel García, S. (2025). Morphology: verbal inflection: agreement: number markers: exhaustive. 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/3-1-2-number-markers/3-1-2-3-exhaustive/