KWIC view on Constructed Action (CA) and its Collocates in German Sign Language (DGS) – Possibilities and Limitations

Abstract

Constructed action (CA) is a phenomenon that is used in signed discourse to show the actions of a referent (cf. Cormier et al., 2015; for DGS, cf. Fischer and Kollien, 2010). To achieve this, the signer adopts the role of the referent. Most studies use retellings as their data base (e.g. Herrmann and Pendzich, 2018; Cormier et al., 2015). Consequently, there is less research on CA and its use in data that is not influenced by stimuli. Though there is a considerable number of studies on CA, the phenomenon is still not well understood. One possible way to understand this multifaceted phenomenon better is to analyse collocations in conversations. In spoken language lexicography concordance lines – also known as keyword in context (KWIC) – have proven to be a useful tool in the analysis of collocations. The data used in this study are Free conversations in the Public DGS Corpus. This paper explores the possibilities and limitations of concordance lines as a tool to analyse collocational behaviour of CA. It also presents preliminary results regarding CA and its collocates, which may be explored further in the future.

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