2 Methodology

The present study is a descriptive report on the grammatical categories of the noun phrase in Estonian Sign Language (ESL) from the typological perspective. The methodology to be employed in this paper is primarily inductive and data-driven.

The data for this study come from two main sources. The main set comes from videotaped recordings of six deaf native signers of ESL. These recordings originate from the period of 1990-1994, recorded by Vahur Laiapea who was collecting data for his Master’s dissertation on ESL and by Ave Paat (then Ave Laiapea). One of the tapes is used as a "textbook" in primary school level language classes in the Tallinn Deaf School to help deaf children to understand the content of texts in the Estonian language. The stories on the tape were signed by an adult native signer from a family with deaf parents. Other tapes (also originating from the period of 1990-1994) include recordings of native signers from the age of 12 to 21 reporting on some past event or experience, or recounting (signing) about their favourite book or film.

The tapes were transcribed using a system of written Estonian glosses in capital letters determined by the most frequently associated Estonian word. In the present paper, Estonian glosses are presented in English according to the tradition of international sign language research. Glosses are given at the level of detail required for the present analysis, not in their full complexity (e.g. eyegaze, head tilt, etc. are not indicated, if not carrying crucial information).

The minor set of data comes from working with several deaf informants who were asked specific questions in order to check the validity of hypothesis about Estonian Sign Language. This set of data was collected in the form of notes in which ESL signs were recorded using the same system as described above.

Throughout this paper, ESL examples consist of two lines. Since the language under study is on videotape, examples are presented in a literal translation of the original language containing both lexical and grammatical information in the first line. The second line is a translation into English.

Examples of spoken languages consist of three lines: the first line is from the language under consideration; the second line is a literal translation of the original language providing lexical and grammatical information; the third line gives the English translation of the first line. Apart from the lexical and grammatical information, the gloss (first line in examples from ESL, second line in examples from spoken languages) also contains colons (:) and dashes (-). A colon indicates that the grammatical information is inseparable from the word, as for example, the English demonstrative these is simultaneously demonstrative and plural. A dash, conversely, points out that the grammatical information is separable, attached to the word/other grammatical information. For example, in the case of the English word books the gloss book-PL shows that -s is the plural marker attached to the word. Other indications pertaining specific grammatical information will be explained within the body of the text.