Elisabeth Volk

As part of the Research Training Group 2070 "Understanding Social Relationships" I am currently working as a research assistant for German Linguistics and Sign Language Research in Göttingen. In my dissertation, which is supervised by Prof. Dr. Markus Steinbach, Prof. Dr. Nivedita Mani and Dr. Annika Herrmann, I analyze the grammaticalization of gestures in sign languages. From 2009 to 2012, I studied German Philology and Political Science while strengthening focus on Sign Language Linguistics. I spent the fall semester 2014/15 on an Erasmus Mundus grant at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel until completing my studies with a master's degree in Linguistics in the spring of 2015. Together with Sina Jahnke, I wrote a master's thesis on wh-movement in German Sign Language.

The grammar of sign languages had a first impact on me during a seminar taught by Jana Hosemann. Since it is reflected in all linguistic levels of sign languages, the use of non-manual components left me with a lasting impression. In addition to questions concerning theoretical and experimental Sign Language Linguistics in general, my main research interests therefore relate to the interaction of manual and non-manual components especially with respect to the syntax-prosody interface and the discourse level. Manual and nonmanual gestural elements are employed by both hearing speakers and deaf signers. In my dissertation I aim at revealing in how far gestures may contribute to the expression of language and in which manner gestures are integrated into the grammar of sign languages.