Formand function in serial verb constructions – insights fromGerman Sign Language

German Sign Language (DGS) exhibits constructions which seem to meet the general
definition of serial verb constructions (SVCs). I demonstrate that the constructions in
question have characteristics known to be shared by similar constructions in other spoken
and signed languages, both in terms of form and in terms of function. I argue that
within the typological picture, the DGS data suggest three things. First, it is most likely
the case that very different structures can derive similar surface data; for example, verb
phrases may be concatenated via complementation or adjunction. Relatedly, the fact
that languages differ in the variability of verb order in SVCs (i.e. which verbs can appear
where to render certain readings) is a side effect of these differences in concatenation.
Finally, in certain cases, a degree of linear uniformity across languages is introduced
by conventionalization due to temporal iconicity. This presupposes that the languages
in question already have the structures necessary to generate strings of verb phrases,
a subset of which are perceived as iconic. Where temporal iconicity is not found, linear
ordering exhibits more typological variation, as the syntax of a given language may
generate more than one order.