Affix of Destination in GESL

Abstract

     It is generally quite difficult to distinguish affixes in sign languages, because formally an affix is ​​the same sign as a sign carrying lexical content. However, a lexical sign may become a morpheme in the parallel processes of its delexicization and erosion. Sign languages ​​are young languages ​​of high dynamics, thus, speed of the process of grammaticalization is much higher than in spoken languages. According to Makharoblidze (2019) to be considered as a morphological affix, a sign should meet the following criteria:

1. A sign must be delexicalized and grammaticalized as well, which means that lexical meaning is faded;
2. A sign must be erosive, which means having changes in dynamics or maybe two-handed sign becomes one-handed;
3. A sign must have a fixed position, which means being fixed before another sign or after another sign;
4. A sign should have a clear morphosemantic meaning - adding this sign should add specific semantic to the word.

      In Georgian sign language (GESL) the sign of destination with possessive-purpose semantics perfectly meets these criteria.