The Analysis of Ellipsis Found in CODA — based on SFL theories

Abstract

This study investigates the use of ASL ellipsis in a family argument context from CODA. Drawing on the theoretical framework of SFL, this study aims to uncover the practical application and function of ellipsis in ASL. It argues that ellipsis is not a grammatical flaw, but rather a linguistic strategy influenced by context, emotion, in terpersonal relationships, and contextual content. This study employed a case study approach, transcribed video data into ELAN software, and focused on analyzing the use of ellipsis in sentences with subjects, predicates, and objects. The results indicate that the use of ellipsis in ASL is highly context-dependent and relies on eye contact, facial expression, spatial relationships, and body movements for compensation. It sug gests that ellipsis plays a key role in conceptual, interpersonal, and discourse functions, enhancing cohesion, expressing emotion, and improving expressive efficiency. Further more, this study highlights how ASL expressions in film reflect real-life sign language communication. This study sheds light on the operational mechanisms of ellipsis in visual and multimodal contexts, contributing to the study of ASL applications in real world settings.