Typology in sign languages: Can it be predictive?

In this paper we propose a typological classification for sign languages handshape preference that is implicational; specifically, knowing some properties of handshape behavior in nouns makes predictions about other aspects of the grammar. To be concrete, noun forms in one group of sign languages show a preference for Object handshapes, while another group shows a preference for Handling handshapes. The analysis that we will present shows that membership in one or the other of these groups predicts the particular ways that nouns are distinguished from verbs, as well as the behavior of some classifier constructions. This work suggests that typology can be employed as powerful a tool in explaining crosslinguistic variation in sign languages.