# Creating a Parallel Corpus for the Kazakh Sign Language and Learning
## 3 Materials and Methods
### Analysis of the Word Order in the KSL  
As previously noted, one of the main challenges in analyzing KSL is the lack of available data, particularly in glossary format. Written representations of signs reflect spoken language, making them easier to interpret. Figure 1 presents the syntactic structure of a Kazakh sentence and its corresponding transformation into sign language (See Figure 1). The upper layer of the diagram represents the Kazakh sentence, broken down into its syntactic components, including: ADV (adverb, \"KEIIIE\" (YESTERDAY)), NP (noun phrase, including ANT/M--determiner, \"ACJIAH\" (ASLAN), and NOM--noun), CNJCOO (conjunction), TV (transitive verb, \"CATBIT\" (BUY)), VAUX (auxiliary verb, \"AJU,LBI\" (DID)), and punctuation (question mark). The lower layer represents the corresponding components in sign language, where the structure is adapted to account for syntactic differences. The relationships between these layers are illustrated with arrows, indicating changes in word order. For instance, the adverb \"KEIIIE\" (YESTERDAY) is repositioned from the beginning of the sentence to a later position. Similarly, word order is adjusted to align with sign language grammar, where the subject (e.g., \"ACJIAH\" (ASLAN)) may appear after circumstances or objects. Figure 1: An example of the grammatical structure of the KSL. The diagram visually demonstrates how a Kazakh sentence is transformed into its sign language equivalent, highlighting key syntactic differences and adaptations necessary for accurate representation in KSL. The word order in sign languages is influenced by morphosyntactic, semantic, pragmatic, and modality factors [24]. Basic word orders such as subject-verb-object (SVO) and subject-object-verb (SOV) emerge under specific conditions, including topicalization, verb classification, classifier usage, and aspectual marking. In some languages, simple verbs follow the SVO order, while consistent verbs adhere to SOV. Constructions involving classifiers and aspectually marked verbs often deviate from the basic word order due to increased morphological complexity and aspectual labeling. Factors such as frequency, distribution, and simplicity of word order contribute to determining the fundamental sentence structure in a language. For this study, more than 500 natural language sentences were analyzed and categorized into seven groups: reversible, nonreversible, locative, animate, inanimate, heavy, and nonheavy. _Reversible-Nonreversible:_ As observed in other sign languages, reversibility affects word order in KSL. In reversible situations, the preferred word order is SVO, while in nonreversible contexts, SOV is more commonly used. _Locative:_ The most frequent word order in locative sentences is OSV, though SOV and OVS are also possible in many sign languages. In locative constructions, the location is generally established first, followed by the positioning of the object. _Animate-Inanimate:_ Sentences with animate objects tend to favor the VO order, whereas inanimate objects typically follow an OV pre-verbal order. _Heavy-Nonheavy:_ In this classification, \"heavy\" refers to gestures that require considerable physical effort, such as large movements or forceful execution. \"Nonheavy\" gestures, in contrast, demand less physical effort and involve smaller movements. An analysis of 163 sentences (See Table 1), categorized based on reversibility, revealed the following patterns:  
In reversible situations, the predominant order is SVO, occurring in 35 sentences (53.85%). The SOV order appears in 29 sentences (44.61%), while OSV is found in only 1 sentence (1.54%). This indicates a strong preference for the SVO structure in reversible contexts. In nonreversible situations, SVO remains the most frequent order, observed in 44 sentences (44.90%). The SOV order is present in 37 sentences (37.75%), while the VO (verb-object) structure is found in 17 sentences (17.35%).