Signs can be divided to syllables and further into transitions and nuclei based on the sign
flow of the handshapes. Here, a mixed effects linear regression model
is used to describe the variation in the duration of the syllable nuclei
in a data set of 341 signs (474 syllables) produced by five native
FinSL signers during a map task. The phonetic fixed variables are the
duration of the adjacent transitions and syllable nuclei; phonological
fixed variables are the syllabic length of the sign, the syllable position within the sign, and the sign
type (functional or content bearing). Both preceding and following
nucleus had a significant effect on the nucleus duration, while an
asymmetric effect was found for the transitions: only the postnuclear
transition had a significant effect. The syllable structure
had no effect. However, the nuclei were shorter in function signs.
These results suggest that signs are produced in two stages where the
first stage, preparatory transition, is merged with the production of
the previous syllable, and the second stage consists of executing the sign.