UNIT SIX

Overview, SN 1 Unit 1

UNIT ONE / INTRODUCING ONESELF

1. NON-MANUAL MARKERS-

facial expression used to "mark" (indicate) specific adverbial, adjectival, verb, emotive and grammatical inflections

 

2. PARAMETERS-

1. handshape

2. orientation

3. placement (sometimes called location)

4. movement

3. SIGNER’S PERSPECTIVE-

"reading Sign from the signers’ point of view

 

4. PRONOMINALIZATION-

the use of specific handshapes to represent English pronouns made by using your INDEX finger to point to a person or thing that is present in the area of communication, or by pointing to a specific location in the signing space which has been chosen to represent (the REFERENT) a person or thing that is not present in the communication area

 

5. INDEXING / EYE GAZE-

Eye contact is very important in ASL for obvious reasons. However, it is just important to guide the listener with your eyes to cue into whatever it is you are talking about. Therefore, whenever you are discussing anything that is within "sight’ it is important that you lead the listener to the subject with you eyes. If you are discussing something or someone that is not present, it continues to be just as important to lead the listener to the area where you are establishing your referent.

 

An easy way to remember "indexing" is that ANY time you point your INDEX finger, you're indexing.

 

6. PERSONAL V POSSESSIVE 

(1-hand) vs (5-hand)

ME                 vs  MY

 

Because you are pointing with your INDEX finger, personal pronouns are a part of indexing.

 

 

7. WH-Questions Y/N-Questions

1. eyebrows down 1. eyebrows up

2. body forward 2. body forward

3. hold last sign 3. hold last sign

* WH-Q words tend to *ASL does not use a Y/N

go at the end of the question word at the beginning

sentence of the sentence (IE., are, do, does, is...)

8. FOUR ASL SENTENCE TYPES-

1. statement

2. WH- question

3. Y/N- question

4. negative

9. INITIALIZATION-

With the manually coded English signed sentences, this is a technique that educators use to attempt to make ASL signs "look" more like their English equivalent by adding the first initial of the word onto the production of the ASL or base sign. For example: the ASL or base sign is OCEAN. Manually coded English sign systems add the first letter of the word, in this case it would be O, onto the production of the sign. All other English words that have to do with water, i.e., RIVER, SEA, LAKE, POND, ... would all be signed like OCEAN, but the first initial of the word would be added.

 

10. ICONIC V ARBITRARY SIGNS

Iconic signs are signs that when produced actually look like what they are describing. For example: DRINK, TEA, COOKIE,...

Arbitrary signs are signs that more or less have to do with thinking or emotions and really have no concrete tangible thing in which to pattern after.

 

11. SIGNING SPACE-

This is the space surrounding us that we use to establish things and produce ASL.

 

12. NAME SIGNS-

Signs that are given to people by people within the Deaf community to name and distinguish one person from another . Generally, the signs are arbitrary, but often denote some aspect of the person’s personality, appearance, or name itself.

 

13. CONCEPTUALLY ACCURATE SIGNED ENGLISH (CASE)-

This is the signed system that most hearing people use. Basically, it uses English-like grammatical structure , but has more ASL conceptually accurate sign choices. If you ever see an interpreter , generally, this is the system that they are using for that process. Holding a conversation that same interpreter will probably sign more ASL-like, but when one is not controlling the flow of conversation it is easier (and sometimes clearer) to sign more English-like or CASE. Formally, signing in this manner was referred to as Pidgen Signed English (PSE), you will often still hear it referred to as PSE or Pidgen.

 

14. THE AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE MANUAL ALPHABET- 

It is critical to remember that fingerspelling is NOT a substitute for a sign -- not EVER!!!!!  Fingerspelling is used for names:  brand names, streets, most cities, titles of books, movies, songs, etc.  When you fingerspell a person's name, it's only to identify that person.  Fingerspelling is NEVER used as a form of address as in "hi, s-t-a-n-l-e-y h-u-g-h-e-s, how are you?"

15. DEFINITION OF AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE-

16. AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE V MANUALLY CODED ENGLISH-

17. HISTORY OF AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE

18.  Deaf vs deaf   Culture vs pathology.

Deaf and deaf are 2 different words.  Deaf (big D) refers to a sociolinguistic group -- a culture -- people who use ASL as their primary means of communication and who view themselves as "people of the eye".  They are not handicapped, they just use a different language. 

 

deaf (small d) refers to a medical condition.  deaf people may view themselves as handicapped.  deaf reflects a pathological (as in something's wrong with you) view.  Approximately 8.9-13% (so let's say 10%) of the world's population is deaf.

 

Statistics:    Approximately .5% of the world population is Deaf.  Only 10% of all Deaf people are born into Deaf families.  90% of most Deaf people have hearing parents.

 

History:  Historically, ASL is most closely related to French Sign Language (even though there are a few borrowings from Native American signed languages and Martha's Vineyard Sign Language.

 

Manners:    Deaf people like to be called Deaf.  They do not like to be called "hearing impaired".  They HATE being called "deaf and dumb", "deaf mute", and other derogatory labels -- even if they're just silly sounding like "auditorially challenged".

 

More Manners:  The best way to get a Deaf person's attention ...

    if they're looking at you, wave.

    if they're not looking at you, tap them on the shoulder.

 

Still More Manners:  If you're watching a signer, look at his or her face, NOT his or her hands!

Overview, SN 1 Unit 2

UNIT TWO / EXCHANGING PERSONAL INFORMATION

1. AGENT MARKER-

the "sign", produced by both hands moving down parallel to the body, to change a verb or a country to the person who would do that activity or be that nationality.  It is not enough to know that the Agent Marker -ER is similar to the English -er or that it represents a person.  It is much more than that.  It is a way of taking an ACTION and turning it into the DOER of the action.

 

2. Y/N-QUESTIONS-

3. WH-QUESTIONS-

4. NEGATION-

* whenever you are signing a negative sentence you should always use the appropriate non-manual markers:

1. Eyebrows down (furrowed)

2. Body back

3. Shake head "no"

There are three ways to make a negative sentence in ASL:

1. Use of non-manual markers

2. Abruptly throwing sign away from body, I.E.,

KNOW v. DON’T-KNOW, LIKE v. DON’T-LIKE, WANT v. DON’T-WANT,

FINE v NOT-FINE

3. Use of negative words, I.E.,

#NO, NOT, NONE

 

NOTE that the most COMMON way to make a negative is to use the non-manual ... that is, shake your head "no".

5. DIRECTIONAL OR INFLECTING OR AGREEMENT VERBS-

Directional verbs are verbs that indicate the subject and the object of an ASL sentence by the movement of the verb, I.E., TEACH, MEET. It may more helpful to use the terms giver and receiver of action in ASL rather than subject and object.

 

 

6. TOPIC-COMMENT SENTENCE STRUCTURE OR TOPICALIZATION-

ASL sentences are commonly ordered using "topic-comment" structure. This means that the topic (what the sentence is talking about) is identified first. This topic is signed first with the following non-manual markers:

1. Eyebrows raised

2. Slight head tilt forward

3. Last sign identifying topic is held longer

*Think of doing this as if you were asking, "Do you understand what the topic is?"

The comment is either a y/n question, wh-word question, statement (affirmative or negative), or command.

 

7. BASE V DOMINANT HAND-

8. SYMMETRICAL V ASYMMETRICAL SHAPES & SIGNS-

Overview, SN 1 Unit 3

UNIT THREE / TALKING ABOUT SURROUNDINGS

1. SPATIAL AGREEMENT-

using the signing space in front of you and things in your environment to refer to and establish the things you are signing about.  The really cool thing is that once you've established something in a specific space by indexing (pointing to it ... sometimes called referencing), you can refer back to it again and again by simply pointing at it.

 

2. SPATIAL REFERENCING / INDEXING ( SETTING UP REFERENTS)-

when you are discussing anything, you "set ‘it’ up" in your signing space by pointing (with your  INDEX finger) in an area to the right or left of you if ‘it’ is not within sight; or point directly at ‘it’, if ‘it’ is visible. The area in which you index is called a REFERENT

 

3. COMMON REFERENCE POINT (MARKING REFERENTS)-

establish points of reference and give enough information with your directions so the listener can visualize the route or location you describe

 

4. GENERAL DIRECTIONS-

point in the direction of the place or person you are talking about

 

5. SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS-

establish points of reference (COMMON REFERENCE POINT) and give enough information with your directions so the listener can visualize the route or location you describe

 

6. REAL WORLD ORIENTATION (INDEXING)-

use when you are giving general directions, simply point in the direction of the place or person you are talking about

 

7. SIGNER’S PERSPECTIVE-

refers to the signer's point of view ... how the signer visualizes things while s/he is signing.  Use signer's perspective when you are giving specific directions, give enough information so the listener can visualize the route or location you describe. 

 

8. NON-MANUAL MARKERS TO SHOW RELATIVE DISTANCE-

CS- very close

MM- moderate distance

CHA--very far

*these same non-manual markers can be used when you are describing the size and or shape of anything

9. CLASSIFIERS-

a group of handshapes that we use in ASL to show the movement, placement, orientation. size, and shape of a noun.  Two of the most common are CL:1 used to represent an upright body (as in "the drunk staggered") and CL:3 used to represent vehicles (as in cars, trains, busses, and bikes -- but not planes CL:ILY or trailers CL:C or CL:B). Signing Naturally discusses eight different types of classifiers. We will only briefly use:

1. Descriptive Classifiers (DCL:) classifiers that we use to show the size and shape of

anything,

EX., the shapes we drew in unit 1 are an example of DCL:’s

 

2. Locative Classifiers (LCL:) classifiers that we use to show the location of objects,

EX., LCL: A (use for odd shaped inanimate objects), LCL: B (use for flat objects)

 

3. Semantic Classifiers (SCL:) classifiers that we use to show one person, place, or thing

in relation to another (the orientation of an object),

EX.,

SCL:1 (use for upright people or things ... i.e.  "man" or "telephone pole"), SCL: 3-> (use for a vehicle, i.e. car, bike, train, even a bus -- but not a trailer),

SCL: ^, ^^ (use for legs of animal or person, or a chair or chairs)

The following classifiers are FYI…don’t need to know them right this moment (yet) …

4. Body Classifiers (BCL:) …miming and pantomiming…

 

5. Element Classifiers (ECL:) … wind/air, fire, smoke, water, light…

 

6. Instrument Classifiers (ICL:)…operating simple machines…

 

7. Body part Classifiers (BPCL:)…head, legs, feet…

 

8. People or plural Classifiers (PCL:)… different ways to indicate more than one…

 

Overview, SN 1 Unit 4

UNIT FOUR / TELLING WHERE YOU LIVE

1. SPATIAL AGREEMENT-

using the signing space in front of you and things in your environment to refer to and establish the things you are signing about

 

2. REAL WORLD ORIENTATION (INDEXING) & SIGNER’S PERSPECTIVE

Use these two concepts together when you are giving directions in relation to the map of the United States. You use signer’s perspective because you are referring to places and things in the Unites States according to how you would visualize them if you were looking at a map. At the same time you index in the actual direction of where places or things would be located on your map.

 

3. HOW V. HOW++

Although, most people do not realize that we sign HOW differently, there is a difference. HOW signed so that the hands simultaneously turn out and signed at the beginning of an ASL sentence refers to politeness, i.e., HOW ARE YOU?, HOW IS SCHOOL, ... HOW signed with only the dominant hand wiggling and signed at the end of an ASL sentence refers to activities, i.e., HOW DID YOU GET AN A IN CLASS?, HOW DID YOU BUY THAT HOUSE?, HOW DID YOU BUILD THAT?, HOW DO YOU COME TO SCHOOL? ...

 

4. NOUN/VERB PAIRS-

These are pairs of signs in ASL that are signed almost exactly alike but are differentiated by their movement. These pairs of signs have the same handshape, palm orientation and placement. The noun has a double movement, while the verb is only moved once. EXAMPLES ARE:

CHAIR---SIT

DOOR---OPEN-THE-DOOR

WINDOW---OPEN-THE-WINDOW

GAS---PUT-IN-THE-GAS

* NOTE* Some people remember the difference between the noun and verb by the fact that the word NOUN has a double constant (N), while the word VERB has no letters that repeat.

5. FINGERSPELLED LOAN SIGNS-

Also called lexicalized signs, these are signs in ASL that are produced by fingerspelling them quickly and in a particular manner. Often, fingerspelled loan signs have a sign equivalent. If this is the case, more often the fingerspelled loan sign is used for emphasis.

 

*NOTE* Not all fingerspelled loan signs have a sign equivalent and all fingerspelled words do not necessarily become a fingerspelled loan sign.  Speed is NOT a function of a lexicalized sign. They are glossed and differentiated from regular fingerspelled words (fs-) by the # symbol.

Overview, SN 1 Unit 5

UNIT FIVE / TALKING ABOUT YOUR FAMILY

1. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

    PERSONAL PRONOUNS

    DUAL-PERSONAL PRONOUNS

you need to know the difference between these three pronoun types and use them consistently correctly

 

2. NEGATION (NEGATIVE SENTENCES TYPES)-

#NO - NOT - NONE - NOTHING - NOTHING-TO-IT - CAN’T - WON’T

These are just a few of the different negative words/signs that we can use to make a statement a negative. Remember that you should always use the appropriate negative non-manual markers (eyebrows furrowed, negative head shake).

Also remember that we can also negate a sentence in ASL by abruptly throwing the sign away from our body, i.e., WANT v DON’T-WANT, or just use negative non-manual markers with the verb and throughout the sentence.

 

NONE is always used for quantities (i.e. English "Don't miss any classes" becomes "YOU MISS CLASS NONE".

3. USE OF SPACE / CONTRASTIVE STRUCTURE / COMPARATIVE SENTENCES-

This is an ASL grammatical structure that uses the signing space to establish TWO people, places, or things on either side of the body to refer back to (to contrast). This occurs by:

1. A slight shift in body position towards one side or the other to set up placement

of the first topic

2. A pause in the neutral or "center of body"

3. A slight shift of body position towards the other side to establish the second topic

*NOTE* If we are talking about three or more people, places, or things, we use a different ASL

grammatical structure that we learn in UNIT 6.

4. PARAMETER OF GENDER SPECIFIC SIGNS-

A good thing about gender signs is that they are signed in one of two places. If a sign has to do with the male gender, then it is placed on the forehead area. If a sign has to do with the female gender, then it is placed on the chin area. Very easy to remember if you remember that the signs were originally created with the idea that men are the thinkers and women are the talkers. I realize that is not a very ‘PC’ notion but you have to keep in mind that some signs in ASL were created a very long time ago.

 

Overview, SN 1 Unit 6

UNIT SIX / TELLING ABOUT ACTIVITIES

1. DUAL-PERSONAL PRONOUNS-

These pronouns are another variation of personal pronouns; however, these pronouns are used for only the WE / US / OUR and THEY / THEM pronouns. These pronouns are used when you are discussing a specific number of WE or THEY when the number is 2-5. Essentially, they are saying the 2-of-us, 3-of-us, 4-of-us, 5-of-us, or 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-of-them. We use a K palm up for the 2-of-us or 2-of-them. For 3, 4, and 5 the palm is also up.

 

2. DUAL- PERSONAL PRONOUNS

    POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

    PERSONAL PRONOUNS

    HONORIFIC PRONOUNS (used in religious & platform settings) 

There is only one example of honorifics in the entire SN Workbook video and that's when Ella Mae Lentz introduces herself, so spend most of your time studying the difference between the top 3.  Study the top 3 and use them consistently correctly.  Personal pronouns use your INDEX finger.  Possessive Pronouns use your whole hand.  Dual-personal pronouns incorporate a number handshape.  I.e. you can use a 3-hand, palm up, and circle it close to your body to mean "the 3 of us".

 

3. TIME SIGNS: PRESENT, PAST, FUTURE-

All verbs in ASL are in present tense to conjugate the verb to indicate past or future we use time signs. To help you to remember the time sign we will use the parameter of PLACEMENT. Any time sign that is signed very close to the body is PRESENT, time signs that move behind the body are PAST, and time signs that move forward away from the body are FUTURE.

 

4. TIME LINE-

This is an imaginary line that runs horizontally through your body where time signs are placed using the parameter of PLACEMENT to indicate if a time sign indicates PAST, PRESENT, or FUTURE.

 

5. WH- Q (2h)#DO++-

This is a WH-Q sign that is used to ask, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" we can conjugate the DOING to DID or WILL DO by using a specific time sign to indicate past or present.

 

*NOTE* This sign is not used for the DO in sentences like, "Do you remember him "

6. STRONG TIME INDICATORS-

In ASL, one way in which we can indicate if a verb is past or present is by using a time sign at the beginning of a sentence. The time sign should indicate a specific amount of time, if it does not then we will use another method to indicate verb tense.

I.e.,

ENGLISH ASL

I go to the store. STORE ME GO-to

I went to the store yesterday. YESTERDAY, STORE ME GO-to

I am going to go to the store tomorrow. TOMORROW, STORE ME GO-to

*NOTE. Although the English version of the verb GO-to is conjugated and written differently, the ASL version of the verb GO-to stays in its present tense.

7. MODALS-

In ASL if there isn’t any indication of time to show that a verb should be understood in the past or present tense we use modals. Modals are simply words that we use in ASL (as well as English) to indicate a present or past conjugation of a verb. Although, there are several modal signs that are used in ASL, you will only be responsible to learn four. FINISH- to indicate past, BEFORE/PAST- to indicate past, NOT-YET- to indicate future, and WILL/FUTURE- to indicate future.

 

8. LISTING PRINCIPAL-

Using your non-dominate (or base) hand, you show the number of things that you are talking about and starting with your thumb you ‘list’ things that you are discussing or the order in which things occurred in time.

I.e.

LAST+NIGHT, ME IX-thumb, ARRIVE HOME, IX-index, EAT DINNER,

IX-middle, GO-to BED, SLEEP

YESTERDAY, STORE ME GO-to, I BUY, IX-thumb, MILK, IX-index,

CANDY, IX-middle, COFFEE

9. KEEPING EACH OTHER INFORMED-

As we have learned during ASL I the Deaf community is relativity small. Because the Deaf community is such a close-knit cultural group there is one very important norm that we as hearing people need to remember to follow. That norm is the one that has to do with keeping each other informed of ones activities. Therefore; it is common in the Deaf community to explain and give reasons for anything that is out of the ordinary. This includes explaining why you are late, if and/or why you are leaving, introducing people you are with, and so on. This is not being "nosey", this is just common courtesy within the Deaf culture. A courtesy we as hearing people can understand because Deaf are so often left out of everyday things that are going on.