Sign Language

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Sign Language

• By Shannon Chesna

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ASL

• American Sign Language uses signs in visual or
  spatial form.
• Independent of English
• Derived from French Sign Language
• 5 parameters of signs
• Hand configuration, place articulation, movement,
  orientation (palm up or down), and facial
  expression

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Differences from Spoken Language

• Most spoken languages are arbitrary
• No relationship between set of sounds and the
  object that the sound represents
• Example catepillar (big word for small object)
• ASL is mainly iconic
• The signs represent the objects
• Example tree (forearm upright with hand spread)
• Even though these signs may represent something,
  they are not always transparent in meaning.
• Klima and Bellugi performed a study where results
  showed that only 10 of iconic symbols were
  identified by hearing observers.

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Differences cont.

• Frishberg claimed that the level of iconicity has
  declined in the past 200 years.
• To become more conventionalized
• Example Home used to be the signs eat followed
  by sleep. Now it is cupping your hand and
  touching two places on your cheek.
• ASL is now a dual system of reference
• Part iconic and part arbitrary

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Differences cont.

• In spoken languages there are just 1 serial
  stream of phonemes (sequential)
• Sign Language can have multiple things going on
  at the same time (simultaneous)
• ASL has its own morphology (rules for creation of
  words), phonetics (rules for hand shapes), and
  grammar that are unlike spoken languages

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Differences cont.

• Spoken languages have sound as basic building
  block for emotion or feeling
• Sign language is visual so it relies on facial
  expressions and movement to convey emotion

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Similarities to Spoken Language

• Morphology
• Distinctions from first and second person are
  differentiated by movement
• Ex ask me- movement of sign towards self and
  ask you- movement of sign away from self
• Reciprocity is whether the subject is the cause
  or recipient of the object or if it is mutual
• Ex They pinched each other- sign with movement
  back and forth across signers body
• English uses the distinction with pronouns

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Similarities

• English uses subject-verb-object by word order
• ASL sometimes uses this with verbs that need a
  direct object, they are signed subject-object-verb
  .

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Similarities

• ASL uses spatial processes to indicate certain
  nouns
• Ex He said he hit him, and then fell down.
• In English this is ambiguous but because ASL uses
  these spatial processes, it is a clear
  interpretation.

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Error similarities

• Thompson, Emmory, and Gollan Study
• Found the tip of the finger experiences to be
  similar to tip of the tongue experience.
• Signers were more likely to retrieve a target
  signs hand configuration and place of
  articulation than its movement.
• Results provide evidence that parameters are
  independent

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Error similarities

• Slip of the tongue errors occur in sign language
  as well however slips of hand
• Ex Deaf woman
• Points to possibility that both types of
  languages take form because of basic cognitive
  limits on how or how much linguistic information
  may be structure or used.

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Syntax

• Primarily conveyed through a combination of word
  order and non-manual features
• Pro-drop and doesnt have a capula (linking to
  be verb)
• Ex My hair is wet. Signs- MY HAIR WET.

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Syntactic word order

• Places Adj. after noun
• Ex I have brown dogDOG BROWN I HAVE
• Adv. Occur before verbs
• Ex I enter the house quietly HOUSE I QUIET
  ENTER
• Modal verbs come after main verb of clause
• Ex I can go to the store for you. FOR YOU,
  STORE I GO CAN

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Syntax

• Negation
• Ex I dont have any dogs DOG I HAVE NONE
• Questions
• Ex What are you eating? YOU EAT WHAT?
• Raised eyebrows are used for rhetorical questions
• Subject pronoun tags
• Ex The boy fell downBOY FALL

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Syntax

• Conjunctions
• and does not exist in ASL instead there are two
  sentences combined by a short pause. or and
  but often signed with slight shoulder twist
• Ex I have two Cats and they are named Billy and
  Bob. CAT TWO I HAVE. NAME B-I-L-L-Y B-O-B