basic articulatory parameters involved in ASL. The four parameters are ?hand
configuration, or shape of each hand. (There are about 40 distinct handshapes). Place of
articulation, or the area on the signer?s body where the sign is produced. (There are about
20 distinct locations). Orientation of the articulators, or the orientation of the hand in
relation to the body. (There are about 10 distinct orientations). Movement, or the motion
of the hands from one point to another in the signing space? (Friedman 947). I was
amazed to find that there were so many distinctive characteristics from a phonological
standpoint in ASL. With this complex of parameters, I feel the deaf for sure should be
taught ASL within the first five years of their life.
The next linguistic aspect that differs between ASL and English is the
morphological process. The morphological process of English form and change words by
adding prefixes or suffixes to a word. ?The process of adding prefixes or suffixes occurs
in sequential, or linear, fashion. For example, tense is marked by adding an inflection to
the end of the word, or word class can occur by adding a suffix to the end of the word?
(Gee 301). ASL morphology works different than English. According to Gee, ?ASL
morphology is organized in a simultaneous rather than sequential fashion. That is, rather
than adding prefixes or suffixes that extend the length of a word, ASL morphology
operates by nesting the sign stem within dynamic movement contours. These movement
contours are no affixed to the beginning or end of the sign stem, but rather occur
simultaneously within the sign. For example, a slower, single movement is associated with
a particular set of verbs, whereas a faster, repetitive movement is associated with nouns?
(Gee 313). By the looks of ASL morphology, it seems as if the signers would be able to
communicate just as effectively and efficiently as an English speaker.
The next aspect of linguistics that separates ASL from English is the syntax. The
syntax in English is of course subject-verb-object. ASL has a S-V-O word order, but it
does not always occur. ?Sign order in ASL is more variable than English word order, and
it is governed by grammatical facial expressions, spatial syntax, and other nonmanual
behaviors? (Fischer 14). The first example of this that comes to mind from previous
chapters is the use of facial expression. What I mean by this is facial expression and head
positioning can be used to change word order by putting the strongest emphasized part of
the sentence first. This is what Fischer is referring to when he says, ?This grammatical
phenomenon is called topicalization, and it allows a signer to highlight the central idea of a
sentence by positioning the most important information at the beginning of a sentence?
(Fischer 15). Therefore, ASL does not always have S-V-O sentences. There sentences
seem to be more situation dependent, instead of always having a standardized rule to abide
by.
Familiarizing myself with all aspects of American Sign Language has been an
educational experience. I was interested in researching the controversial issues on
whether or not ASL was considered a natural language or not. I also enjoyed reading
about the research of people on how the hand placement affects grammar. There are
many different parts of ASL that I was unaware of. One of these is how important facial
expressions are to the signers. I thought their main focus would be on the hands, but they
rely on their peripheral vision for that. The research I did correlated to what I personally
experienced with the my classmate. When I observed her she was very athletic and
talented. She also had a very fast reflex time when we would do testing in labs. In my
research findings I learned that signers have an advantage over non-deaf at recognizing
faces and distinguishing objects in space. Lastly, I found the comparison between ASL
and English to be interesting. I thought this was interesting because I feel as if I have a
good understanding of English and linguistics, but I was my primary focus was comparing
it to ASL. When taking this course in linguistics I thought the syntax of the English
language was complex. I now see that ASL syntax is probably just as complex. The
reason why I think ASL?s syntax complexity is equivalent to English?s syntax is because
there is no set pattern like S-V-O, therefore it becomes situation dependent. Unlike
listening to someone in English, ASL requires much attention. You cannot put it on
auto-pilot while someone is signing to you, like you can in English. This assignment has
opened my eyes to entire different language and has given me more motivation to learn
ASL.
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development.? American Annals of the Deaf 142 (July ?97): 90-105.
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Friedman, L.A. ?Space, time, and person reference in American Sign Language.?
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Gee, John P, and William Goodhart. ?Nativization, linguistic theory, and deaf language
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Liddell, Stephan. ?American Sign Language: The phonological base.? Sign Language
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Lou, M.W. The history of language use in education of the deaf in the United States.
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