Today we are going to make sure
you understand and are able to
give examples of the following
sentence types:
Yes/No question
Wh-Question
Rhetorical Question
Negation
Command
Topicalization
Conditional
Declarative
Linguistics Syntax
Pages 89 –98
th
5 Edition
Warm up and
Review:
Question: What
are the building
blocks used in
phonology?
Answer: Individual
features of signs.
Question: What
does "individual
features of signs"
mean?
Answer:
Handshape,
Location,
Orientation, Holds
& Movements,
NMM"s
Question: What
are the building
blocks used in
Morphology?
Answer: "units of
meaning"
Question:
(Review) List 5
ways to create or
come up with new
signs in ASL.
[5th Edition pg 59]
Derive nouns from
verbs, (SIT to
CHAIR)
Compound two
existing free
morphemes,
(THINK + MARRY
= BELIEVE)
Represent English
orthographic
symbols via
special signs
known as
"fingerspelling"
and then
Lexicalize those
signs, (#BACK or
#JOB)
Borrow a sign
from another
signed language,
(ITALY-[newversion], CHINA[new-version])
Agentive Suffix:
TEACHER
LAWYER
ACTOR
Question: (Review)
What is the
difference between
"derivational
morphology" and
"inflectional
morphology?" [5th
Ed, pgs 58-59]
In "derivational
morphology" we
"derive" or "come up
with or create" new
"units" (words) for a
language. [Think of
"word classes": nouns,
verbs, adjectives, etc.]
In "inflectional morphology"
we are not creating "new"
units, rather we are
tweaking existing units. We
are adding grammatical
information (such as "who
did what to whom," "how
long something went on," or
"how many of something
there are" – plurality, etc.).
Question: The
number of sentences
that can be
produced in a
language is infinite.
This is known as
what characteristic
of language?
Answer:
Productivity
We have been looking at
basic rules for word
order.
Now let’s consider some
basic sentence types in
ASL.
91 [5th Ed.]
Now let’s consider some basic sentence
types in ASL.
Five basic sentence types tend to have
very specific nonmanual features:
questions
negations
commands
topicalization
conditionals
declaratives
92 [5th Ed.] 127
th
[4 Ed.]
Yes-No Questions
English = Voice rise up
at end of sentence
ASL Yes/no Questions
eyebrows raise
(may) tilt head
(may) lean body forward
(may) raise shoulders
(may) hold last sign
longer
Page 128 (4th Ed.)
92 (5th Ed.)
Note: The former symbol for
glossing of Yes-No questions
was a “q” on a line above the
question phrase.
(Old)
_________q
MAN HOME
Lately we are using "y/n"
instead:
(New)
_________y/n
MAN HOME
5th Edition changes from
th
4 Edition:
Symbol for glossing of
Yes-No questions is now
a “y/n” on a line above
the question phrase.
_________y/n
MAN HOME
92 [5th Ed.] 129 [4th Ed.]
Question Mark
\
Note: Used to be called
"Question Mark Wiggle," now
just called "Question Mark."
Used to be glossed as QM-wg.
Now just glossed as
QUESTION-MARK.
QUESTION-MARK:
Tends to be used when
signer is surprised or
when something is
unexpected.
Compare to the English:
(Really????)
Also used when double
checking or incredulous.
Page 93 [5th Ed.] 128 (4th Ed.)
Wh-questions
Wh-questions tend to use
signs like:
Where / Who / When / What
/ Why
Page 128 (4th Ed.) Page 93 (5th Ed.)
Wh-question nonmanual
marker:
eyebrow squint
(may) head tilt
(may) lean slightly
forward
(may) hunch shoulders
Example:
______wh
MAN WHERE
Page 129 (4th Ed.) Page 93 (5th Ed.)
129 [4th Ed.]94 [5th Ed.]
Rhetorical Questions:
Look like questions but
the signer doesn’t
expect an answer.
Page 130 [4th Edition] page 94 [5th Ed.]
Note:
Rhetorical Questions
The gloss for a rhetorical
question used to be “rhet”
but is now just "rh":
Example:
rh
PRO.1 TIRED WHY STUDY
ALL-NIGHT
Common signs used for
rhetorical questions
include:
REASON
WHEN
WHO
WHAT
WHERE
FOR-FOR
p. 130 4th Ed.
p. 130 4th Ed. p. 94 [5th Ed.]
Rhetorical Question
nonmanual marker:
Raised eyebrows
Slight shake or tilt of the
head
Dr. Bill’s note:
Think of a rhetorical as asking:
“Do you want to know why?”
“Do you want to know who?”
“Do you want to know what
for?”
“Do you want to know where?”
Those are actually yes/no
questions and thus use a yesno nonmanual marker.
Page 94 [5th Ed.]
Page 130 [4th Ed.]
Negation
Page 131 [4th Ed.] Page 94 [5th Ed.]
The process of changing an
affirmative sentence to a
negative is called negation.
Nonmanual signals:
shaking the head from side to
side
(may) frown
(may) squint
Gloss symbol: “neg”
Example
_______neg
MAN HOME
95 [5th Ed.] 131 [4th Ed.]
Commands:
Also called “imperatives”
English deletes the
subject.
Ex: “Sit down!”
ASL Ex: *SIT*
Commands:
Nonmanual markers:
Making direct eye
contact
(maybe) frowning
Dr. Bill’s notes:
Commands tend to
modify the movements to
be larger and the holds to
be longer—especially at
the end of the sign.
131 [4th Ed.] 95 [5th Ed.]
Topicalization:
Topicalization is when
the object of the
sentence is moved to the
front of the sentence.
Instead of signing:
The father loves the
child:
“FATHER LOVE CHILD”
You might sign:
The child is loved by the
father:
“CHILD, FATHER LOVE”
Topicalization NMMs:
Raised eyebrows
head tilt
maybe short pause
Example:
HOMEWORK, PRO.1
DETEST
132 [4th Ed.] 96 [5th Ed.]
Conditionals
#IF
SUPPOSE
Conditionals:
Nonmanual signal very
important:
* Raised eyebrows
* Head tilt
*( (maybe) short pause
127
Declarative sentences
do not seem to be
marked by any
particular nonmanual
signal as are other
sentence types in ASL
Example:
______________cond
TOMORROW RAIN, GAME CANCEL
97 [5th Ed.]
The Importance of Nonmanual
Signals:
Declarative: You are home.
Yes-no question: Are you home?
Negation: You aren't home.
Command: Go home!
Page 132 4th Ed. Page 97 5th Ed.
th
5
See: Page 98,
Ed. for a
very nice summary of
sentence types and
accompanying
nonmanual signals.
Activity: Give me examples of
the following sentence types:
Yes/No question
Wh-Question
Rhetorical Question
Negation
Command
Topicalization
Conditional
Declarative